Etiological study of viral gastroenteritis in swine

: Immunodiffusion was used to investigate a total of 492 serum samples of buffaloes--buffalo calves up to the age of 6 months and buffalo heifers--on both private and public farms. Positive serological reagents for rotaviruses were established in 73.4 per cent of the cases. The study of the same samples via the blocking ELISA test revealed the presence of 86.2 per cent positive cases. It was demonstrated that this type of the ELISA technique was a more precise method for the demonstration of group specific rotavirus antibodies in buffaloes. The results obtained spoke of the widely occurring rotavirus infections among the buffalo populations in this country. Particularly intense was the circulation of rotaviruses in buffalo calves aged up to six months. The study of 46 fecal samples from buffalo calves with diarrhea by means of the immunodiffusion and ELISA tests revealed that in as many as seven of them there were rotaviruses. This unquestionably demonstrated the participation of these agents in the etiology of enteritis in buffaloes.