Abortions, stillbirths and deformities in sheep at the Al-Ahsa oasis in eastern Saudi Arabia: isolation of a bluetongue serogroup virus from the affected lambs.

A wave of abortions, stillbirths and deformities in sheep occurred at the Al-Ahsa oasis in the eastern region of Saudi Arabia in the second half of 1999. The abortions were recorded in August and September and stillbirths and deformities in neonates were observed in October. Adult sheep were clinically normal. A virus was isolated in chicken embryos, adapted to Vero cell culture and further identified as bluetongue (BT) virus. The virus isolated was not neutralised by the Akabane virus. Reference hyperimmune serum against antibodies to BT virus detected in the sera of the dams gave positive results for BT but negative results for both Akabane and bovine viral diarrhoea virus. It was concluded that the outbreak was caused by a virus of the BT serogroup. The authors present the clinico-pathological and epidemiological situation of the disease outbreak.