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Updated: May 24, 2026

Assays for the Identification of Novel Antivirals against Bluetongue Virus
Published on: October 11, 2013
Evidence of bluetongue virus serotype 21 (BTV-21) divergence
B Susmitha1, D Sudheer, Pavuluri Panduranga Rao
1Department of Veterinary Microbiology, College of Veterinary Science, Sri Venkateswara Veterinary University, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad, 500030, India.
Abstract:
Bluetongue virus serotype 21 (BTV-21) was originally isolated from Australia, but has now been reported from India, Indonesia, China and Japan. We report the isolation, and sequencing of BTV-21 from India. The complete ORF sequence of VP2 gene of this isolate showed that it is closely related to recent BTV-21 isolates from Japan (93-94% identity), and distantly related to BTV-21 reference strain (86% identity). Our results, along with the available sequences of Japanese isolates, suggest that the currently circulating BTV-21 strains from India and Japan are divergent from the original strain(s) from Australia and shed light on designing molecular diagnostics for the detection of BTV.
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