Camel pestivirus infection in northern Saudi Arabia

Pestivirus infection in camels has been insufficiently studied, particularly in Saudi Arabia. In the current work, the seroprevalence of pestivirus infection in camels' sera (n = 180) in Rafha in northern Saudi Arabia was screened using Enzyme Linked Immuno-Sorbent Assay (ELISA). Data on age, sex and breed were analysed statistically. Pestivirus seroprevalence was 11.1. It was higher in adults (22.2%) than in young animals (10.5%), higher in females (33.3%) than in males (10.7%) and higher in the Mjahim breed (23.8%) compared to the Magater breed (9.4%). Chi-square analysis revealed a significant correlation between pestivirus infection and breed (p = 0.015), whereas no significant associations were noted with age (p = 0.123) or sex (p = 0.432). Wald statistics indicated that breed (p = 0.005) and sex (p = 0.048) were significant predictors of pestivirus infection.Contribution: To our knowledge, this is the first study to report the risk factors associated with pestivirus infection in camels in northern Saudi Arabia. The results can help explore epidemiological parameters and aid in control, while future research should include larger samples and molecular techniques to verify active infection.