Vol. 11, Special Issue 9 (2022)

Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the sero-prevalence of Japanese encephalitis antibodies in animal populations.

Materials and Methods: Sera samples from different species of animals were collected from different places of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. A total of 1502 sera samples from pig 470, cattle 705, sheep 200 and horse 127 were collected.

Results: In this study a total of 1375 sera samples (470 from pig, 705 from bovine and 200 from sheep) were screened by IgG ELISA for Japanese encephalitis virus antibodies. Out of which 104 (22.1%) from pig and 30 (15%) from sheep were positive for JEV antibodies. None of the bovine samples were positive by ELISA against JEV antibodies. The horse serum samples numbering (127) sent to National research centre on Equine, Hisar, Haryana out of which 10 (7.87%) samples were positive by Haemagglutination Inhibition test (HI).

Conclusion: These study gives a knowledge regarding circulation of JEV antibodies in animal population, thus implies that JEV may be a risk for transmission in future to humans living in urban areas of Chennai and outside Chennai.