Bovine ephemeral fever: a review

Bovine ephemeral fever is a viral disease of cattle and buffaloes besides s ubclinical involvement of a variety of ruminant species. The subtropical an d temperate regions of Africa, Asia and Australia have experienced the majo r epidemic of the bovine ephemeral fever but the occurrence in the tropics can not be overlooked. Although the substantial role played by the vectors viz., mosquitoes and culicoides in bovine ephemeral fever perpetuation and dissemination, other vector involvement if any should be extensively studie d. The clinical severity of the disease is not apparent and the mortality i s low. However, high morbidity, enormous economic losses in terms of signif icant reduction in production, disruption of national and international tra de and finally a variety of complications resulting from the disease have d rawn appreciable attention from the researchers around the world to resolve the unsolved questions in this area. In this review, detailed informations of all the aspects of the disease has been provided in a simple, lucid and easily understandable manner. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights re served.