Incidence of neutralizing antibodies to Chandipura virus in domestic animals from Karimnagar and Warangal Districts of Andhra Pradesh, India

In order to determine the possible role of domestic animals in the outbreak of acute encephalitis associated with Chandipura virus (CPV) among children in Andhra Pradesh in 2003, a serological survey of domestic animals was carried out during the epidemic in July 2003. Out of 180 animal sera from highly affected areas of the Karimnagar and Warangal districts of Andhra Pradesh 33 (18.3%) had virus neutralizing (VN) antibodies to CPV. The positive animals consisted of pigs (30.6%), buffalos (17.9%), cattle (14.3%), goats (9.3%) and sheep (7.7%). Isolation of CPV and detection of CPV antibodies in patients with encephalitis reported earlier and the evidence of antibodies to CPV in domestic animals shown here suggest that CPV circulates in this region and should be considered an emerging virus of public health importance.