Epidemiological exploration of fleas and molecular identification of flea-borne viruses in Egyptian small ruminants.

The study aimed to investigate molecularly the presence of flea-borne viruses in infested small ruminants with fleas. It was carried out in Egypt's Northern West Coast (NWC) and South Sinai Governorate (SSG). Three specific primers were used targeting genes, ORF103 (for Capripoxvirus and Lumpy skin disease virus), NS3 (for Bluetongue virus), and Rdrp (for Coronavirus), followed by gene sequencing and phylogenetic analyses.