Bovine herpesvirus type 1 in cumulus-oocyte complexes collected from naturally infected cows

Abstract

The objective of this work was to investigate the presence of bovine herpesvirus type 1 (BoHV-1) in follicular fluid and in cumulus-oocyte complexes (COC) recovered from naturally infected cows but with no clinical signs of the disease. Cows that were seropositive (n=38) or seronegative (n=8, control) to infectious bovine rhinotracheitis were selected after a serum neutralization test in microplates. The presence of the virus was investigated by PCR in COC and in follicular fluid. Viral DNA was not found in any of the samples. The obtained results suggest that serologically positive cows with no clinical signs of the disease offer negligible risk of transmitting BoHV-1 by COC or follicular fluid.