Serological comparison of cytopathogenic and non-cytopathogenic bovine viral diarrhea-mucosal disease viruses isolated from cattle with mucosal disease.

Abstract

Ten cattle that died with mucosal disease were examined for bovine viral diarrhea-mucosal disease (BVD-MD) viruses. Both cytopathogenic (CP) and non-cytopathogenic (NCP) BVD-MD viruses were isolated concomitantly from 9 of them, and only a CP virus was recovered from the other. Then each pair of CP and NCP viruses was compared serologically by a serum neutralization test. Each pair of CP and NCP viruses from the same cattle was found to be serologically indistinguishable, although a minor antigenic difference was observed among the groups of the paired viruses. These results seem to support the hypotheses that mucosal disease occurs in persistently infected cattle which were induced by in utero infection with NCP virus when they are superinfected with CP virus, and the antigenic homology in CP and NCP BVD-MD viruses may be an important factor in the pathogenesis of the disease.