Diagnosis of bovine respiratory syncytial virus infections

Abstract

The purpose of the paper was to present current knowledge on the epizootiology and diagnosis of respiratory infections caused by BRSV. This virus is one of the major infectious agents causing diseases in young cattle. BRSV can be the main cause of a respiratory infection or it can be one of the etiological agents of respiratory disease complex. The results of serological examinations and virus isolation showed that BRSV is widely distributed in cattle population all over the world. Economic losses caused by BRSV are associated mainly with high costs of treatment, decreased growth rates and calf mortality. A rapid diagnosis of the disease is crucial for further therapeutic management and the treatment should be concentrated on limiting losses within the herd During recent years several papers concerning the diagnosis of BRSV have been published. This review describes not only the classical methods of virus detection (virus isolation in a cell culture, immunofluorescence immunohistochemistry) but also the recently applied PCR assay.