Excretion of alcelaphine herpesvirus-1 by captive and free-living wildebeest (Connochaetes taurinus)

Onderstepoort J Vet Res. 1989 Jun;56(2):131-4.

Abstract

Excretion of alcelaphine herpesvirus-1 (AHV-1) is for all practical purposes limited to wildebeest calves under the age of 4 months. Sixty-one per cent of calves 1-2 months of age excreted virus with a mean titre of 9.8 X 10(4) cytopathic-forming foci/ml in their ocular fluid. The incidence declined sharply to less than 2% in wildebeest older than 6 months. No difference in age-related excretion of virus could be detected between free-living and captive wildebeest and no virus could be isolated from free-living pregnant wildebeest cows or from captive cows and their calves during the first 4 weeks after birth. The occurrence of wildebeest-derived malignant catarrhal fever (WD MCF) during spring, when wildebeest do not excrete virus, is a strong indication of the existence of an alternative host or an intermediate host capable of biological transfer of AHV-1.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Antelopes / microbiology*
  • Artiodactyla / microbiology*
  • Eye / microbiology
  • Herpesviridae / isolation & purification*
  • Nasal Mucosa / microbiology
  • Seasons
  • South Africa