Prevalence of Bovine herpesvirus type 4 in aborting dairy cows

Pol J Vet Sci. 2016 Dec 1;19(4):731-736. doi: 10.1515/pjvs-2016-0092.

Abstract

Bovine herpesvirus type 4 (BHV-4) is related to many different conditions: infertility, postpartal metritis, vulvovaginitis, mastitis, encephalitis, calf pneumonia, keratoconjunctivitis, cutaneous lesions, digital dermatitis and abortion. In this study a retrospective PCR examination of 100 extracted DNA samples from aborting cows was performed in order to determine: prevalence of BHV-4 in abortive cattle, whether coinfections BHV-4 with other abortifacient pathogens are present in the same sample and to determine the month of gestation when BHV-4 associated abortions were detected. Out of 100 examined samples, the BHV-4 genome was detected in 21 samples (21%). In two samples we detected coinfection of BHV-4 with bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) and in one with Neospora caninum. Most of the BHV-4-associated abortions were detected during the seventh month of gestation. It was concluded that an active BHV-4 infection was present among cows that aborted on the farms examined. The high prevalence of the BHV-4 genome in abortion material suggests that this virus may have cause the abortions. Further studies and examinations are needed to establish causative connection between presence of BHV-4 and abortion.

MeSH terms

  • Aborted Fetus / virology
  • Abortion, Veterinary / virology*
  • Animals
  • Cattle
  • Cattle Diseases / virology*
  • DNA, Viral / isolation & purification
  • Herpesviridae Infections / veterinary*
  • Herpesviridae Infections / virology
  • Herpesvirus 4, Bovine / isolation & purification*
  • Prevalence
  • Tumor Virus Infections / veterinary*
  • Tumor Virus Infections / virology

Substances

  • DNA, Viral