VIROLOGIC STUDIES ON CATTLE WITH NATURALLY OCCURRING AND EXPERIMENTALLY INDUCED MALIGNANT CATARRHAL FEVER

  • 1 January 1976
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 37  (8) , 875-878
Abstract
Malignant catarrhal fever [MCF] is an important disease of cattle and certain wild ruminants. It occurs in sporadic and epizootic forms in Colorado [USA] cattle. Specimens from 15 cattle with naturally occurring malignant catarrhal fever and 5 cattle with induced disease with examined for cell-free and cell-associated viruses. Enteroviruses were isolated from leukocytes of 2 cattle with field cases of the disease. A herpesvirus with characteristics of the Movar -type, isolated from the spleen of another steer with a field case, could be propagated optimally in bovine fetal spleen cells. A cell-associated virus, forming polykaryons, was isolated in adrenal and thyroid cells from 3 cattle with experimentally induced malignant catarrhal fever. It was cultured from leukocytes, ependymal tissue, spleen, lymph node, kidney and thyroid and adrenal glands of affected cattle and remained cell-associated in 48 subsequent passages. It was inactivated by freezing and thawing and by treatment with ultrasound; its polykaryon-forming activity was inhibited by 25 .mu.g of 5 fluoro-2''-deoxyuridine/ml. This viral agent replicated in bovine fetal adrenal, thyroid and spleen cells, but not in primary kidney cells or in [bovine kidney] MDBK, HeLa, or [mouse fibroblast] L cells. A representative isolate was identified by EM as an enveloped virus, 120-150 nm in diameter. Structural analysis indicated that it had properties of the bovine syncytial viruses. Attempts to induce MCF in cattle with 1 of the isolates failed. A parvovirus was isolated from the jejunal lymph node of calf 72-P-293, which had the experimentally induced disease and was also infected with the syncytial virus.

This publication has 1 reference indexed in Scilit: