ANTIBODY-RESPONSE IN PIGS INOCULATED WITH TRANSMISSIBLE GASTROENTERITIS VIRUS AND CROSS REACTIONS AMONG 10 ISOLATES

  • 1 January 1976
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 40  (2) , 209-214
Abstract
Groups of 2 or 3 day old pigs were inoculated i.v. with cell culture grown transmissible gastroenteritis virus. A single or a multiple dosage schedule was used. The magnitude of immune response was measured in terms of serum neutralization indices. A single dose of relatively attenuated virus caused mild clinical signs of transmissible gastroenteritis infection in the pigs and induced a low level of antibody in the serum by the 7th day after inoculation. Repeated injections of virus at 7 day intervals stimulated little increase in antibody titers. High serum antibody titers were obtained for all pigs if the time interval between injections was extended to 15 days. Sera obtained early after exposure to live transmissible gastroenteritis virus contained mainly IgM [immunoglobulin M] antibody; sera obtained later after exposure contained mainly IgG antibody. Ten plaque purified isolates of transmissible gastroenteritis virus, comprising 8 American isolates, 1 Japanese isolate and 1 British isolate were indistinguishable by means of reciprocal plaque reduction neutralization tests.