Investigations of presence of antibodies against bovine herpesvirus-1 in blood serum of calves prior to colostrum diet

Abstract

The paper presents the results of investigations of the presence of the bovine herpesvirus-1 (BHV-1) in samples of blood serum from 106 cows and 107 of their calves (one cow had twins). Blood was sampled from the cows immediately after parturition, and from the calves before feeding on colostrum. The examined cows and their calves originated from 5 herds in which previous investigations had shown infection with the bovine herpesvirus-1. The determination of antibodies against BHV-1 was performed using the method of virus neutralization in culture of MDBK cells with 100 TCID/50 viruses (BHV-1, TN-41 Am. Bio Research, USA). Antibodies against BHV-1 were determined in all blood serum samples of cows and in 16 samples of precolostral blood serums of calves. The antibody titer values in cows ranged from 1:4 to 1:512, and in calves the determined values were from 1:2 to 1:16. The results indicate that cows that are seropositive to BHV-1 can deliver calves seropositive to BHV-1 in about 15% cases. This must be kept in mind in selecting cows for the production of breeding material, in particular bulls for reproduction centers, as well as in making a programme for the immunoprophylaxis of calves against BHV-1. .

Keywords

• antibodies
• BHV-1
• cows
• valves
• precolostral blood serum