JCM Figure table search 04
Home Help [Feedback] [For Subscribers] [Archive] [Search] [Contents]
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Li, H.
Right arrow Articles by Crawford, T. B.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Li, H.
Right arrow Articles by Crawford, T. B.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Journal of Clinical Microbiology, January 1998, p. 223-226, Vol. 36, No. 1
0095-1137/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Transmission of Ovine Herpesvirus 2 in Lambs

Hong Li,1 Garry Snowder,2 Donal O'Toole,3 and Timothy B. Crawford4,*

Animal Diseases Research Unit, U.S. Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service,1 and Department of Veterinary Microbiology and Pathology, Washington State University,4 Pullman, Washington 99164; U.S. Sheep Experiment Station, U.S. Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service, Dubois, Idaho 834232; and Wyoming State Veterinary Laboratory, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming 820703

Received 29 July 1997/Returned for modification 24 September 1997/Accepted 27 October 1997

The pattern of acquisition of ovine herpesvirus 2 (OHV-2) infection in lambs was examined by a competitive-inhibition enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and PCR. Newborn lambs (n = 118) did not exhibit antibody at birth. Viral DNA in peripheral blood leukocytes was detected in only 3% (n = 77) of newborn lambs before suckling. After nursing, viral DNA was sporadically present in about 10 to 20% of lambs until about 3 months of age. Thereafter, strong DNA signals began to appear in increasing numbers of lambs, reaching 100% by 5.5 months of age. Viral DNA in nasal secretions began to be detectable in about 30% of lambs at 5.5 months of age, achieved significant levels in 88% of lambs by 7.5 months of age, and then declined. The kinetics of the humoral immune response in lambs paralleled those of viral DNA in nasal secretions but did not parallel its presence in blood leukocytes. In the experiment to define the time of infection of OHV-2 in lambs, all five lambs separated from the flock at 2.5 months of age remained uninfected until the termination of the experiment at 1 year of age. In contrast, lambs weaned at 2.5 months of age and returned to the flock had become infected at 3.5 months of age. Weaning and separation from the flock at 3.5 months of age did not prevent infection. The study showed that OHV-2 infection does not commonly occur in perinatal lambs and that OHV-2-free sheep can be established by separation of lambs at the proper time, which has important implications for potential control measures.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Veterinary Microbiology and Pathology, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164-7040. Phone: (509) 335-6035. Fax: (509) 335-8529. E-mail: crawford{at}vetmed.wsu.edu.

Journal of Clinical Microbiology, January 1998, p. 223-226, Vol. 36, No. 1
0095-1137/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


This article has been cited by other articles:



Home Help [Feedback] [For Subscribers] [Archive] [Search] [Contents]
Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. Clin. Microbiol. Rev.
Clin. Vaccine Immunol. ALL ASM JOURNALS

Copyright © 1998 by the American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.