Isolation of Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease Virus Serotype 6 From Aborted Fetus of Breeding Japanese Black Cow

Abstract

In October 2023, a breeding Japanese Black cow underwent an abortion at a farm in Yamaguchi Prefecture. Histopathological examination revealed diffuse degeneration, atrophy and necrosis of hepatocytes, and no other noteworthy findings in the organs examined. Viral examination revealed the Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease Virus (EHDV) serogroup 6 gene was detected in the major organs of the fetus, and EHDV-6 was not isolated in a static culture but was isolated in a rotary culture of BHK-21 cells from the fetal liver. Phylogenetic analysis of the segment 3 partial genome sequence of the isolated virus confirmed that it was classified into the Eastern group, which is found in East Asia and Australia, similar to EHDV previously detected in Japan. This is the first report of EHDV-6 isolation from an aborted bovine fetus in Japan.