Abstract
The hemagglutination inhibition (HI) test with mouse red blood cells was used as a diagnostic method for detection of infectious bovine rhinotracheitis (IBR) virus (bovine herpesvirus type 1) infection in the field. IBR virus hemagglutinated C57BL/6 mouse red blood cells most clearly of five mouse strains tested. Bovine sera were collected from herds where IBR infection was observed. All sera which were treated with 10% mouse red blood cells after inactivated at 56°C for 30 min failed to show any nonspecific hemagglutination with red blood cells. Antibody titers determined by this test were slightly higher than those by the serum neutralization test. The obtained by both tests were highly correlated (r =0.778). The HI test was so sensitive that it could detect antibody in the early stage of infection. Therefore, it is considered that the HI test is a valuable method for the diagnosis of IBR virus infection.
