Abstract
Twenty nine recent isolates of bovine viral diarrhea-mucosal disease (BVD-MD) virus, 17 from persistently infected cattle and 12 from mucosal disease, were compared antigenically with the reference strains by a serum neutralization test. The reference viruses were divided into 2 groups, tentatively designated as N and K, based on the antigenic relationships in the cross-neutralization test. Antigenic properties of recent isolates were considerably different with the sources of virus isolation. Seventeen isolates recovered from persistently infected cattle were divided into 3 groups in the neutralization test using antisera to the reference strains; 12 and 2 were considered as the possible members of groups K and N, respectively, and the others belonged to neither group. On the other hand, 10 of 12 isolates recovered from mucosal disease were considered as the possible members of group N, and the others were classified into neither group. Interestingly, none of BVD-MD viruses isolated from cases of mucosal disease belonged to group K. The results of serologic survey on sera collected from 713 cattle at the Hokkaido provinces in 1974 to 1988 indicated that infections of cattle with BVD-MD viruses other than group K were prominent before 1981. Cattle infected with group K BVD-MD virus were first detected in 1982, and increased in number thereafter. The results obtained in this study suggested that BVD-MD viruses with various antigenic properties spread widely among cattle herds, and also a possibility that clinical manifestations in cattle infected with BVD-MD viruses may differ with their antigenic properties.
