Genetic and pathobiological characterization of bovine viral diarrhea viruses recently isolated from cattle in Japan

The 475 strains of bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) isolated from cattle in 12 prefectures of Japan in the last 7 years were phylogenetically classified as BVDV-1 or BVDV-2 on the basis of the nucleotide sequence of the 5'-untranslated region. BVDV-1 strains were further subtyped as 1a (101 strains), 1b (163), 1c (128), 1j (3), and So CP/75-like (1), and all of the 79 BVDV-2 strains belonged to subtype 2a. These 2a BVDVs contain two isolates that had high nucleotide identities with those of highly pathogenic BVDV-2 strains reported in North America (Pellerin et al., 1994). However, acute infection with severe mortality like North American outbreak was not observed and most of the present BVDV-2 strains were isolated from persistently infected (PI) cattle showing mild or no clinical sign. Moreover, it was revealed that 61.5% of the 39 PI cattle with cytopathogenic BVDVs did not show typical mucosal disease and 54.6% of the 405 PI animals only with non-cytopathogenic BVDVs were apparently healthy. The present results indicate that the prevention of the infection with an appropriate vaccine and active surveillance covering healthy cattle are required for the control of BVD.     

Effects of low-crude protein diets supplemented with rumen-protected lysine and methionine on fattening performance and nitrogen excretion of Holstein steers

The objective of this experiment was to investigate the effects of low-crude protein (CP) diets supplemented with rumen-protected lysine and methionine on growth performance, nitrogen excretion, and carcass traits in Holstein steers. Steers consumed the following diets: (1) 17.2% CP on a dry-matter basis during the early period (from 7 to 10 months of age) and 14.5% CP during the late period (from 10 to 18 months of age; CON, n = 4, initial body weight [BW] 238 kg), and (2) 14.4% CP during the early period and 11.4% CP during the late period (AA, n = 4, initial BW 243 kg). The AA diet contains rumen-protected lysine and methionine. Except for CP intake, feed intake and body weight gain were not affected by dietary CP content. Total nitrogen excretion per metabolic BW tended to be lower (p < .10) in the early period and significantly lower (p < .05) in the late period with decreasing the feed CP content. Plasma urea nitrogen concentrations were lower in AA than CON. Carcass traits and total free amino acid contents of the longissimus thoracis muscle were not affected by dietary CP content. Adding rumen-protected lysine and methionine to a low-CP diet would reduce nitrogen excretion in fattening Holstein steers without affecting productivity.