Comparison by the neutralisation assay of pairs of non-cytopathogenic and cytopathogenic strains of bovine virus diarrhoea virus isolated from cases of mucosal disease

Neutralising antibody to non-cytopathogenic and cytopathogenic strains of bovine virus diarrhoea virus (BVDV) was assayed in a microtitre test in which cultures of calf testis cells were stained by the immunoperoxidase method to detect viral replication. Fourteen BVDV strains were compared in cross neutralisation tests with antisera prepared in gnotobiotic calves. Ten of the strains comprised five pairs of non-cytopathogenic and cytopathogenic BVDV. Each pair was isolated from an animal with mucosal disease. All five animals were from five separate outbreaks of the disease. Each pair of strains from the same outbreak was found to be antigenically indistinguishable. In contrast, when the coefficient of antigenic similarity was calculated 11 of 45 comparisons between the pairs and 46 of 91 comparisons between all 14 viruses gave R values that distinguished strains. The observations suggest that an antigenic spectrum within a single related group exists for BVDV strains, rather than distinct serotypes. The findings are also consistent with the suggestion that cytopathogenic strains from natural outbreaks of mucosal disease arise by mutation from non-cytopathogenic virus.