Experimental transmission of sheep-associated malignant catarrhal fever from sheep to Japanese deer (Cervus nippon) and cattle

The assumption that sheep carry ovine herpesvirus-2 (OvHV-2), the causative agent of sheep-associated malignant catarrhal fever (SA-MCF), is widely accepted, albeit OvHV-2 has not been isolated. We attempted experimental contact transmission of MCF from Japanese sheep persistently infected with OvHV-2 to Japanese deer (Cervus nippon) and cattle. In Experiment 1, a deer was kept in close quarters with an infected ewe. In Experiment 2, a second deer was kept with the same ewe. In Experiment 3, two cows were each kept with two infected wethers. In Experiment 1, the deer developed clinical signs at 138 days after first contact and then died. OvHV-2 genes by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and fluorescent antibodies to Alcelaphine herpesvirus-1 were detected in the affected deer. Moreover, sequences of PCR products (423bp), obtained by amplification of materials from the sheep and from the affected deer, coincided. These results clearly confirmed that the sheep was a carrier of OvHV-2, and that this virus had induced SA-MCF in a deer. In other experiments, no OvHV-2 infection occurred in deer and cattle during the 6-18 months periods of contact, though viral genes were detected in the nasal swabs and white blood cells of the sheep. To our knowledge, this is the first report on successful experimental transmission of MCF from OvHV-2-infected sheep to deer.