ARS | Publication request: CAPRINE HERPESVIRUS 2 ASSOCIATED MALIGNANT CATARRHAL FEVER IN DEER

Submitted to: Herpesvirus International Workshop
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: June 20, 2002
Publication Date: N/A

Technical Abstract: A presumptive histopathologic diagnosis of malignant catarrhal fever (MCF) was made in three cases of disease in Sika deer and white-tailed deer with various degrees of hair loss and skin lesions. Antibody against an epitope conserved among the MCF group viruses was detected in the serum of all diseased deer. DNA samples from the deer were subjected to a variety of PCR amplifications. Alignment of the amplified sequences from the diseased animals revealed that they were 100% identical to each other, and to the same DNA fragment from the newly recognized member of the MCF virus group of rhadinoherpesviruses that is endemic in domestic goats, provisionally named caprine herpesvirus 2 (CpHV-2). This study provides the first evidence that CpHV-2 is a pathogen, at least, for deer, and emphasizes the diversity of disease patterns of which the members of MCF group viruses are capable of causing.