Failure to infect cats with bovine herpesvirus type-4 strain Movar 33/63
Thiry, E.; Chappuis, G.; Bublot, M.; Van Bressem, M.F.; Dubuisson, J.; Pastoret, P.P.
Veterinary Record 128(26): 614-615
1991
ISSN/ISBN: 0042-4900 PMID: 1654664 Document Number: 379526
Six SPF male cats, aged 2 to 3 months were divided into 2 groups. Two cats in the first group were inoculated intranasally with 108 plaque forming units of bovine herpesvirus-4 (BHV-4) strain Movar 33/63 which had been plaque purified and propagated in bovine cells. Two cats in the second group were inoculated i.v. The third cat in each group acted as an in-contact control. One infected cat died after anaesthesia and cardiac puncture, the other cats showed no other clinical signs nor pyrexia. No serological response to BHV-4 was demonstrated and BHV-4 was not isolated from any buffy coats of blood samples collected up to 90 days after inoculation. At PM examination no lesions were visible except haemorrhagic lung lesions in 1 cat which were attributed to cardiac punctures. The possibility that the failure to infect the cats was because the virus was not adapted to feline cell lines is discussed.