EARLY REPRODUCTIVE LOSS DUE TO BOVINE PESTIVIRUS INFECTION

Bovine pestivirus infection has been mainly recognized as the cause of mucosal disease, a syndrome which occurs sporadically in weaned and a dult cattle as a late sequel to foetal infection during the first 3-4 months of gestation. Infection has also been associated with the occur rence of congenital malformations, especially of the central nervous s ystem. Following the development of improved diagnostic and research t echniques, pestivirus has now been shown to be associated with signifi cant early reproductive loss including fertilization failure, embryoni c mortality and abortion. The principal determinant of the outcome of in utero infection in the bovine is the age of the conceptus when infe ction occurs.