Rs. Lahijani et al., APPLICATION OF POLYMERASE CHAIN-REACTION TO DETECT ANIMALS LATENTLY INFECTED WITH AGENTS OF MALIGNANT CATARRHAL FEVER, Journal of veterinary diagnostic investigation, 6(4), 1994, pp. 403-409
Oligonucleotide primers derived from alcelaphine herpesvirus 1 (AHV-1)
isolate WC11 DNA, the first identified agent of malignant catarrhal f
ever (MCF), were used to assay blood lymphocyte DNA using the polymera
se chain reaction (PCR). Multiple species of exotic ruminants were exa
mined to determine the suitability of this technique for detecting ani
mals that may be latently infected. To correlate the PCR results with
those of serology, serum samples were obtained from each animal concur
rently with lymphocyte collection and subjected to an AHV-1 virus-neut
ralization assay (VNA). A total of 86 MCF-susceptible animals were tes
ted, and the results of the VNA and PCR assays were compared. PCR resu
lts were positive for 44 animals. Of these, 13 were positive by VNA. A
nimals positive by both VNA and PCR were all wildebeest, the asymptoma
tic carriers of AHV-1, confirming the ability of the primers to amplif
y AHV-1 sequence. Positive PCR results from species other than wildebe
est may represent sequence amplified from viruses related to AHV-1, wh
ich may not induce antibodies capable of neutralizing the WC11 isolate
used in the VNA. This study demonstrates that PCR is capable of detec
ting the presence of MCF agents in various populations of captive rumi
nants prior to the appearance of clinical MCF so that the sources of i
nfection can be more reliably ascertained.