RESTRICTION-ENDONUCLEASE ANALYSIS OF HUNGARIAN BOVINE HERPESVIRUS ISOLATES FROM DIFFERENT CLINICAL FORMS OF IBR, IPV AND ENCEPHALITIS

The DNA of thirty-three Hungarian bovine herpesvirus isolates originat ing from cattle with various clinical symptoms were compared by restri ction endonuclease analysis using HindIII, EcoRI and BstEII enzymes. T he EcoRI and HindIII cleavage patterns were similar to those of isolat es studied in other countries. Based on the cleavage patterns, the Hun garian isolates could be assorted into groups and subgroups according to the classification system proposed by Metzler et al. (1985, 1986). Based on a new BstEII cleavage pattern observed in group 1, the establ ishment of two new subgroups, 1a and 1b, were proposed. Three isolates belonged to subgroup 1a, sixteen to 1b, seven to 2a, five to 2b, and one to group 3, which has recently been reclassified as BHV-5. Additio nally, one of the isolates showed a mixed cleavage pattern of la and l b. However, no strict correlation was found between the different clin ical forms and the established DNA fingerprint groups. There was no ev idence of a change in the prevalence of the different genotypes when c omparing isolates collected at different times of a 24-year period.