Latency and reactivation of bovine herpesvirus 1 (BHV-1) in goats and of caprine herpesvirus 1 (CapHV-1) in calves

Bovine Herpesvirus 1 (BHV-1) and Caprine Herpesvirus 1 (CapHV1) are related members of the herpesvirus family. Since their natural hosts are often kep t in close contact with each other, concern was raised that a reservoir mig ht be established in the heterologous host in addition to the homologous ho st. To investigate this possibility, cross-infection experiments with BHV-1 in goats and CapHV-1 in calves were performed. BHV-1 infected goats develo ped mild disease signs during acute infection, whereas CapHV-1 infection in calves took a subclinical course. However, virus excretion and antibody pr oduction were indicative of successful cross-infection of both BHV-1 and Ca pHV-1. Reactivation of BHV-1 was achieved in 5 out of 8 goats as demonstrat ed by recurrent virus excretion and rising antibody titers. In constrast Ca pHV-1 in calves could not be reactivated experimentally. Nevertheless, PCR revealed that both viruses established latency in the trigeminal ganglia of the heterologous host. Based on these results we conclude that goats shoul d indeed be regarded as a potential BHV-1 reservoir, which must be consider ed during IBR eradication programs.