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Intra-nasal Inoculation of American Bison ( Bison bison) with Ovine Herpesvirus-2 (OvHV-2) Reliably Reproduces Malignant Catarrhal Fever

Wyoming State Veterinary Laboratory, Laramie, WY (DO'T, DLM), Animal Diseases Research Unit, US Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service, Washington State University, Pullman, WA (NST, HL), and Department of Veterinary Microbiology and Pathology, Washington State University, Pullman, WA (JLO, TBC)

Sheep-associated malignant catarrhal fever (MCF) due to infection with ovine herpesvirus 2 (OvHV-2) is common in commercial herds of American bison ( Bison bison). Inability to propagate OvHV-2 in vitro has been a constraint on experimental studies of the disease. We sought to establish whether nasal secretions from sheep that shed OvHV-2 might induce the disease in bison and to define a minimum challenge dose. Fourteen bison were nebulized with sheep nasal sections containing 10³–10⁷ OvHV-2 deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) copies. Most challenged bison (11/14, 78.6%) developed clinical signs at 29–52 days postnebulization (DPN). The mean incubation time was 42.18 (±7.33 SD) DPN. Using real-time polymerase chain reaction, we detected OvHV-2 DNA in peripheral blood leukocytes at 21–31 DPN. All bison that developed MCF had antibodies against the MCF group viruses. Gross and histologic lesions were typical of the acute disease. There was no morphologic evidence of a dose-related difference in the severity or distribution of lesions. This is the first successful reproduction of MCF in bison using a nasal route of exposure. Experimentally challenged bison are more susceptible to MCF, compared with experimentally challenged domestic cattle in a previous experiment. Bison are a pertinent ruminant species in which the pathogenesis of the disease can be investigated.

Key words: Bison bison; experimental infection; malignant catarrhal fever; ovine herpesvirus-2; pneumonia.

Request reprints from Donal O'Toole, Wyoming State Veterinary Laboratory, 1174 Snowy Range Road, Laramie, WY 82070 (USA). E-mail: DOT{at}uwyo.edu