A study on latency in calves by five vaccines against bovine herpesvirus-1 infection

Four bovine herpesvirus-1 (BHV-1) commercial vaccines, three of which (vaccines B, D, E) were modified live vaccines (MLV) and one (vaccine A) identified as a live strain of BHV-1 gE negative, were used for vaccination of calves, using three calves for each vaccine. Three months after vaccination calves were subjected to dexamethasone (DMS) treatment following which virus was recovered from calves inoculated with vaccine B and from those given vaccine D. No virus reactivation was obtained in calves, which received vaccines A or E. The DNA extracted from the two reactivated viruses was subjected to restriction endonuclease analysis. The restriction pattern of the isolate obtained from calves vaccinated with vaccine D differs significantly from that of the original vaccine, whereas the reactivated virus from calves given vaccine B conserved the general pattern of the original vaccine strain. For each reactivated virus in this experiment (B and D) as well as for the isolate obtained from calves vaccinated with a further MLV (vaccine C) in a previous trial, three calves were inoculated. No clinical signs of disease were detected in any of the inoculated calves during the observation period. When the nine calves were exposed 40 days later to challenge infection with virulent BHV-1, they remained healthy and no virus was isolated from their nasal swabbings. These results indicate that some BHV-1 vaccines considered in the project can establish latency in the vaccinated calves, however, the latency does not appear to interfere with the original properties of the vaccines in terms of safety and efficacy.