Pathogenicity of a modified-live pseudorabies vaccine virus in lambs

Subcutaneous injections of modified-live pseudorabies virus (PRV) vaccine into lambs caused clinical signs and death within 1 week after injection in 4 of 5 inoculated lambs. The clinical signs included depression, high fever, muscle fasciculations and convulsions, occasionally followed by death within 48 hours of the initial clinical signs. Histologic examinations and virus isolation procedures demonstrated PRV in the CNS of infected lambs. Sera from sick lambs remained negative for PRV antibodies. Two subsequent serial passages of the vaccine virus in lambs resulted in similar clinical signs and death in 6 of 10 inoculated lambs. Again, PRV was isolated from tissues of sick lambs, and the histopathologic findings were characteristic of the disease. Affected lambs remained seronegative to PRV, as did lambs that remained clinically normal after inoculation. There was no evidence of PRV transmission to uninoculated lambs and pigs housed with the infected lambs.