[Bovine diarrhea virus: an update]

Bovine Viral Diarrhea Virus (BVDV) is a pathogen of cattle, member of the family Flaviviridae, genus pestivirus, which also includes Classical Swine Fever Virus (CSFV, or hog cholera virus), and Border Disease Virus of sheep (BDV). It causes important economical losses associated mainly with reproductive failure. Pestiviruses are small enveloped viruses, with a diameter of about 40 nm. The nucleocapsid is probably icosahedral . The genome consists of a single stranded positive RNA, encoding approximately 430 kD of proteic product. Genetic expression consists of the synthesis of a polyprotein which is co- and post-translationally processed. According to its behavior "in vitro" two biotypes can be distinguished: non cytopathic (ncp) and cytopathic (cp), most probably derived from the ncp through mutations and/or recombination. BVDV is able to cross the placenta and infect the fetus, causing a variety of problems, from fetal death to the birth of a persistently infected (P) calf, according to the fetal age at the time of infection. PI animals are immunotolerant to the virus and shed it in all secretions. Only the ncp biotype has been isolated from PI animals. The superinfection of a PI animal with a cp strain causes mucosal disease, always fatal. Outbreaks of a severe, sometimes hemorrhagic disease, caused by ncp BVDV, have occurred in Canada and USA since 1993. Genomic and serological differences between the "traditional" strains and the viruses isolated from these outbreaks led to the division of BVDV in subtypes I and II, both including cp and ncp strains. Analyses of the non coding 5'-UTR zone of the genome of pestiviruses from different species (bovine, ovine, porcine) suggest that there are at least 3 genotypes within the genus. A new classification of these viruses, based on genomic sequence instead of species of origin, has been proposed. Genomic heterogeneity exists in the BVDV genome, which presents 3 hypervariable zones, 2 of them in the major neutralizing protein. In Argentina prevalence of BVDV antibodies in cattle population is 70%, and the prevalence of persistent infections is around 1%.