Experimentally-induced border disease in goats.
Twelve of 14 pregnant goats were inoculated intramuscularly with a cytopathic strain of bovine virus diarrhoea (BVD) virus at different stages of gestation. All infected goats developed neutralizing antibodies against the virus. Four nannies infected at about 40 days of pregnancy each had an empty uterus when killed after four months of pregnancy. Out of five nannies infected at about 60 days gestation, one aborted three weeks before full term; the other four were killed at about four months gestation at which time one had an empty uterus, while the uteri of the other three, contained extremely small, autolyzed foetuses and 1.1 to 1.5 l of foetal fluid. Three nannies infected at about 100 days of pregnancy produced five clinically normal offspring. Histopathological lesions were found in the central nervous system in all examinable offspring from the infected nannies, this being consistent with reported findings in cases of border disease in goats. Both cytopathic and non-cytopathic BVD viruses were isolated in these cases. Kids from two nannies infected at 60 and 100 days of pregnancy, respectively, had precolostral antibodies against BVD virus.
D000818:Animals; D001882:Border Disease / Q000473:pathology*; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D005333:Fetus; D006041:Goats; D010920:Placenta / Q000473:pathology; D011247:Pregnancy; D012756:Sheep; D012757:Sheep Diseases / Q000473:pathology*