title: Detection of bovine herpesvirus 1 sequences in yaks (Bos grunniens) with keratoconjunctivitis, using a highly sensitive nested polymerase chain reaction.
abstract: Thirty-seven yaks (Bos grunniens) with keratoconjunctivitis and 22 healthy yaks were used to investigate the role of bovine herpesvirus 1 (BoHV-1) in keratoconjunctivitis in yaks. Nucleic acid sequences of BoHV-1 glycoproteins B and E were detected in conjunctival swabs from all yaks with keratoconjunctivitis using a nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR). In 21 yaks, BoHV-1 sequences were detected along with Moraxella bovis (M. bovis) and Neisseria spp. The amplified BoHV-1 sequences were identical, and no nucleotide variation was observed when compared with a BoHV-1 reference strain using single-strand conformation polymorphism analysis of the amplified DNA sequences. Interestingly, BoHV-1 sequences could not be detected in samples from healthy yaks. However, conjunctival swabs from two healthy yaks (9.09%) yielded M. bovis and Neisseria spp. Samples from 35 yaks with keratoconjunctivitis showed positive reactions in an avidin biotin enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for BoHV-1 antibodies; all the healthy yaks were seronegative. This is the first report of a possible association of BoHV-1 with keratoconjunctivitis in yaks.
authors.affiliation: National Research Centre on Yak, Dirang 790 101, Arunachal Pradesh, India. samiranvet@gmail.com
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bandyopadhyay
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Das
authors.forename: K K
authors.initials: KK
authors.lastname: Baruah
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Chakravarty
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Chakrabarty
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sarkar
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Pal
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: De
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Pan
authors.forename: A K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Bera
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bandyopadhyay
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Bhattacharya
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002417:Cattle; D003228:Conjunctiva / Q000821:virology; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis; D006566:Herpesviridae Infections / Q000662:veterinary* / Q000821:virology; D007242:Herpesvirus 1, Bovine / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D007639:Keratoconjunctivitis, Infectious / Q000821:virology*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000592:standards / Q000662:veterinary*; D018807:Polymorphism, Single-Stranded Conformational; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D004279:DNA, Viral