bovine viral diarrhea virus

International Common Names

• English: bovine diarrhoea virus; bovine diarrhoea-mucosal disease virus; bovine pestivirus; bovine viral diarrhoea virus

English acronym

• BVDV
• BV-MDV

• Domain: Virus
•     Group: "Positive sense ssRNA viruses"
•         Group: "RNA viruses"
•             Order: Nidovirales
•                 Family: Flaviviridae
•                     Genus: Pestivirus
•                         Species: bovine viral diarrhea virus

Bovine viral diarrhoea virus (BVDV) is a Pestivirus in the family Flaviviridae and is closely related to classical swine fever virus and border disease virus. Two antigenically distinct genotypes of BVDV exist, types 1 and 2. They may be differentiated from each other, and from other pestiviruses, by monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) directed against the E2 major glycoprotein, or by genetic analysis (Pellerin et al., 1994; Ridpath et al., 1994). A multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) has been described that enables virus typing direct from blood samples (Gilbert et al., 1999). Type 1 virus is generally more common, although the prevalence of type 2 is reported to be almost as high as type 1 in North America. BVDV of both genotypes may occur in non-cytopathogenic and cytopathogenic forms (biotypes), classified according to whether or not it produces visible change in cell cultures. Usually, it is the non-cytopathogenic biotype that circulates in cattle populations. Each biotype has a specific role in a variety of clinical syndromes - acute, congenital and chronic infections. Type 2 viruses are usually non-cytopathogenic and have been associated with outbreaks of severe acute infection. Clinically inapparent infections are common with both genotypes.

There is an increasing awareness of an “atypical” or “HoBi-like” pestivirus - a putative BVDV type 3, in cattle, also associated with clinical disease (Bauermann and Ridpath, 2015; Giammarioli et al., 2015; Weber et al., 2016).