Identificação e caracterização molecular do Bovine alphaherpesvirus 1 e Bovine alphaherpesvirus 5 em bovinos no estado de Pernambuco

Abstract

The objective of this research was to identify and molecularly characterize bovine alphaherpesvirus types 1 and 5 (BoAHV1 and BoAHV5, respectively) in the state of Pernambuco. The research was divided into two stages, in the first stage were analyzed samples of central nervous system such as cerebellum, rete mirabilis, brain stem, telencephalon and diencephalon from 32 animals that died in the period from 2012 to 2016 attended at CBG / UFRPE and had the fragments of the nervous system embedded in paraffin using Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR). In the second stage, fragments of the central nervous system of 81 cattle submitted to necropsy which died showing neurological clinical signs were collected at the CBG / UFRPE between January 2017 and December 2020. The samples were collected in tubes containing Minimum Essential Medium (MEM) and inoculated in cell culture, and those with cytopathic effect were characterized moleculary. From the first stage, BoAHV5 DNA was found in 6.25% (2/32) of the samples preserved in paraffin, confirmed by sequencing. From the samples preserved in MEM, referring to the second stage, inoculated in cell culture, BoAHV1 was isolated in 4.93% (4/81) of the samples. The results of the occurrence of BoAHV5 in paraffinized material as well as BoAHV1 isolates in animals with neurological clinical signs demonstrate the importance of considering bovine alphaherpesvirus as a differential diagnosis for neurological diseases such as rabies, an endemic disease among cattle in the northeast region. In addition, it is noteworthy that BoAHV1 is an important pathogen responsible for abortions and, consequently, significant economic impacts on livestock, requiring the implementation of policies that range from educational campaigns to greater sanitary rigor in traffic, trade and need for immunization of cattle.