Detection of herpesvirus serum antibodies in red deer (Cervus elaphus) imported into the Czech Republic]

Antibodies reacting in the virus-neutralisation test with bovine herpesvirus (BHV-1), the causative agent of infectious bovine rhinotracheitis (IBR), were demonstrated in a herd of red deer (Cervus elaphus) imported into the Czech Republic. Sera from the same collection were later tested against a homologous virus, termed herpesvirus cervidae 1 (HVC-1), isolated from red deer in Scotland. Out of 165 imported animals, antibodies to BHV-1 were found in 68% and to HVC-1 in 71% of the animals. Titres of antibodies to the two viruses ranged from 1 : 2 to 1 : 4 or were occasionally greater. As documented by several experimental studies carried out abroad, the HVC-1 virus, though antigenically closely related to BHV-1 virus, is not pathogenic to cattle under natural conditions. Antibodies which reacted with both BHV-1 and HVC-1 were also demonstrated in 3 out of 7 roebucks randomly shot in this territory.