A serological survey of bovine herpesvirus-1 infection in selected dairy herds in northern and central Italy

Abstract

Serum samples from a total of 6979 dairy cattle from 55 herds in northern Italy (51 herds) and central Italy (4 herds), were examined by the serum neutralization test for the presence of antibody to bovine herpesvirus-1 (BHV-1). It was found that 84.31% of the farms selected in northern Italy and all the farms from central Italy had seropositive animals at titers of 1:4 or higher. The prevalence of infection was essentially the same among the cattle populations of the two selected areas of the country, being of 34.99% in the north and of 38.65% in central regions. A comparison of the data from the present study with those obtained in a serological survey conducted in Italy in 1966, shows that the rate of seropositive cattle to BHV-1 has increased by about 5.0% in the last 30 years.