Immunogens of bovine viral diarrhea virus.

Bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) is a ubiquitous pathogen of cattle that induces economically important diseases affecting multiple organ systems. In the United States, over 150 biological products are licensed for control of BVDV. These products contain live or killed BVDV, and many products contain other viruses or bacteria. Potency tests for these vaccines are based on animal inoculation and serology. For live virus vaccines, titration of viral infectivity in cell culture is an accepted alternative to animal inoculation. The immunogens in a killed virus vaccine may be measured by enzyme linked immunoabsorbent assay. Immunogens of BVDV that stimulate a protective immune response have not been conclusively identified. Epitopes on a putative viral envelope glycoprotein, gp53, are involved in viral neutralization. Other viral glycoproteins, gp48 and gp25, are immunogenic but epitopes on these proteins do not stimulate production of antibodies that efficiently neutralize virus. Progress in developing meaningful in vitro assays for quantitation of BVDV immunogens awaits identification of viral proteins that stimulate a protective immunity.