[Continuous production of FMD virus in a two-step bioreactor system].

The so-called Goettingen two step bioreactor system has been tested in a pilot-project in Argentina to produce FMD-virus. With a 10-1-reactor a cell density of 3.5-4 x 10(6) cells/ml could be maintained and virus titres of up to 10(7.2) TCID/ml were reached. A correlation existed between inoculum titre and incubation period of virus. With lower inoculum a higher titre of harvested virus and a shorter incubation period were obtained. In spite of considerable problems with peripheral infrastructure and laboratory equipment the bioreactor system did work reliably. The project was terminated before final results of virus yield could be reached.