Two cases of sheep-associated malignant catarrhal fever (MCF) in pigs were diagnosed on a small farm in New York, and in Kentucky. In both cases, the initial diagnosis was based on histopathological changes representing typical lymphoproliferative vasculitis in multiple tissues of the affected pigs. Ovine herpesvirus 2 (OvHV-2) DNA was detected by polymerase chain reaction in the tissues of aff...

Ovine herpesvirus-2 (OvHV-2), a member of the gammaherpesviruses (genus Rhadinovirus), asymptomatically infects its natural host, the sheep, but causes malignant catarrhal fever (MCF) in susceptible hosts, such as cattle, deer and pigs. A permissive cell culture system for virus replication has not been identified but viral DNA is present within lymphoblastoid cell lines (LCLs) established from...

Malignant catarrhal fever (MCF) is the clinical manifestation of infection of certain ruminant species with one of a group of pathogenic gammaherpesviruses known as MCF viruses. Cattle and numerous exotic ruminant species are susceptible to clinical disease that may be sporadic or occasionally epidemic in nature. The most common MCF virus worldwide is ovine herpesvirus (OvHV)-2. Reservoir hosts...

Malignant catarrhal fever (MCF) is a generally fatal disease that primarily occurs in ruminants and is caused by a group of gammaherpesviruses. Outside of Africa MCF is mainly caused by ovine herpesvirus 2 (OvHV-2) which is carried subclinically by sheep. Cell-free virus is present in nasal secretions of shedding sheep and aerosol is the primary mode of transmission. Although OvHV-2 has never b...

The ongoing global spread of "exotic" farm animals, such as water buffaloes, which carry their native sets of viruses, may bear unknown risks for the animals, into whose ecological niches the former are introduced and vice versa. Here, we report on the occurrence of malignant catarrhal fever (MCF) on Swiss farms, where "exotic" water buffaloes were kept together with "native" animals, i.e. catt...

To the Editor: Malignant catarrhal fever (MCF) is an acute, generalized, and usually fatal disease previously thought to be restricted to mammals of the order Artiodactyla, often members of the subfamilies Bovinae, Cervidae, and Suidae (1). Although animals of the order Perissodactyla, family Equidae, have previously been considered not susceptible to ovine herpesvirus 2 (OvHV-2), we show that ...

Establishment of latent infection within specific tissues in the host is a common biological feature of the herpesviruses. In the case of bovine herpesvirus 2 (BoHV-2), latency is established in neuronal tissues, while bovine herpesvirus 4 (BoHV-4) and ovine herpesvirus 2 (OvHV-2) latent virus targets on cells of the monocytic lineage. This study was conducted in quest of BoHV-2, BoHV-4 and OvH...

BACKGROUND Malignant catarrhal fever (MCF) is a fatal herpesvirus infection, affecting various wild and domestic ruminants all over the world. Water buffaloes were reported to be particularly susceptible for the ovine herpesvirus-2 (OvHV-2) causing the sheep-associated form of MCF (SA-MCF). This report describes the first case of possibly caprine-associated malignant catarrhal fever symptoms in...

Malignant catarrhal fever is a sporadic, often fatal viral disease affecting multiple species, including swine. Ovine herpesvirus type 2 (OvHV-2), the cause of sheep-associated malignant catarrhal fever, incites nonspecific clinical signs and occasional death in swine. An outbreak of malignant catarrhal fever in a farrow-to-finish swine farm in the United States was confirmed by identifying OvH...