Comparative analysis on the 5(′)-untranslated region of bovine viral diarrhea virus isolated in Korea

Park, J.S; Moon, H.J; Lee, B.C; Hwang, W.S; Yoo, H.S; Kim, D.Y; Park, B.K

Samples of 249 bovine abortuses, one intestine, and four diarrheal stools from 254 cows were collected, and bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) was detected by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Subsequently, virus isolation was preformed with PCR-positive samples, and then PCR product of 5(′)-untranslated region (UTR) of BVDV isolate was sequenced and analyzed. Among the samples collected, 20 (from 17 bovine abortuses, one intestine, and two diarrheal stools) were positive for BVDV RT-PCR; four BVDVs (from two bovine abortuses, one intestine, and one diarrheal stool) were isolated. When the four isolates were biotyped in cell culture, one BVDV isolate from a bovine abortus was cytopathic and the others were non-cytopathic. In addition, three isolates were genotyped as BVDV-1 and one isolate from a diarrheal stool as BVDV-2. In phylogenetic analysis, it suggested that the BVDV-2 isolate in Korea is closer to the North American strains than Asian strains. This is the first report on the identification and isolation of BVDV-2 in Korea.