Detection and genotyping of bovine viral diarrhea virus found contaminating commercial veterinary vaccines, cell lines, and fetal bovine serum lots originating in Mexico

Gómez-Romero, Ninnet; Velazquez-Salinas, Lauro; Ridpath, Julia F.; Verdugo-Rodríguez, Antonio; Basurto-Alcántara, Francisco Javier

In this communication, we report the presence of RNA of bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) as a contaminant of different biological products used in Mexico for veterinary vaccine production. For this purpose, six batches of monovalent vaccines, eight cell line batches used for vaccine production, and 10 fetal bovine serum lots (FBS) commercially available in Mexico from different suppliers were tested by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Viral RNA was detected in 62.5% of the samples analyzed. Phylogenetic analysis revealed the presence of the subgenotypes BVDV-1a, 1b, and BVDV-2a in the tested samples. Collectively, these findings indicate that contamination by BVDV RNA occurs in commercial vaccines and reagents used in research and production of biological products. The ramifications of this contamination are discussed.