The mediator of cellular immunity. XII. Inhibition of activated T cells by Newcastle disease virus.

Newcastle disease virus (NDV) can interact in at least two ways with rat T cells. By adsorbing to circulating lymphocytes, the virus can transiently deflect the cells from lymph nodes and inflammatory exudates induced in the peritoneal cavity. T cells are affected regardless of age, state of activation, or position in the mitotic cycle. The effect is reversible and is mediated not only by infectious (I)-NDV, but also by UV-NDV which cannot achieve a complete replication cycle in eggs. But I-NDV has another lasting effect on activated T cells. It is revealed in the failure of virus-treated thoracic duct lymphocytes to transfer cellular resistance to Listeria monocytogenes, delayed-type hypersensitivity to soluble antigens of the parasite, and the permanent exclusion of labeled S-phase lymphocytes from inflammatory foci. Activated T cells are inhibited by virus multiplicites which have little if any effect upon the proliferative potential of antigen-sensitive T cells or localization of labeled small lymphocytes in lymph nodes. The underlying mechanism has not been determined; however, there are reasons for thinking that NDV has a lethal effect upon activated T cells, because the latter are permissive for virus replication.

Gas chromatography for detection of viral infections.

Gas chromatograms of sertim extracts of dogs inoculated with canine infectious hepatitis virus showed two metabolites not observed in uninoculated animals. Chromatograms of extracts of tissue cultures of dog kidney, inoculated with viruses causing canine hepatitis, herpes, and distemper, and a parainfluenza virus similar to simian virus-5, each showed two or more different metabolites. Two of the distinguishing products from cultures inoculated with hepatitis virus were chromatographically indistinguishable from those found in serums of the animals.

Natural variation of canine parvovirus.

Canine parvovirus was first recognized during 1978. Analysis of isolates collected since its emergence revealed that viruses circulating after 1980 were antigenically different from earlier isolates. Monoclonal antibodies clearly distinguished the two strains, some being specific for either the old or the new viruses. Restriction enzyme analysis of viral DNA's showed that the post-1980 viruses were similar to earlier isolates, but some restriction site differences were present in the new strain. These results suggest that the canine parvoviruses infecting dogs in the seven areas of the United States that were sampled derive from a variant virus that replaced the original strain during 1980.

Heterogeneity within the hemagglutinin genes of canine distemper virus (CDV) strains detected in Italy.

Canine distemper virus (CDV) is a highly contagious viral pathogen causing lethal disease in dogs and other mammalians. A high degree of genetic variation is found between recent CDV strains and the old CDV isolates used in the vaccines and such genetic variation is regarded as a possible cause of the increasing number of CDV-related diseases in dogs. The H gene shows the greatest extent of genetic variation that allows for distinction of various lineages, according to a geographical pattern of distribution and irrespective of the species of identification. In the present study, hemagglutinin (H) genes obtained from field strains detected from clinical specimens of Italian dogs were analyzed genetically. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that a homogeneous group of CDV strains is widespread in Italian dogs, all which are included into the European lineage. Unexpectedly, strains 179/04 and 48/05 clustered along with CDVs of the Arctic lineage, the highest identity being to strain GR88 (98.0 and 98.4%aa, respectively). The full-length sequence of a red fox CDV strain, 207/00 was also determined and analyzed. The H protein of the fox CDV strain was unrelated to strains within the major European lineage. These results suggest that at least three different CDV lineages are present in Italy.

Production of interferon by bovine peripheral blood monocytes infected with bovid herpesvirus 2.

The production of interferon by bovine peripheral blood leukocytes infected with bovid herpesvirus 2 (BHV-2) was investigated in preparation for studying mechanisms of resistance to BHV-2. It was found that bovine peripheral blood monocytes produced high levels of interferon in response to BHV-2 inoculated at a multiplicity of 1. Virus-induced interferon was not stable at pH 2, was destroyed at 56 degrees C or by incubation with trypsin and was active against both vesicular stomatitis virus and BHV-2. Interferon of high specific activity was produced by incubating monocytes for 5 h with BHV-2 in serum-containing medium, replacing the inoculum with serum-free medium for an additional 16 h, and concentrating the serum-free medium by dialysis against dry polyethylene glycol. Interferon concentrations of 40,000 units per mg of protein were readily attained.

Characterization of Brucella canis protein antigens and polypeptide antibody responses of infected dogs.

The cytoplasmic protein antigens (CPAg) of Brucella canis were characterized by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and analysis of 35S-labeled polypeptides. Approximate molecular weights of the immunoreactive polypeptides were determined by migration patterns of the immunoprecipitated polypeptides after SDS-PAGE or Western immunoblotting of sera collected at various times after experimental infection of dogs. Polypeptides were specifically precipitated by sera of infected dogs, but not from the sera of normal or false-positive (seropositive, non-infected) animals. During the initial month after infection, proteins with molecular weight masses (MW) of approximately 18, 22, 31, 42 and 54 kDa were commonly recognized. A 20-kDa polypeptide was first recognized at 8-10 weeks after infection, but it was detected inconsistently after 6 months. Additional polypeptides detected from 2 to 12 months post-infection had MW of 22, 66-68 and, less regularly, 42, 60, 82, 100 and greater than 200 kDa. The polypeptides most consistently recognized in sera from B. canis-infected dogs had MW of 18, 22 and 68 kDa.

Safety and efficacy of a modified-live canine coronavirus vaccine in dogs.

The safety and the efficacy of a modified-live (ML) canine coronavirus (CCoV) vaccine strain 257/98-3c was evaluated in 14 dogs seronegative and virus negative for CCoV. For the safety test, four dogs were inoculated, two by intramuscular and two by oronasal route, with 10 times the vaccinal dose. During the observation period (28 days) all dogs did not display any local or systemic reaction. For the efficacy test, eight dogs were vaccinated by intramuscular (four dogs-group A) or by oronasal route (four dogs-group B). Two dogs were maintained as non-vaccinated controls. In the dogs of group A, vaccinal virus was not detected in faecal samples by virus isolation (VI) and by PCR assay, while in the dogs of group B, the virus was revealed for six median days only by PCR. Twenty-eight days later, the vaccinated and control dogs were challenged with a field CCoV strain. After the challenge, the vaccinated dogs did not display clinical signs and the dogs of group A shed virus for 5.5 median days, evaluated by VI, and for 10 median days evaluated by PCR. Virus shedding was not observed, both by VI and PCR assay, in the dogs of group B. The two control dogs displayed moderate clinical signs and the virus was detected by VI for 14.5 median days starting from day 3 post-challenge (dpc 3) and by PCR assay for 23 median days starting from dpc 1.

Modern veterinary vaccines and the Shaman's apprentice.

This paper is an overview and assessment of new, commercially available veterinary vaccines placed in a historical context. The authors critically evaluate the current state of the field of veterinary vaccines in both food and companion animals and the promises for future vaccine development. The authors maintain that there is considerable variability in safety and sustained efficacy among veterinary vaccines, especially those developed for companion animals. It is proposed that establishment of an international vaccine advisory committee be supported which would function to apprise the veterinary profession of the current status of vaccines and their use.

Minute virus of canines (MVC, canine parvovirus type-1): pathogenicity for pups and seroprevalence estimate.

Minute virus of canines (MVC, canine parvovirus type-1) caused inapparent to severe illness in neonatal specific-pathogen-free pups exposed by the oronasal route. The experimental disease was generally mild. Four of 21 infected pups had clinical signs of respiratory illness, but only 2 pups, not euthanized during the early postinoculation period, developed severe illness or died. Principal pathologic changes included bronchitis and interstitial pneumonia with various degrees of lymphadenitis. In contrast to the reported field cases, enteric signs were absent in the experimentally infected animals. Histopathologic changes in the small intestine were mild or absent. Bronchial, bronchiolar, and alveolar epithelial cells appeared to be the sites of initial and most extensive viral growth, reflecting the pattern of histopathologic changes. The disease caused by MVC was mild in comparison to that caused by canine parvovirus-type 2. MVC now appears to be established as a cause of illness in young pups and of transplacental infections with embryo resorption. The prevalence of MVC hemagglutination-inhibiting antibodies was high (approximately 50%) in adult dog sera from widely separated geographic areas of the United States.

Assessment of maternal antibody decay and response to canine parvovirus vaccination using a clinic-based enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.

Interference caused by maternal antibodies is considered a major cause of canine parvovirus (CPV) vaccination failure. In this study, an immunoblot clinic-based enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method was used to detect CPV antibodies in sera of pregnant bitches and their offspring to study the response of pups to vaccination. With a easily accessible procedure for CPV antibody determination, the veterinarian should be able to gauge the response of pups after vaccination. The validity of the technique was tested in parallel against the standard hemagglutination inhibition (HI) test. Results of the ELISA were correlated with those of the standard HI method for quantification of CPV antibodies. With the ELISA, successfully immunized pups were identified, allowing for a more reliable and cost-effective program of vaccination. This simple clinic-based test could be used for the assessment of vaccination status of pups during the critical phase of 6 to about 16 weeks of age. This study is the first in which vaccination response to CPV in pups was followed, using a clinic-based ELISA for CPV antibody monitoring.

Fatal disease in nursing puppies associated with minute virus of canines.

Thirteen cases of a previously undescribed parvoviral infection affecting puppies ranging in age from 5 to 21 days is described. The cases were originally thought to represent an unusual pathologic manifestation of canine parvovirus-2 (CPV-2) infection. However, failure to confirm CPV-2 infection in any of the cases suggested a different parvovirus was involved. Minute virus of canines (MVC) was subsequently isolated from a case by using the Walter Reed Canine Cell Line, the only cell line which will support the growth of MVC. The pathologic and virologic findings for these 13 cases are described in this report.

Histological and histochemical characterisation of mammary gland tissue of cows infected with foot-and-mouth disease by contact exposure.

Foot-and-mouth disease virus was observed to replicate in secretory epithelial cells of bovine mammary gland alveoli as a result of systemic infection initiated by exposure to infected animals. Viral antigens were demonstrated using fluorescent antibody and immunoperoxidase labelling techniques before the development of signs of clinical disease. In addition, labelled antigens were observed associated with cytoplasmic-like fragments in luminal membrane limited structures. Histologically, lesions of the alveolar secretory epithelium consisted of focal necrosis of these cells which eventually sloughed into the lumen.

Assessment of immunization response to canine distemper virus vaccination in puppies using a clinic-based enzyme-linked immunosorbant assay.

To study the response to vaccination, an enzyme-linked immunosorbant assay (ELISA) immunoblot method was developed and tested to assay canine distemper virus (CDV) IgG antibody in puppies and compared to a standard virus neutralization (VN) test (r2 = 0.748). Ten litters of four puppies each were used in a vaccination study. Seventy-six percent of vaccinated puppies immunized with a modified live vaccine were successfully protected against CDV at 6 weeks of age. One puppy remained seronegative after vaccination at 6 and 9 weeks of age. This is the first report of vaccination responses of puppies to CDV using an in-clinic test kit based on solid-phase immunoassay technology.

Properties of cell wall antigens of virulent Brucella canis and a less mucoid variant of reduced pathogenicity.

Properties of cell wall antigenic extracts of 2 Brucella canis strains (wild type, M+; and a less mucoid variant, M-) were compared. Cell wall antigens of each strain were extracted by 2 different methods and compared with respect to their serologic, chromatographic, and surface properties. In addition, selected enzymes were used to compare antigen sensitivity to degradation. Analysis of extracted antigens was done by gel immunodiffusion and immunoelectrophoresis. Two cell wall antigens (2-R and 3-R) were present in extracts of wild type (M+) B canis that had been treated with hot (65 C) phosphate-buffered saline solution (PBSS). Three cell wall antigens (2-S, 3A-S, 3B-S) were revealed in saline extracts of the M- variant. Hot (100 C) 1% sodium deoxycholate extracted an additional antigen (1-R or 1-S) from cells (M+ or M-, respectively) which had previously been treated with hot PBSS. Certain properties of the B canis antigen extracts were examined by ion exchange chromatography, agarose gel chromatography, affinity chromatography, and enzyme degradation. Hydrophobic properties of the cell wall antigens were examined by their behavior in divalent cation, polyethylene glycol, and acid solutions. The antigens of B canis (M+) cells extracted with hot PBSS were smaller in size, had a lower net negative charge, and were more hydrophobic than those of the M- cells.

Use of modified live feline panleukopenia virus vaccine to immunize dogs against canine parvovirus.

Modified live feline panleukopenia virus (FPLV) vaccine protected dogs against canine parvovirus (CPV) infection. However, unlike the long-lived (greater than or equal to 20-month) immunity engendered by CPV infection, the response of dogs to living FPLV was variable. Doses of FPLV (snow leopard strain) in excess of 10(5.7) TCID50 were necessary for uniform immunization; smaller inocula resulted in decreased success rates. The duration of immunity, as measured by the persistence of hemagglutination-inhibiting antibody, was related to the magnitude of the initial response to vaccination; dogs with vigorous initial responses resisted oronasal CPV challenge exposure 6 months after vaccination, and hemagglutination-inhibiting antibodies persisted in such dogs for greater than 1 year. Limited replication of FPLV in dogs was demonstrated, but unlike CPV, the feline virus did not spread to contact dogs or cats. Adverse reactions were not associated with living FPLV vaccination, and FPLV did not interfere with simultaneous response to attenuated canine distemper virus.

Canine adenovirus type 2-induced immunity to two canine adenoviruses in pups with maternal antibody.

Twenty-four Beagle pups with high levels of maternal antibody to canine adenovirus type 1 (CAV-1) and canine adenovirus type 2 (CAV-2) were oronasally inoculated with CAV-2 at 4 weeks of age. The CAV-2 was isolated from pharyngeal swabs on postinoculation days 2 through 6. In spite of the infection, maternal antibody continued to decrease for 4 to 8 postinoculation weeks, and then homologous CAV-2 neutralizing antibody and, to a lesser extent, CAV-1 neutralizing antibody began to increase. When these pups were challenge inoculated with CAV-1 and CAV-2 at a time when maternal antibody to CAV-1 would normally have disappeared, they were immune. In addition, 3 pups with maternal antibody to CAV-1 and CAV-2 were intramuscularly inoculated with CAV-2 at 3 weeks of age. Virus was not isolated from these pups, and maternal antibody decreased at a normal rate. These pups were not immune to challenge inoculation with CAV-1 and CAV-2.

Hemagglutination by canine parvovirus: serologic studies and diagnostic applications.

Conditions for canine parvoviral hemagglutination (HA) and hemagglutination-inhibition (HI) reactions were defined. The HA phenomena were used to differentiate canine parvovirus (CPV) from feline panleukopenia virus (FPV), mink enteritis virus (MEV), and minute virus of canines. Serologic comparisons of the CPV, FPV, and MEV by HA-HI and serum-neutralization tests indicated that CPV, FPV, and MEV were antigenically similar but were different from minute virus of canines. Diagnostic application of HA tests to fecal samples from acute cases of enteritis was discussed. Combinating HA tests with HI tests on fecal samples provided a rapid and specific diagnostic method for CPV infection. Secular seroprevalence studies indicated the emergence of CPV infeciton in the United States dog population-at-large in 1978.

Virus reactivation in bitches with a medical history of herpesvirus infection.

Virologic and pathologic investigations were done on prednisolone-treated bitches with a history of canine herpesvirus (CHV) infection. Reactivation of CHV was demonstrated in 5 Beagle bitches after daily administration of 600 mg of prednisolone for 5 days. The reactivation was confirmed in 4 of 5 bitches. Canine herpesvirus was recovered from nasal, oral, vaginal, and ocular secretions on the 5th to 21st days after initiation of treatment with prednisolone, and also from nasal mucosa and tonsil tissues. Results indicated that latent CHV infections develop and that the virus may be reactivated, without clinical signs, in dogs with a history of CHV infection.

Characterization of antigenic variation among mink enteritis virus isolates.

Three antigenic forms of natural field isolates of mink enteritis virus were revealed with a panel of monoclonal antibodies generated against the closely studied feline panleukopenia virus and canine parvovirus-2 virus. Two types (types 2 and 3) were shown to be closely related by agar-gel precipitin tests and by restriction enzyme mapping. However, types 2 and 3 differed from the type 1 isolates in the same tests. In cross-protection studies, inactivated viral vaccines made from any one of the 3 variant types of mink enteritis virus protected mink against challenge exposure by the homologous, as well as the heterologous, antigenic types.

Maternally derived immunity to canine parvovirus infection: transfer, decline, and interference with vaccination.

Antibody to canine parvovirus (CPV) was transferred from an immune bitch to her pups through the placenta and colostrum. Colostral transfer accounted for approximately 90% of the maternally-derived CPV antibody. After suckling, pups and hemagglutination-inhibition titers that averaged 50% of their dam's titer. Maternally derived CPV antibody declined with a half-life of 9.7 days. Pups with hemagglutination-inhibition titers greater than or equal to 1:80 were immune to oronasal challenge with virulent CPV, but any detectable hemagglutination-inhibition antibody (titer greater than or equal to 1:10) interfered with active immunization by modified-liver feline panleukopenia virus, inactivated feline panleukopenia virus, or inactivated CPV vaccines.