In vitro fertilization and culture of ova from heifers infected with bovine herpesvirus-1 (BHV-1)

Oocytes collected from heifers infected experimentally with bovine herpesvirus-1 (BHV-1, 10(8) TCID(50)/ml) and from dexamethasone-treated (stressed) BHV-1 seropositive animals were matured, fertilized and co-cultured in vitro for 7 d prior to being tested for the presence of the virus. Nineteen of the 21 infected donors yielded embryos and follicular fluids that were BHV-1 positive. Oviductal cells (17 21 ) and uterine fluids (14 21 ) were also positive. Titers for the positive samples ranged 10(1.6)-10(9.6) TCID(50)/ml. The cleavage rate and the proportion of blastocysts that developed from oocytes of BHV-1 infected animals were 26% (n=361) and 6% compared with 56% (n=112) and 26% for uninfected control donors (P<0.05). In contrast, embryos produced from dexamethasone-treated animals tested negative for BHV-1 and yielded 11% blastocysts as compared with 25% for the control group. The results indicate that transferable-stage embryos can be produced by IVF from infected BHV-1 animals and that such embryos are associated with the virus, and might have potential for disease transmission.