CASE REPORT: A DISEASE OUTBREAK OF BOVINE RESPIRATORY SYNCYTIAL VIRUSIN TAIWAN

摘要

A dairy farm with 300 Holstein cattle in Hsin-Chu County, Taiwan, had an outbreak of a respiratory disease from the end of September to November, 2013. Adult animals (1-5-year-old) showed clinical symptoms of anorexia, depression, fever, and dropped milk production during the early stage of infection. In severe cases, animals suffered from dyspnea with frothy saliva at the edge of opened mouth. Samples were collected from eight sick animals, amplified in the baby hamster kidney cell-21 (BHK-21), andthe cytopathic effect (CPE) was confirmed. Primers specific to Bovine respiratory syncytial virus (BRSV), Bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV), Bovine herpesvirus type I (BHV-I), Bovine ephemeral fever virus (BEFV) and Mannheimia haemolytica were used to identify the pathogen responsible for this respiratory disease by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Results of sequence analysis confirmed that BRSV is the causative pathogen for the respiratory infection. This is, to the best of our knowledge, the first disease case of BRSV reported in Taiwan.