Studies on the antigenic relationship between bovine subgroup 2 and conventional mammalian adenoviruses using immunofluorescence

Lesions and transmission of experimental adenovirus hemorrhagic disease in black-tailed deer fawns

Adenovirus infection was the cause of an epizootic of hemorrhagic disease that is believed to have killed thousands of mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) in California during the latter half of 1993. A systemic vasculitis with pulmonary edema and hemorrhagic enteropathy or a localized vasculitis associated with necrotizing stomatitis/pharyngitis/glossitis or osteomyelitis of the jaw were common necropsy findings in animals that died during this epizootic. To study transmission of adenovirus infection in deer and susceptibility of black-tailed deer (Odocoileus hemionus columbianus) fawns to adenovirus infection, six 3-6-month-old black-tailed fawns were divided into two treatment groups. One group was inoculated intravenously and the other group was inoculated through the mucous membranes of the eyes, nose and mouth with purified adenovirus. Each treatment group also included two additional fawns (four total) that were not inoculated but were exposed to inoculated animals (contact animals). One fawn served as a negative control. Between 4 and 16 days postinoculation, 8/10 fawns developed systemic or localized infection with lesions identical to lesions seen in animals with natural disease that died during the epizootic. Transmission was by direct contact, and the route of inoculation did not affect the incubation period or the distribution of the virus (systemic or the localized infection). Immunohistochemical analysis using polyclonal antiserum against bovine adenovirus type 5 demonstrated staining in endothelial cells of vessels in numerous tissues in animals with systemic infection and endothelial staining only in vessels subtending necrotic foci in the upper alimentary tract in animals with the localized form of the disease. All inoculated or exposed animals had staining in the tonsillar epithelium. Transmission electron microscopic examination of lung and ileum from two fawns with pulmonary edema and hemorrhagic enteropathy demonstrated endothelial necrosis and adenovirus virions in endothelial cell nuclei. Adenovirus was reisolated in black-tailed deer pulmonary artery endothelial cells using lung homogenate of the first fawn that developed systemic adenovirus infection. Serum virus neutralization test results suggest that this deer adenovirus is a new serotype.

Bovine adenovirus type 10 identified in fatal cases of adenovirus-associated enteric disease in cattle by in situ hybridization

A severe, naturally occurring enteric disease of cattle in which adenovirus inclusions are present in the intestinal vascular endothelium has been recognized in several countries; three different adenovirus serotypes have been isolated from affected animals. An in situ hybridization technique for the detection of bovine adenoviral DNA was developed and applied to tissue from 13 cattle in Northern Ireland diagnosed to have the disease. Bovine adenovirus serotype 10 (BAV-10) was identified in the vascular inclusions of all cattle, providing strong evidence that adenoviral enteric vascular disease in cattle is associated with this serotype. The existence of BAV-10 has only recently been recognized. The first molecular biology-based technique for the diagnosis of BAV-10 infection is described. The animals in the present study are the first in which BAV-10 has had a confirmed role in a pathologic process.

Bovine adenovirus type 10: properties of viruses isolated from cases of bovine haemorrhagic enterocolitis

The isolation, serological classification and growth properties of adenoviruses isolated from fatal cases of haemorrhagic enterocolitis in calves are described. Four viruses, from different submissions, were isolated in cultures of calf testis cells and were identified as adenoviruses by electron microscopy. The four isolates were serologically identical and were classified as bovine adenovirus type 10 in cross-neutralisation tests with other bovine, ovine and porcine adenovirus species. Their growth in the nucleus of infected cells was accompanied by the production of typical adenovirus-associated inclusions. A serological survey to determine the incidence of infection with the virus in cattle in Northern Ireland demonstrated the presence of low levels of neutralising antibodies in 55 per cent of cattle over two years old, although only 8 per cent were positive at a 1/500 dilution of serum.

Antigenic relationship between human and animal adenovirus hexons determined by means of monoclonal antibodies directed against bovine adenovirus type 2 hexon

Eight monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) directed against bovine adenovirus (BAV) 2 subtype B hexon were studied with 12 different hexon types of human adenoviruses (AV) belonging to 5 different subgenera using indirect ELISA, passive hemagglutination (HA), and gel diffusion assays. Two hexon types of animal origin (BAV3 and SAV16) were investigated, too. The reactivity of the MAb IV.F3 was the broadest, i.e. in ELISA and HA experiments it reacted with all hexon types studied. Based on these results as well as on the results of gel diffusion assays, this MAb should recognize the genus specific epitope of adenovirus hexons. Three MAbs (CA12, III.B11, and A12) could recognize different epitopes showing intersubgenus or intertype specificities. In spite of the fact, that all the eight MAbs proved to be bound by the hexon of ORT/111 (BAV2 subtype B) blotted onto nitrocellulose filter, four of the eight MAbs (BB7, BH5, II.A9, and IV.F5) failed to react with any human, and animal hexon types used in the present experiments. The results suggest that a gradient of antigenic relationship may exist between BAV2 hexon and the hexons of human serotypes.