Ann. Méd. Vét., 2003, 147 (4), pp 215 - 247 Bovine herpesvirus 4Markine-Goriaynoff N., Minner F., Fays K. de, Gillet L., Thiry E., Pastoret P.P., Vanderplasschen A.Abstract :
Bovine herpesvirus 4 (BoHV-4) belongs to the Herpesviridae family, Gammaherpesvirinae subfamily, Rhadinovirus genus like human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8), the causative agent of Kaposi's sarcoma. BoHV-4 has a worldwide distribution in the cattle population. It was isolated from cattle showing various clinical signs as well as from healthy cattle. The interest of the scientific community for BoHV-4 can be divided into two reasons. First, BoHV-4 represents an homologous virus/host species model to study the biology of gammaherpesviruses. Second, the use of BoHV-4 as a recombinant vector for expression both in vitro and in vivo was proposed. For these reasons, a considerable amount of data was collected on this virus. In the present paper, the authors will present a general overview of the literature published on this virus addressing clinical, epidemiological and fundamental aspects of BoHV-4. Finally, in the light of their recent phylogenetic data, the authors will discuss the origin and the host species of BoHV-4 leading to the conclusion that this virus should be considered as a virus of the African buffalo rather than cattle. Get the PDF Contact person : a.vdplasschen@ulg.ac.be |