Search for Bovine Herpes Virus I in Iranian Frozen Semen

Bovine Herpes Virus-1 (BHV-1) belongs to the  Alpha herpesviral family. The virus is the cause of Infectious Bovine Rhinotracheitis (IBR) and Bovine Abortion. In the initial infection, the virus proliferates excessively. Moreover, shedding the virus leads to conditions in the latent phase of the disease. Infectious Bovine Vulvovaginit (IPV ) is the genital form of the disease that represents a genital infection and transmits via pustules and mucopurulent secretions. Exposure to the virus in genital mucosa leads to IPV infection through mating or artificial insemination and the diseases that can be transmitted to healthy livestock by frozen sperm during artificial insemination.

Viral contamination of the semen is one of the routes to spread the disease among dairy cattle. Therefore, we investigated the presence of the virus in domestic and frozen imported semen consumed in industrial dairy cattle farms.

In the present study, 140 frozen straws were collected. After melting each straw, 200 µl of obtained semen was used for DNA extraction, which was done directly on the semen samples and via a Genome Extraction Kit. Subsequently, to ensure the accuracy of the extraction, the PCR technique was done using PRM-1 gene primer. Tracking the viral genome was done using the PCR technique and known primers.

In total, one out of 140 samples was found to be virally contaminated, and IBR contamination was confirmed by repeating all the steps and determining the gene sequence.

It is necessary to further investigate the possibility that contamination can be transmitted via frozen semen, given that even one out of 140 samples is contaminated, and the importance of the disease.