Veterinaria italiana, cilt.57, ss.49-59, 2021 (SCI-Expanded)
Bovine herpesvirus type 4 (BoHV-4) is a common virus in the world that is detected in clinically ill or in apparently healthy cattle.This study provides a molecular characterization of BoHV-4 strains from 24 cattle some showing respiratory and/or reproductive problems and some without any apparent clinical sign. This study also reported the growth properties of five BoHV-4 field isolates. The 24 sampled cattle came from 13 different herds in 10 provinces collected between 2007 and 2018. Phylogeneticanalysis using partially amplified nucleotide sequences of ORF8 genes coding glycoprotein B (n = 24) and ORF3 genes coding thymidine kinase (n = 9), demonstrated genetic variability among the BoHV-4 strains analysed. The partial gB gene sequences clustered in three different genotypes (genotype 1,11and111) were located within the genotype I cluster, such as Movar strain. The analysis of the five BoHV-4 strains isolated from vaginal swabs (n = 2), nasal swab (n = 1), and brain samples (n = 2) revealed no significant differences in their growth properties in MDBK cell culture.