523Brief communications J Vet Diagn Invest 14:523–525 (2002) Isolation of bovine viral diarrhea virus from an alpaca

Abstract. A frozen, stillborn alpaca (Lama pacos) was submitted to the Minnesota Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory for diagnostic purposes. No gross or histopathologic changes of any significance were seen. A pool of lung, liver, and brain tissues was positive for bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) by reverse transcription– polymerase chain reaction. On inoculation in cell cultures, a noncytopathic BVDV (type 1b) was isolated. No evidence of BVDV was seen on immunohistochemical examination of tissues. This indicates the importance of using multiple tests for arriving at a diagnosis and appears to be the first report of BVDV isolation from alpaca. Bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) belongs to the Pes-tivirus genus in family Flaviviridae. It is one of the most important pathogens of cattle and is prevalent worldwide. Many different types of conditions have been associated with BVDV, e.g., gastrointestinal infections, respiratory in-fections, abortion, teratogenic effects, stillbirths, and weak calves. The type of fetal damage after transplacental infec-tion with BVDV depends on the age at which the fetus is exposed to the virus. If infected early in gestation with