Replication of infectious bursal disease virus in continuous cell lines.

Three mammalian continuous cell lines--MA-104, Vero, and BGM-70--were tested for their ability to support replication of infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV). Selected tissue-culture-adapted vaccine strains and tissue-culture-adapted field isolates of IBDV replicated in the MA-104, Vero, and BGM-70 cells; cytopathic effects were most pronounced in the BGM-70 cells. The cytopathic effects of the viruses in BGM-70 cells and chicken embryo fibroblast (CEF) cultures were similar. Virus-neutralization titers of selected serum samples determined in BGM-70 cultures compared well with those obtained from CEF cultures.