An epizootic of respiratory syncytial virus infection in a dairy herd.

Respiratory syncytial virus was the cause of a severe epizootic of bovine respiratory tract disease. The virus, isolated from a sick cow during the epizootic, produced cytopathic effect in a bovine turbinate cell line 14 days after it was inoculated. Additional support for the diagnosis came from the results of pathologic and serologic examinations. Lesions consistently present were severe necrotizing bronchiolitis and epithelial syncytia projecting from bronchiolar and alveolar walls. Also, in the cow from which the virus was isolated, there was tracheitis with a syncytial-like change involving the mucosal epithelium.