Stability of virulent pseudorabies (Aujeszky's disease) viral genome after single passage through nonswine animal species.

This experiment was done to determine the effect(s) of single passage of pseudorabies virus in dead-end hosts on the stability of the pseudorabies virus genome. Calves, dogs, rabbits and cats were inoculated with a virulent strain of pseudorabies virus and the virus was reisolated from each animal and restriction endonuclease analysis was used to determine possible alterations in the DNA banding patterns. The restriction fragment migration profile of the pseudorabies virus DNA isolated from the animals was indistinguishable from the DNA profile of the original pseudorabies virus inoculum. The restriction endonuclease viral DNA profile appears to be relatively stable after a single passage in dead-end hosts, although minor changes in the viral genome that are not detectable in the DNA banding pattern may have occurred.