Isolation of bovine malignant catarrhal fever virus from ocular and nasal secretions of wildebeest calves.

Malignant catarrhal fever (MCF) virus was isolated from ocular secretions of four out of nine free-ranging wildebeest calves, while four out of 11 animals had the virus in nasal secretions. The mean infectivity of virus in ocular and nasal secretions was 10(2.25)TCID50/ml and 10(2.5)TCID50/ml respectively but infectivity of more than 10(3.2)TCID50/ml was found in some ocular and nasal secretions. Thus it appears that MCF virus is excreted via the ocular and nasal routes from wildebeest calves, and the presence of high titre virus supports the suggestion that MCF virus is disseminated by these secretions. This virus was not recovered from urine or saliva.