Isolation of bovine herpesvirus-1 from trigeminal ganglia of clinically normal cattle.

Trigeminal ganglia collected from 56 adult dairy cattle at slaughter were maintained in explant culture. Bovine herpesvirus-1 was isolated from six ganglia after periods of 7 to 24 days' maintenance in vitro. Antibody against bovine herpesvirus-1, indicating exposure to that virus, was found in 45.4% of the sample population from which ganglia were collected.