Observations of antigenic relatedness between viruses of the herpes simplex "neutroseron".

The antigenic relatedness of three viruses of the herpes simplex type 1 neutroseron - herpes simplex virus types 1 (HSV-1) and 2 (HSV-2) and bovine mammillitis virus (BMV) - has been examined by immune precipitation and virus neutralization tests. Many virus-specific infected-cell polypeptides were shown to possess antigenic sites shared by both HSV-1 and HSV-2. Cross-neutralization between the viruses is mediated through antibodies to at least two antigenic sites, one shared by HSV-1, HSV-2 and BMV and one shared by HSV-1 and HSV-2 but not BMV.