Studies on isolation, serum-free cultivation and manufacture of mink enteritis virus optimized for vaccine preparation.

Optimum conditions have been determined for growth of mink enteritis virus (MEV) in the feline kidney cell (FKC) lines. The S18 and S36 strains of MEV grow to titres of 8192 to 32,786 haemagglutination (HA) units or 10(-9.7-10.3) TCID50 by alternate cultivation for 22 in FKC with very different susceptibility. Mink with typical clinical symptoms of mink viral enteritis (MVE) eliminated intestinal mucosal cylinders from which the L12 strain of MEV was isolated, which is capable of replication to 8192 HA units or 10(9.7) TCID50. The S18, L12 and S36 strains of MEV grow to high titres and the inactivated virus vaccine induced a good immune response in mink. The S18 and L12 strains of MEV are the best strains for vaccine preparation and the L12 strain is the most virulent for challenge tests.