ABSTRACT
Bovine respiratory syncytial virus (BRSV) is believed to be a major cause of viral respiratory disease in cattle. The first isolation of a respiratory syncytial virus was from an outbreak of upper respiratory illness in a chimpanzee colony. The human respiratory syncytial virus has subsequently been shown to be a major cause of respiratory disease in infants. Bovine and human respiratory syncytial virus are tentatively grouped with pneumonia virus of the mouse to make up the genus Pneumovirus of the family Paramyxoviridae. Gross lesions from naturally occurring cases are principally found in the respiratory tract and consist of pneumonia characterized by lobular consolidation of primarily anterior lung lobes and interstitial emphysema. In BRSV-challenged gnotobiotic or colostrum-deprived calves, serum neutralizing antibody is detectable by day 6 to 13.
