The virusneutralization test (VN) results against bovine viral diarrhoea virus genotypes (BVDV-1 and BVDV-2), and the respective titers of antibodies, were compared in 1,925 serum samples collected from unvaccinated and naturally infected cattle herds, located in the states of São Paulo and Minas Gerais, Brazil. The proportion of reagent samples among the genotypes was evaluated by McNemar test and the antibody titers against BVDV-1 and BVDV-2 were compared by Wilcoxon test. There were no disagreement in the proportion of BVDV-1 and BVDV-2 reagent samples (P>0.05). However, there was a disagreement among titers of antibodies detected in the VN tests against BVDV genotypes (P<0.0001). Although the proportion of reagent animals to BVDV genotypes was similar, false negative results would be obtained if 67 samples (3.5%) had been submitted only to VN test against BVDV-1, and 51 samples (2.65%) only against BVDV-2. Some herds had higher titers of antibodies for BVDV-1, while others for BVDV-2, thus demonstrating the occurrence of infection by different virus genotypes among the analyzed herds. Therefore, these results demonstrated the need for inclusion of both BVDV genotypes in VN tests.
neutralizing antibodies; BVDV-1; BVDV-2; antigenic diversity; virusneutralization
