ISOLATION OF BOVINE CORONAVIRUS (BCOV) IN VERO CELLS AND ITS MOLECULAR CONFIRMATION BY RT-PCR FROM RUMINANTS IN ASSIUT GOVERNORATE

Bovine Coronavirus (BCoV) is prevalent worldwide in young and adult dairy and beef cattle. It is a pneumoenteric virus that causes diarrhea and respiratory infections, resulting in significant financial losses for the cattle industry. Isolation of BCoV is challenging, and studies on virus isolation, molecular detection, and the epidemiology of BCoV, especially from respiratory tract infections in Assiut are limited. So, this study aimed to isolate BCoV, using the Vero cell line, followed by confirmation through RT-PCR. One hundred and sixteen samples (65 fecal and 51 nasal) were collected to isolate BCoV in Vero cells, then confirmed by RT-PCR, targeting the conserved N gene (730 bp). Out of the 116 samples, 27 (11 fecal and 16 nasal) samples exhibited specific CPE (syncytia formation). Sixteen samples (5 fecal and 11 nasal) were confirmed as BCoV positive via RT-PCR for the N gene. The prevalence of BCoV infection was 7.7% (5/65) in fecal samples and 21.6% (11/51) in nasal samples, with infections only observed in cattle. No infections were found in buffaloes, goats, or sheep. Additionally, no significant variation was observed in BCoV infections according to sex, locality, or season factors. In conclusion, the Vero monolayers effectively isolated BCoV, which is major in causing diarrhea and respiratory tract infections in Assiut. Further studies are needed to identify other vulnerable cell lines and confirm variations among the BCoV isolates at both antigenic and molecular levels. Keywords: BCoV, Epidemiology, N gene, RT-PCR, Vero cell line.