Reference strains and field isolates of herpesviruses recovered from cattle, sheep and goat in Egypt were compared by virus neutralization, (VN), Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (RFLP) and Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analysis. Antigenic comparison using VN test and their effect on MDBK cell culture detected no difference, thus demonstrating the close antigenic relationship between the examined herpesviruses. Using the restriction endonucleases BamHI and EcoRI revealed no difference between the examined five viruses. But by the use of Hindlll restriction endonuclease and RAPD, fingerprint patterns were capable of differentiating the analyzed five viruses by the presence or absence of amplification fragments and showed difference in fragments' sizes. On the basis of RFLP and RAPD comparisons, 3 main strains of bovine herpesvirus (BHV) were defined. These strains were (I) Abu-Hammad strain and Colorado strain, (Il) Cattle isolate and Goat isolate and (Ill) sheep isolate. In conclusion, virus neutralization test could not differentiate bovine herpesvirus wpe I (BHV -l) from other strains of herepesviruses; on the contrary, RFLP and RAPD assays could be used to differentiate the virus. Thus, both techniques can be applied for the molecular epidemiology of BHV -l.