Equine herpesviruses causing respiratory disease

Authors: Studdert MJ
Publication: New Zealand Veterinary Journal, Volume 34, Issue 7, pp 118, Jul 1986
Publisher: Taylor and Francis

Animal type: Horse, Livestock
Subject Terms: Viral, Disease/defect, Infectious disease, Respiratory system
Article class: Correspondence

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Abstract: I read with interest the letter of Fu et al. in which they state .”Preliminary investigations on this stud have indicated that equine herpesvirus type 1 (EHVl) and type 2 (EHV2) were frequently isolated and might be the initiators of the respiratory disease observed”. Additional evidence that links EHV2 (equine cytomegalovirus or slowly growing equine herpesvirus) to equine respiratory disease will be important. There is some evidence and a very high level of suspicion that recurrent respiratory disease, malaise and poor performance are associated with EHV2 but providing definitive evidence has been elusive and tends to be confounded by the fact that EHV2 can be isolated from more than 70% of horses, in some populations at least, but unassociated with recognisable disease. My reading and understanding of remarks of Fu et al. about the role of “EHVl” (stet) as a cause of respiratory disease suggest ambiguity and that clarification is required. EHVl has been used to designate the virus causing equine rhinopneumonitis and equine abortion; there has been an assumption that abortion occurs as an unpredictable sequel to rhinopneumonitis. There is now incontrovertable evidence based on epidemiology, pathogenesis, growth characteristics in cell culture, virus neutralisation and particularly analysis of viral DNA by restriction endonucleases and DNA:DNA hybridisation that two quite distinct viruses are involved, one of which appears to be the major cause of abortion and the other the major cause of rhinopneumonitis…

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