Lecture 16: Equine Viruses 2 Flashcards
Viral features of equine herpesvirus
- dsDNA, enveloped
- lifelong infection
What are the types of equine herpesvirus? which are relevant and how prevalent are they
- Types 1-5: only 1 and 4 are prevalent and economically important
o Type 1: respiratory disease, abortion, neurological disease
Seroprevalence 30%
o Type 2: conjunctivitis
o Type 3: genital lesions (coital exanthema)
o Type 4: respiratory (main), can induce abortion
Seroprevalence up to 100% (almost all animals infected and carrying virus)
o Type 5: equine multinodular pulmonary fibroses
How is equine herpes virus transmitted? how long is incubation period?
Transmission: aerosols, direct contact, vertical (trans-placental) – shed nasally from 0-7d
* Incubation = 1-10d
What is a notable outbreak of equine herpes virus and why did it occur
Outbreaks:
* National cutting horse event in Utah causing EHV type 1 associated myeloencephalopathy and neurotropic herpes
* Many horses transported long distances = stress
* Latent herpes re-activated and caused productive/shedding infection = infect others
What is the pathogenesis of equine herpes virus? How does this relate to the clinical signs
Pathogenesis
1. Ciliated respiratory epithelium – virus replication
a. Respiratory disease
2. Immune response and immune cell recruitment (mainly monocyte/macrophages)
3. Virus can be transmitted in leukocytes and spread via hematogenous (viremia) or in lymph
a. Leukocyte trafficking in monocytes and CD4 cells
4. Virus can then end up in placenta (if pregnant) or in CNS (only certain type of virus cause CNS lesions)
a. Thrombo-ischemic necrosis in placenta
b. Vasculitis, hemorrhage, and thrombo-ischemic necrosis in CNS
5. Establish latency in trigeminal ganglion
What are the target cells of equine herpes virus
Target cells; placental cells, endothelial cells, monocytes, CD4+, epithelial cells, neurons
What are the clinical signs of equine herpes virus
Clinically
* Biphasic fever: 0-4d and 6-10d (coincide with viremia)
* Respiratory (main)
* Abortion storms: if infected late term (7-11mo) = foal with pneumonia and death within hr-d
o Abortion within 2-12wk
o Due to thrombus and ischemia or infection of fetus
* Neurological: depends on specific variant that affects CNS
o Paralysis/paraplegia/recumbency/behavioural changes/head pressing/ataxia/loss of bladder function
What is the histo lesions of equine herpes virus
Histo: viral proteins in endothelial cells and perivascular cuffing + occlusion of lumen of blood vessels (thrombus)
* Eosinophilic intranuclear inclusions
How to diagnose equine herpes virus? What tests will determine active viral replication
- Sample: nasopharyngeal swab
o PCR/virus isolation - Sample: blood (unclotted blood – use EDTA tubes) because buffy coat contains the virus
o PCR
o Virus isolation - Sample: aborted fetus tissue
o Histo/immunostaining – can determine active viral replication (identify viral proteins) - PCR is more sensitive – can identify virus for up to 2 weeks – but does not differentiate active or inactive viral replication
- Virus isolation will give false negative from 7-14d – can determine active viral replication
What is the neurologic form of EHV associated with?
- 10% of EHV1 is neurovirulent
- Due to faster replication in lymphocytes = higher viremia and vasculitis
- Associated with point mutation in viral polymerase gene
What are the types of pathogens that can induce Equine Neurological Disease
Equine Neurological Disease
* EHV type 1
* WNV
* Rabies
* Venezuelan, eastern, and western encephalitis viruses (eastern is most prevelant)
* Equine protozoal encephalomyelitis
* Bacterial myeloencephalitis (botulism/staphylococcus/listeria)
What vaccines are there to protect against equine herpes virus? What are the differences between the vaccines? What is thee vaccination schedule and how does it differ for deals and mares?
- Attenuated: protect against resp dz
o Not abortion, neuro, shedding, viremia - Inactivated: protect against resp dz and abortion
o Not neuro, shedding, viremia - Vector vaccine: canarypox, vaccinia: experimental/non licensed
- Short lived immunity: vaccinate at 5, 7 , 9mo of gestation
o Foal: 4-6mo then 4-6wk after + 10-12mo and then every 6mo - Combined EHV 1 and 4
Is the equine herpes virus vaccine effective? why?
yes
- Vaccine induce neutralizing Ig (IgG4 and 7) + cell mediated immune response = neutralize incoming viruses and prevent entry into respiratory tract/blood infection
What are the viral features of Equine Infectious Anemia/Swamp Fever
- Retrovirus, rtRNA
- Susceptible to detergent - enveloped
- Retroviridae (subfamily, orthoretroviridae + genus, lentivirus)
- Lifelong infection
Compare EHV and Equine Infectious Anemia/Swamp Fever
both
- enveloped (susceptible to detergents)
- establish lifelong infection (different mechanisms)