Equine Viral Diseases
The December 2008 newsletter from the University of Guelph's Animal Health Laboratory contains an article about diagnoses of equine viral infections from 1998-2008. Equine herpesvirus type 1 (EHV-1) was the most commonly detected virus and the most commonly diagnosed infectious cause of abortion. Three cases of neuropathic EHV-1 (the strain that was recently identified as being an important cause of the neurological form of this disease) have been diagnosed since specific testing for this strain started late last year. Small numbers of influenza cases were confirmed and, as expected, they all involved the H3N8 type virus. Eastern equine encephalitis (EEE) is a rare disease in Ontario, but an outbreak occurred in 2008, with 8 cases identified. Equine rhinitis viruses A and B (formerly equine rhinovirus 1 and 2) were found in a few horses with fever, respiratory tract disease and swelling (edema) of the limbs and abdomen.
This newsletter, along with previous versions, can be found here. (Note: at the time of writing, the December newlsetter was not yet available online. If you look and it's not there, check back again later because it should be available soon).
Image: TEM of equine herpesvirus (source: Gluck Equine Research Center)
