Isolation and Identification of Some Viruses Causing Abortion in Equine in Egypt

Mohammed, Soha I.; Bazid, Abdel Hamid I.; Shahein, Momtaz A.; Abo-Elkhair, Mohammed A.

doi:10.21608/jcvr.2022.267515

Isolation and Identification of Some Viruses Causing Abortion in Equine in Egypt

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

¹ Department of Virology, Animal Health Research Institute, Dokki, Giza, Egypt.

² Department of Virology, Faculty of Veterinary medicine, Sadat city University, Sadat city, Menoufia Governorate, Egypt.

10.21608/jcvr.2022.267515

Abstract

Equine Herpes Virus types 1 and 4 (EHV-1, 4) and Equine Viral Arteritis (EVA) causes significant economic losses in Equine due to abortion and neonatal mortality. In this study, 80 samples were collected from pure Arabian horses suffering from abortion, respiratory illness and neurological problems, including nasal swabs, vaginal swabs and tissue samples (liver, lung, kidney, spleen, placenta of aborted fetuses and neonatal dead foal) from 2018 to 2021.All samples were inoculated on embryonated chicken eggs(ECE) via chorioallantoic membrane (CAM).Indirect immunofluoresent antibody technique (IFAT) on CAM was used to serologically confirm the positive samples, Real Time and conventional PCR were used for further molecular confirmation . After 5-6 days of incubation, 22 out of 80 processed samples were positive in the form of pin-head necrotic foci on CAM. Yellowish green fluorescent granules were found in positive samples by IFAT. By Real Time PCR , 80 tissue samples tested were negative for EVA, but only six positive for EHVs (5 for EHV-4) and one for EHV-1, also by conventional PCR), with one of them testing positive for both EHV-1,4indicating natural co-infection incidence. Furthermore, eight cases out of 34 samples obtained in the spring season were EHVs-positive (26.67%), ten samples out of 21 collected in the fall were EHVs-positive (47.62%), and four samples out of 15 collected in the winter were EHVs-positive (25.53%). In conclusion, Abortion in Arabian horses in Egypt are mostly caused by EHVs especially in autumn while no evidence for EVA was detected in the collected samples.

Keywords