Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Australian bat lyssavirus infection in two horses.
- Journal:
- Veterinary microbiology
- Year:
- 2014
- Authors:
- Shinwari, Mustaghfira Wafa et al.
- Affiliation:
- Department of Agriculture · Australia
- Species:
- horse
Plain-English summary
In May 2013, two horses in Australia were found to be infected with a virus called Australian bat lyssavirus (ABLV), which they likely caught from a type of bat known as the Yellow-bellied sheathtail bat. Both horses showed signs of neurological problems, had a fever, and were unsteady on their feet. Tests on the brain tissue of one horse confirmed the presence of the virus, and the other horse also tested positive through a mouth swab. The virus was found in both horses' brain and saliva samples, indicating a strong connection to the bat strain. Unfortunately, the outcome for these horses was not specified in the study.
Abstract
In May 2013, the first cases of Australian bat lyssavirus infections in domestic animals were identified in Australia. Two horses (filly-H1 and gelding-H2) were infected with the Yellow-bellied sheathtail bat (YBST) variant of Australian bat lyssavirus (ABLV). The horses presented with neurological signs, pyrexia and progressing ataxia. Intra-cytoplasmic inclusion bodies (Negri bodies) were detected in some Purkinje neurons in haematoxylin and eosin (H&E) stained sections from the brain of one of the two infected horses (H2) by histological examination. A morphological diagnosis of sub-acute moderate non-suppurative, predominantly angiocentric, meningo-encephalomyelitis of viral aetiology was made. The presumptive diagnosis of ABLV infection was confirmed by the positive testing of the affected brain tissue from (H2) in a range of laboratory tests including fluorescent antibody test (FAT) and real-time PCR targeting the nucleocapsid (N) gene. Retrospective testing of the oral swab from (H1) in the real-time PCR also returned a positive result. The FAT and immunohistochemistry (IHC) revealed an abundance of ABLV antigen throughout the examined brain sections. ABLV was isolated from the brain (H2) and oral swab/saliva (H1) in the neuroblastoma cell line (MNA). Alignment of the genome sequence revealed a 97.7% identity with the YBST ABLV strain.
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Search related cases →Original publication: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25195190/