Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Isolation of equine herpesvirus-2 from the lung of an aborted fetus.
- Journal:
- Journal of veterinary diagnostic investigation : official publication of the American Association of Veterinary Laboratory Diagnosticians, Inc
- Year:
- 2005
- Authors:
- Galosi, Cecilia Mónica et al.
- Affiliation:
- Department of Virology
Plain-English summary
This study looked at a case where equine herpesvirus-2 (EHV-2), a virus that can affect horses, was found in the lungs of a fetus that was aborted in Argentina. Researchers used several tests to confirm that the virus was indeed EHV-2, including special staining techniques and DNA analysis. This is the first time EHV-2 has been isolated from an aborted horse fetus, suggesting that the virus can pass through the placenta. However, the study did not prove that EHV-2 was the cause of the abortion.
Abstract
This study describes the isolation of equine herpesvirus-2 (EHV-2) from the lung of an aborted equine fetus in Argentina. The isolated virus was confirmed as EHV-2 by indirect immunofluorescence using a rabbit anti-EHV-2 polyclonal antiserum and by virus-neutralization test using an equine polyclonal antibody against EHV-2. Restriction endonuclease DNA fingerprinting with BamHI also confirmed the identity of the virus as EHV-2. Furthermore, viral nucleic acid was detected by polymerase chain reaction from the original lung sample and from the DNA obtained from cells infected with the virus isolate. This work constitutes the first reported isolation of EHV-2 from an aborted equine fetus. The presence of EHV-2 in the lung of the aborted fetus would indicate that this virus is capable of crossing the placental barrier. However, no cause-effect relationship was established between the EHV-2 isolate and the abortion.
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Search related cases →Original publication: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16312249/