Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Quantification of Equid herpesvirus 5 DNA in clinical and necropsy specimens collected from a horse with equine multinodular pulmonary fibrosis.
- Journal:
- Journal of veterinary diagnostic investigation : official publication of the American Association of Veterinary Laboratory Diagnosticians, Inc
- Year:
- 2011
- Authors:
- Marenzoni, Maria Luisa et al.
- Affiliation:
- Department of Experimental Science and Applied Biotechnology · Italy
- Species:
- horse
Plain-English summary
A 15-year-old Belgian gelding horse was taken to the vet because he had a fever, seemed very tired, and was having trouble breathing. A lung biopsy showed signs of chronic lung disease, and tests found a virus called Equid herpesvirus 5 (EHV-5) in his lung samples. The horse was treated with steroids and antiviral medications, and he showed some improvement at first. However, after four weeks, his health quickly got worse, and he was put to sleep. A postmortem examination confirmed the diagnosis of equine multinodular pulmonary fibrosis (EMPF), and it was found that the virus was particularly concentrated in the lungs, especially in the areas that were most affected.
Abstract
A 15-year-old Belgian gelding was referred for fever, depression, and respiratory distress. Lung biopsy revealed interstitial fibrosis consistent with chronic interstitial pneumonia. Equid herpesvirus 5 (EHV-5) DNA was detected by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in bronchoalveolar lavage and biopsy specimens. A presumptive diagnosis of equine multinodular pulmonary fibrosis (EMPF) was made, and the horse was administered a systemic treatment with corticosteroids and antiviral drugs. Despite initial clinical improvement, 4 weeks later, the condition of the horse rapidly deteriorated, and the animal was euthanized. Postmortem examination confirmed the presumptive diagnosis of EMPF. The EHV-5 DNA load in different tissues was estimated using a quantitative real-time PCR. Lung had a remarkable viral load, higher than in other organs, especially within the pulmonary fibrotic nodules, and a linkage between high viral burden and the most severely affected tissues was observed. The results suggest that the quantitative real-time PCR is a useful tool to quantify the EHV-5 load in different organs and to understand the relationship between EHV-5 and EMPF. The bronchoalveolar lavage was determined to be a good clinical sample to estimate the EHV-5 load in lung.
Find similar cases for your pet
PetCaseFinder finds other peer-reviewed reports of pets with the same symptoms, plus a plain-English summary of what was tried across them.
Search related cases →Original publication: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21908328/