Equine Rhinitis A Virus Infection in Thoroughbred Racehorses—A Putative Role in Poor Performance?

There is no author summary for this article yet. Authors can add summaries to their articles on ScienceOpen to make them more accessible to a non-specialist audience.

Abstract

The aim of this study was to identify respiratory viruses circulating amongst elite racehorses in a training yard by serological testing of serial samples and to determine their impact on health status and ability to race. A six-month longitudinal study was conducted in 30 Thoroughbred racehorses (21 two-year-olds, five three-year-olds and four four-year-olds) during the Flat racing season. Sera were tested for the presence of antibodies against equine herpesvirus 1 and 4 (EHV-1 and EHV-4) and equine rhinitis viruses A and B (ERAV and ERBV) by complement fixation (CF) and equine arteritis virus (EAV) by ELISA. Antibodies against equine influenza (EI) were measured by haemagglutination inhibition (HI). Only ERAV was circulating in the yard throughout the six-month study period. Seroconversion to ERAV frequently correlated with clinical respiratory disease and was significantly associated with subsequent failure to race ( p = 0.0009). Over 55% of the two-year-olds in the study seroconverted to ERAV in May and June. In contrast, only one seroconversion to ERAV was observed in the older horses. They remained free of any signs of respiratory disease and raced successfully throughout the study period. The importance of ERAV as a contributory factor in the interruption of training programmes for young horses may be underestimated.

Related collections

Most cited references 40

Record: found
Abstract: found
Article: not found

Equine influenza--a global perspective.

Charles Newton, Carey Cullinane (2013)

To date, equine influenza outbreaks have been reported all over the world with the exception of a small number of island nations including New Zealand and Iceland. Influenza is endemic in Europe and North America and is considered to be of potentially major economic significance to the equine industry worldwide. The importation of subclinically infected vaccinated horses, and inadequate quarantine procedures have resulted in several major outbreaks in susceptible populations for example, in Australia (2007) when more than 76,000 horses on over 10,000 properties were reported as infected. This review summarises the current understanding of, and recent research on, equine influenza, including epidemiology, pathogenesis, clinical characteristics, laboratory diagnosis, management and prevention. Recent advances in diagnostic techniques are discussed as are the merits of different vaccination regimes. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

0 comments Cited 37 times – based on 0 reviews      Review now

Bookmark

Record: found
Abstract: found
Article: not found

Description of the outbreak of equine influenza (H3N8) in the United Kingdom in 2003, during which recently vaccinated horses in Newmarket developed respiratory disease.

John L. Spencer, Charles Newton, J Mumford … (2006)

Between March and May 2003, equine influenza virus infection was confirmed as the cause of clinical respiratory disease among both vaccinated and unvaccinated horses of different breeds and types in at least 12 locations in the UK. In the largest outbreak, 21 thoroughbred training yards in Newmarket, with more than 1300 racehorses, were affected, with the horses showing signs of coughing and nasal discharge during a period of nine weeks. Many of the infected horses had been vaccinated during the previous three months with a vaccine that contained representatives from both the European (A/eq/Newmarket/2/93) and American (A/eq/Newmarket/1/93) H3NN8 influenza virus lineages. Antigenic and genetic characterisation of the viruses from Newmarket and elsewhere indicated that they were all closely related to representatives of a sublineage of American viruses, for example, Kentucky/5/02, the first time that this sublineage had been isolated in the uk. In the recently vaccinated racehorses in Newmarket the single radial haemolysis antibody levels in acute sera appeared to be adequate, and there did not appear to be significant antigenic differences between the infecting virus and A/eq/Newmarket/1/93, the representative of the American lineage virus present in the most widely used vaccine, to explain the vaccine failure. However, there was evidence for significantly fewer infections among two-year-old horses than older animals, despite their having similar high levels of antibody, consistent with a qualitative rather than a quantitative difference in the immunity conveyed by the vaccination.

0 comments Cited 34 times – based on 0 reviews      Review now

Bookmark

Record: found
Abstract: found
Article: not found

Association between respiratory disease and bacterial and viral infections in British racehorses.

J. L. N. Wood, J R Newton, N. Chanter … (2005)

Respiratory disease is important in horses, particularly in young Thoroughbred racehorses, and inflammation that is detected in the trachea and bronchi (termed inflammatory airway disease [IAD]) is more significant in this population in terms of impact and frequency than other presentations of respiratory disease. IAD, which is characterized by neutrophilic inflammation, mild clinical signs, and accumulation of mucus in the trachea, may be multifactorial, possibly involving infections and environmental and immunological factors, and its etiology remains unclear. This 3-year longitudinal study of young Thoroughbred racehorses was undertaken to characterize the associations of IAD and nasal discharge with viral and bacterial infections. IAD was statistically associated with tracheal infection with Streptococcus pneumoniae (capsule type 3), Streptococcus zooepidemicus, Actinobacillus spp., and Mycoplasma equirhinis and equine herpesvirus 1 and 4 infections, after adjustment for variation between training yards, seasons, and age groups. The association with S. pneumoniae and S. zooepidemicus was independent of prior viral infection and, critically, was dependent on the numbers of organisms isolated. S. pneumoniae was significant only in horses that were 2 years old or younger. The prevalence and incidence of IAD, S. zooepidemicus, and S. pneumoniae decreased in parallel with age, consistent with increased disease resistance, perhaps by the acquisition of immunity. The study provided evidence for S. zooepidemicus and S. pneumoniae playing an important etiological role in the pathogenesis of IAD in young horses.

0 comments Cited 29 times – based on 0 reviews      Review now

Bookmark

All references

Author and article information

Journal

Journal ID (nlm-ta): Viruses

Journal ID (iso-abbrev): Viruses

Journal ID (publisher-id): viruses

Title: Viruses

Publisher: MDPI

ISSN (Electronic): 1999-4915

Publication date (Electronic): 18 October 2019

Publication date Collection: October 2019

Volume: 11

Issue: 10

Electronic Location Identifier: 963

Affiliations

[1 ]Department of Virology, Immunology and Parasitology, National Veterinary Institute, SE-751-89 Uppsala, Sweden; Helena.Back@ 123456mpa.se

[2 ]Riverdown, Barrettstown, Newbridge, Co., Kildare W12HD83, Ireland; johnweld1@ 123456eircom.net

[3 ]Department of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Limerick, Castletroy, Limerick V94 T9PX, Ireland; Cathal.Walsh@ 123456ul.ie

[4 ]Virology Unit, The Irish Equine Centre, Johnstown, Naas, Co. Kildare W91RH93, Ireland

Author notes

[* ]Correspondence: ACullinane@ 123456irishequinecentre.ie ; Tel.: +353-45-866266; Fax: +353-45-866273

Author information

Cathal Walsh https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6599-9562

Article

Publisher ID: viruses-11-00963

DOI: 10.3390/v11100963

PMC ID: 6848918

PubMed ID: 31635401

SO-VID: d25deb28-c97d-46f3-a11e-2557c29c027a

License:

Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Equine Rhinitis A Virus Infection in Thoroughbred Racehorses—A Putative Role in Poor Performance?

Read this article at

Abstract

Related collections

MDPI: Coronavirus

Most cited references 40

Equine influenza--a global perspective.

Description of the outbreak of equine influenza (H3N8) in the United Kingdom in 2003, during which recently vaccinated horses in Newmarket developed respiratory disease.

Association between respiratory disease and bacterial and viral infections in British racehorses.

Author and article information

Journal

Affiliations

Author notes

Author information

Article

History

Categories

Comments

Comment on this article

Similar content 187

Cited by 3

Most referenced authors 232