Topic:Equine Infectious Anemia
Equine Infectious Anemia (EIA) is a viral disease affecting horses, caused by the Equine Infectious Anemia Virus (EIAV), a member of the Lentivirus genus. The disease is characterized by intermittent fever, anemia, edema, and weight loss, though some horses may remain asymptomatic carriers. Transmission occurs primarily through blood-feeding insects such as horseflies and deerflies, or through contaminated instruments. EIA is diagnosed using serological tests, with the Coggins test being a commonly used method for detection. There is no vaccine or cure for EIA, and management primarily focuses on prevention and control measures to limit transmission. This page assembles peer-reviewed studies and scholarly articles that explore the pathogenesis, epidemiology, diagnostic methods, and management strategies related to Equine Infectious Anemia.
Detection of equine infectious anemia virus in horse leukocyte cultures derived from horses in various stages of equine infectious anemia viral infection. The enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) antigen-positive and agar-gel immunodiffusion test (AGID)-negative horses do not have infective equine infectious anemia (EIA) virus. The ELISA testing of horse leukocyte culture (HLC) supernatants did detect EIA virus in a HLC that was infected with the Wyoming strain of EIA virus and in HLC derived from horses in febrile, acute, or subacute stages of EIA infection. In supernatants of HLC derived from chronic and inapparent carrier horses, EIA virus was not detected with ELISA. Direct fluorescent antibody tests detected EIA virus in HLC infected w...
Structural proteins of equine infectious anemia virus and their antigenic activity. Using purified equine infectious anemia (EIA) virus labeled with 3H-glucosamine or 14C-protein hydrolysate, structural proteins were analyzed by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. As a result, 2 glycoproteins and 10 proteins with molecular weights (mol wt) ranging from 12,000 to 115,000 daltons were demonstrated. Of 12 structural proteins, 3 proteins, namely a glycoprotein with mol wt of 76,000 (gp76) and 2 proteins with mol wt of 25,000 (p25) and 12,000 (p12), respectively, had distinct antigenic activity from one another in immunodiffusion. Development of antibodies a...
Effects of common radioiodination procedures on the binding of glycoproteins to immobilized lectins. Representative glycoproteins including fetuin, protein A, ovalbumin, alpha 1 acid glycoprotein, and the major glycoprotein of equine infectious anemia virus were labelled with 125I by the chloramine-T or Bolton-Hunter procedure and their binding to immobilized Con A or lentil lectin compared to untreated samples of each glycoprotein. Glycoprotein modification was no greater than one substituted residue per protein molecule. Yet the radioiodinated glycoproteins typically displayed only 0-50% of the lectin binding observed with untreated samples. These results indicate that lectin glycoprotein b...
Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for diagnosis of equine infectious anemia. An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was elaborated for the detection of specific antibody to equine infectious anemia (EIA) antigen. Sera from horses experimentally infected with EIA virus were assayed by ELISA, complement fixation (CF) and immunodiffusion (ID) tests for antibody to EIA antigen. The ELISA technique was found to be much more sensitive than CF and ID tests. In addition, EIA specific antibody could be detected by ELISA at an earlier stage of infection than by CF or ID techniques. The applicability of the technique to diagnosis of EIA is discussed.
Virulence and in vitro growth of a cell-adapted strain of equine infectious anemia virus after serial passage in ponies. Five serial passages of a cell-adapted strain of equine infectious anemia (EIA) virus were conducted in Shetland ponies. The 13 recipient ponies became agar-gel immunodiffusion test-positive by 25 days after they were inoculated. The virulence of the cell-adapted strain of EIA virus markedly increased through 3 serial passages, although individual variation within passages was high. The 1st serial-passage recipient remained afebrile through 200 days, whereas a febrile episode occurred about every 185, 44, 35, and 33 days in the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th serial-passage recipients, respectively. Se...
Antigenic stimulation of T lymphocytes in chronic nononcogenic retrovirus infection: equine infectious anemia. Equine infectious anemia is a chronic disease of horses caused by a nononcogenic retrovirus. Studies were undertaken to determine the types of cells involved in the in vitro lymphoproliferative response to viral antigens and the dynamics of this reaction. It was observed that reactive lymphocytes were present at unpredictable times in the peripheral blood of infected horses. This reaction was shown to be specific for the interaction of equine infectious anemia virus and T lymphocytes. Enriched B-lymphocyte populations did not divide when exposed to equine infectious anemia virus. Macrophages w...
Detection of equine infectious anemia virus in a horse with an equivocal agar gel immunodiffusion test reaction. A horse whose serum reacted equivocally in the agar gel immunodiffusion (AGID) test for equine infectious anemia was studied over a 3-year period. The horse remained afebrile and virus was detected in only 1 of 6 horse inoculation tests. The intensity of AGID test reactions increased temporarily following this evidence for virus. Although the AGID test reaction was equivocal and 5 of the 6 transmission attempts failed, the 1 successful transmission proved the horse was infected.
Transmission of equine infectious anemia virus from horses without clinical signs of disease. Twenty seven adult horses positive to the agar gel immunodiffusion (AGID) test for equine infectious anemia (EIA), but with no history of clinical EIA, were used in transfusion studies to determine whether infectious EIA virus was present in 1 to 5 ml of their blood. Of 27 recipients, 21 (78%) became AGID test-positive at an average of 24 days after inoculation. Two horses that were initially negative when screened were retested and found to carry infectious virus in 5-300 ml of whole blood; the other 4 horses were not retested. Horse flies (Tabanus fuscicostatus Hine) were unable to transmit ...
Ataxia in four horses with equine infectious anemia. In 4 horses with equine infectious anemia (EIA), the predominant clinical sign was ataxia. Other clinical and laboratory findings often associated with EIA included weight loss, anemia, pyrexia, thrombocytopenia, hemorrhages, hypergammaglobulinemia, and high activity of biliary epithelial enzymes. Neuropathologic findings were nonsuppurative granulomatous ependymitis, meningitis, and encephalomyelitis and plasmacytic-lymphocytic infiltration of the brain and spinal cord. The onset of neurologic signs corresponded to the acute stage of infection in at least 2 horses, and the signs developed at ...
Indirect hemagglutination test in equine infectious anemia. An indirect hemagglutination was developed for the diagnosis of equine infectious anemia using sheep red blood cells coated with group specific virus antigen which had been highly purified by affinity chromatography. The presence of indirect hemagglutination antibodies was demonstrated in horses with equine infectious anemia since the cells were specifically agglutinated by all the serum samples obtained from experimentally infected horses. Antibodies appeared within 35 days after inoculation, and development of which coincided well with that of precipitating and complement fixing antibodies. ...
Hemagglutination-inhibition tests with different strains of equine infectious anemia virus. The serologic relationships between 6 strains of equine infectious anemia (EIA) viruses were investigated by hemagglutination-inhibition (HI) tests. Cross HI tests, using sera from horses in the early stage of infection, revealed that all strains were inhibited only by homologous strain antisera and that HI antibody was always detectable before virus-neutralizing antibody. In the later stages of infection, both homologous and heterologous HI antibodies were detected in a sera of most of the horses, and the order of appearance of heterologous HI antibodies was random in 2 horses inoculated with...
Studies with equine infectious anemia virus: transmission attempts by mosquitoes and survival of virus on vector mouthparts and hypodermic needles, and in mosquito tissue culture. Biological and mechanical transmission trials with Psorophora columbiae (Dyar and Knab) and Aedes sollicitans (Walker) and ponies acutely infected with equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV) were negative. The EIAV antigen was detected by radioimmunoassay in Ae sollicitans immediately after the mosquitoes had fed on an acutely ill pony, but not 14 days after feeding. Psorophora columbiae mosquitoes had detectable EIAV antigen as determined by radioimmunoassay 24 hours after they fed on an acutely ill pony; this antigen was not detected again until 6 days after feeding and was still detected 14 ...
Propagation of equine infectious anemia virus in horse cell cultures. The Wyoming strain of equine infectious anemia virus was adapted to cell cultures by 7 passages in horse leukocytes and 14 passages in fetal equine dermal and kidney cells. The virus was made evident by electron microscopy and immunodiffusion tests with antigens prepared from culture fluids.
Hemagglutination of several strains of equine infectious anemia virus. Six strains of equine infectious anemia (EIA) virus propagated in equine leukocyte cultures were found to agglutinate horse erythrocytes. Concentrated virus material containing about 20 units of complement fixation (CF) titer showed hemagglutinating (HA) titers ranging from 4 to 8 units. The HA activity remained stable after ether treatment and was reduced by trypsin, formaldehyde and KIO4. Cesium chloride equilibrium density gradient centrifugation revealed two populations of hemagglutinin, one in the density range of 1.15-1.16 g/ml coinciding with a peak of CF antigen and the other at round ...
In vitro host range of equine infectious anemia virus. Equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV) was successfully inoculated onto cell cultures of canine and feline origin, resulting in chronic infections in these cultures. Infection of equine cell cultures, which were the previous sole in vitro source demonstrated for virus production, was also performed for comparative purposes. Determination of the nature of the virus produced in the heterologous as well as the equine cells was accomplished in several ways. SDS-PAGE of purified virus from the different cell lines indicated very similar protein composition. Immunological identity was observed in gel...
Leukocyte cytotoxicity in a persistent virus infection: presence of direct cytotoxicity but absence of antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity in horses infected with equine infectious anemia virus. Antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity and direct cytotoxicity assays were performed with equine infectious anemia virus-infected target cells, equine leukocytes, and equine anti-equine infectious anemia virus antibody to determine whether these mechanisms play a role in controlling viral replication in equine infectious anemia. Direct cytotoxicity was observed by using peripheral blood mononuclear cells from 7 of 10 infected horses. Antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity was not observed. The antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity reaction in horses was then studied by using sheep eryth...