Characterization of virulence variants of African horsesickness virus.
Abstract: There are three clinicopathologic syndromes associated with African horsesickness (AHS) virus infection in horses. These different forms of AHS (pulmonary, cardiac, and fever forms) vary in the organs affected, the severity of lesions, time of onset of clinical signs and mortality rates. We have studied the effects of infection with three cell culture passaged variants of AHS virus in naive North American horses. One of these viruses, AHS/4SP, consistently caused the pulmonary form of AHS with rapid onset of severe pulmonary edema and 100% mortality. A second variant, AHS/9PI, resulted in signs and lesions typical of the cardiac form of AHS: pericardial effusion, subendocardial hemorrhage and widespread subcutaneous edema. Mortality was approximately 70%. The third variant, AHS/4PI, produced mild to subclinical disease in horses, usually expressed only as transient mild fever. No mortality occurred in horses due to infection with AHS/4PI. All surviving infected animals did, however, seroconvert with both neutralizing and ELISA-reactive antibodies. The results of these studies indicate clearly that in naive horses the form of disease expressed is a property of the AHS virus inoculum.
Publication Date: 1993-08-01 PubMed ID: 8337849DOI: 10.1006/viro.1993.1440Google Scholar: Lookup
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- Journal Article
Summary
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This research investigates the effects of three different variants of the African horsesickness virus on naive North American horses, demonstrating that the disease form manifested in the horses is determined by the specific strain of the virus used in inoculation.
Background
- The African horsesickness (AHS) virus can lead to three different syndromes in horses, namely, pulmonary, cardiac, and fever forms. These disorders are categorized based on the organs affected, the severity of lesions, the commencement of clinical signs, and mortality rates.
- The researchers studied these effects through an experiment involving three different AHS virus variants, all grown in cell culture and then introduced to naive North American horses. Naive horses are those that haven’t been previously exposed to AHS and therefore have no immunity against it.
Study Findings
- A virus called AHS/4SP consistently triggered the pulmonary form of AHS, leading to immediate onset of severe pulmonary edema – fluid accumulation in the lungs – and a 100% mortality rate.
- The AHS/9PI variant caused symptoms typical for the cardiac version of AHS; these included pericardial effusion (fluid around the heart), subendocardial hemorrhage (bleeding under the heart’s inner lining), and widespread subcutaneous edema (under-skin fluid accumulation). This variant had a mortality rate of approximately 70%.
- The third virus, AHS/4PI, led to mild illnesses or subclinical disease, which often only presented as short-lived mild fever. There were no deaths among the horses infected with this strain of the virus.
- All horses that survived the infection developed both neutralizing and ELISA-reactive antibodies, confirming exposure to the virus and an immune response.
Conclusion
- The findings of the study indicate that the form of AHS observed in naive horses is a characteristic of the specific AHS virus variant used for inoculation. Such characterization of virulence variants could influence approaches to prevention and treatment of AHS.
Cite This Article
APA
Laegreid WW, Skowronek A, Stone-Marschat M, Burrage T.
(1993).
Characterization of virulence variants of African horsesickness virus.
Virology, 195(2), 836-839.
https://doi.org/10.1006/viro.1993.1440 Publication
Researcher Affiliations
- Molecular Pathology Unit, Plum Island Animal Disease Center, Greenport, New York 11944-0848.
MeSH Terms
- African Horse Sickness / microbiology
- African Horse Sickness / mortality
- African Horse Sickness / pathology
- African Horse Sickness Virus / pathogenicity
- African Horse Sickness Virus / physiology
- Animals
- Cells, Cultured
- Horses
- Virulence
- Virus Replication
Citations
This article has been cited 5 times.- Perrault JR, Levin M, Mott CR, Bovery CM, Bresette MJ, Chabot RM, Gregory CR, Guertin JR, Hirsch SE, Ritchie BW, Weege ST, Welsh RC, Witherington BE, Page-Karjian A. Insights on Immune Function in Free-Ranging Green Sea Turtles (Chelonia mydas) with and without Fibropapillomatosis. Animals (Basel) 2021 Mar 18;11(3).
- Maan NS, Maan S, Nomikou K, Belaganahalli MN, Bachanek-Bankowska K, Mertens PP. Serotype specific primers and gel-based RT-PCR assays for 'typing' African horse sickness virus: identification of strains from Africa. PLoS One 2011;6(10):e25686.
- Wilson A, Mellor PS, Szmaragd C, Mertens PP. Adaptive strategies of African horse sickness virus to facilitate vector transmission. Vet Res 2009 Mar-Apr;40(2):16.
- Lord CC, Barnard B, Day K, Hargrove JW, McNamara JJ, Paul RE, Trenholme K, Woolhouse ME. Aggregation and distribution of strains in microparasites. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 1999 Apr 29;354(1384):799-807.
- Stone-Marschat M, Carville A, Skowronek A, Laegreid WW. Detection of African horse sickness virus by reverse transcription-PCR. J Clin Microbiol 1994 Mar;32(3):697-700.
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