FREE SHIPPING over $40
OVER 9000 FIVE-STAR REVIEWS
5% OFF ALL SUBSCRIPTIONS
100% HAPPINESS GUARANTEE
Analyze Diet
0
Home / Equine Research Bank / J Clin Microbiol / Epizootiological Investigation of Getah Virus Infection amon...
Journal of clinical microbiology2015; 53(7); 2286-2291; doi: 10.1128/JCM.00550-15

Epizootiological Investigation of Getah Virus Infection among Racehorses in Japan in 2014.

Abstract: To clarify the factors causing an outbreak in 2014 of Getah virus infection among racehorses at the Miho training center, Japan, we isolated virus strains and performed an epizootiological investigation of affected horses and related horse populations. Three Getah virus isolates were recovered from clinical samples, and one of them (14-I-605) was used in a virus-neutralizing test. Of the affected horses (n = 33), 20 (60.6%) were 2-year-olds. We investigated the histories of Getah virus vaccination of the affected horses and the whole population at the Miho training center. Among the 2-year-old population, the prevalence of the disease in horses that had been vaccinated once was 14.1%. This was significantly higher than that in horses that had been vaccinated twice or more (1.3%; P < 0.01). Among horses that had entered the training center from farms in Ibaraki Prefecture surrounding the training center and from neighboring Chiba Prefecture, the rate of seropositivity for Getah virus was 13.0% in September 2014 and 42.9% in October 2014; that in the corresponding periods in 2010 and 2013 was 0%. In conclusion, we identified two possible causes of the outbreak of Getah virus infection in the training center in 2014: (i) the existence of susceptible horses that had received only one dose of vaccination before the outbreak and (ii) increased risk of exposure to the virus because of epizootic Getah virus infection among horses on surrounding farms in Ibaraki and Chiba prefectures.
Copyright © 2015, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
Get Full Text
Publication Date: 2015-05-13 PubMed ID: 25972425PubMed Central: PMC4473224DOI: 10.1128/JCM.00550-15Google Scholar: Lookup
The Equine Research Bank provides access to a large database of publicly available scientific literature. Inclusion in the Research Bank does not imply endorsement of study methods or findings by Mad Barn.
LinkedInCopy
  • Journal Article

Summary

This research summary has been generated with artificial intelligence and may contain errors and omissions. Refer to the original study to confirm details provided. Submit correction.

The study investigates the outbreak of Getah virus among racehorses in Japan in 2014, identifying two probable causes: susceptibility due to inadequate vaccination, and an increased risk of virus exposure from nearby farms.

Methodology and Findings

The research involved an epizootiological investigation, a type of study used in veterinary medicine to understand the behaviour of diseases within animal populations. In this case, the focus was on the outbreak of Getah virus among horses at the Miho training center in Japan in 2014.

  • The team recovered three Getah virus strains from clinical samples and used one of them (14-I-605) in a virus-neutralizing test.
  • An analysis of the affected horses showed that 60.6% were 2-year-olds, and of these, the prevalence of the disease among horses that had been vaccinated just once was significantly higher than those having received two or more vaccinations.
  • The researchers also examined the histories of Getah virus vaccination of the affected horses and compared then with the entire population at the Miho training center.

Implications and Conclusion

Two probable factors were identified as causing the outbreak of Getah virus infection:

  • The presence of susceptible horses that had merely received one dose of vaccination before the outbreak and thus were not adequately immunized against the threat of Getah virus. This finding implies the importance of adhering to proper vaccination protocols to prevent similar virus outbreaks in the future.
  • An increased risk of exposure to the virus due to an existing epizootic Getah virus infection among horses from neighbouring farms in Ibaraki and Chiba prefectures. This highlights the potential risk of infection transmission from neighbouring areas and calls for vigilance and disease control measures beyond individual farms or training centers.

In conclusion, the study provides valuable insights into the factors that contributed to the 2014 outbreak of Getah virus among racehorses in Japan and underscores the importance of vigilant vaccination protocols and farm-level biosecurity measures.

Cite This Article

APA
Bannai H, Nemoto M, Ochi A, Kikuchi T, Kobayashi M, Tsujimura K, Yamanaka T, Kondo T. (2015). Epizootiological Investigation of Getah Virus Infection among Racehorses in Japan in 2014. J Clin Microbiol, 53(7), 2286-2291. https://doi.org/10.1128/JCM.00550-15

Publication

Journal of clinical microbiology
ISSN: 1098-660X
NlmUniqueID: 7505564
Country: United States
Language: English
Volume: 53
Issue: 7
Pages: 2286-2291

Researcher Affiliations

Bannai, Hiroshi
  • Epizootic Research Center, Equine Research Institute, Japan Racing Association, Shimotsuke, Tochigi, Japan bannai@epizoo.equinst.go.jp.
Nemoto, Manabu
  • Epizootic Research Center, Equine Research Institute, Japan Racing Association, Shimotsuke, Tochigi, Japan.
Ochi, Akihiro
  • Epizootic Research Center, Equine Research Institute, Japan Racing Association, Shimotsuke, Tochigi, Japan.
Kikuchi, Takuya
  • Racehorse Clinic, Miho Training Center, Japan Racing Association, Miho, Ibaraki, Japan.
Kobayashi, Minoru
  • Racehorse Clinic, Miho Training Center, Japan Racing Association, Miho, Ibaraki, Japan.
Tsujimura, Koji
  • Epizootic Research Center, Equine Research Institute, Japan Racing Association, Shimotsuke, Tochigi, Japan.
Yamanaka, Takashi
  • Epizootic Research Center, Equine Research Institute, Japan Racing Association, Shimotsuke, Tochigi, Japan.
Kondo, Takashi
  • Epizootic Research Center, Equine Research Institute, Japan Racing Association, Shimotsuke, Tochigi, Japan.

MeSH Terms

  • Alphavirus / isolation & purification
  • Alphavirus Infections / epidemiology
  • Alphavirus Infections / prevention & control
  • Alphavirus Infections / veterinary
  • Alphavirus Infections / virology
  • Animals
  • Disease Outbreaks
  • Horse Diseases / epidemiology
  • Horse Diseases / prevention & control
  • Horse Diseases / virology
  • Horses
  • Japan
  • Neutralization Tests
  • Seroepidemiologic Studies
  • Viral Vaccines / administration & dosage
  • Viral Vaccines / immunology

References

This article includes 18 references
  1. Fukunaga Y, Kumanomido T, Kamada M. Getah virus as an equine pathogen.. Vet Clin North Am Equine Pract 2000 Dec;16(3):605-17.
    pubmed: 11219353doi: 10.1016/s0749-0739(17)30099-8google scholar: lookup
  2. Yago K, Hagiwara S, Kawamura H, Narita M. A fatal case in newborn piglets with Getah virus infection: isolation of the virus.. Nihon Juigaku Zasshi 1987 Dec;49(6):989-94.
    doi: 10.1292/jvms1939.49.989pubmed: 2828741google scholar: lookup
  3. Izumida A, Takuma H, Inagaki S, Kubota M, Hirahara T, Kodama K, Sasaki N. Experimental infection of Getah virus in swine.. Nihon Juigaku Zasshi 1988 Jun;50(3):679-84.
    doi: 10.1292/jvms1939.50.679pubmed: 3210480google scholar: lookup
  4. Kumanomido T, Wada R, Kanemaru T, Kamada M, Hirasawa K, Akiyama Y. Clinical and virological observations on swine experimentally infected with Getah virus.. Vet Microbiol 1988 Mar;16(3):295-301.
    doi: 10.1016/0378-1135(88)90033-8pubmed: 2836997google scholar: lookup
  5. Kamada M, Wada R, Kumanomido T, Imagawa H, Sugiura T, Fukunaga Y. Effect of viral inoculum size on appearance of clinical signs in equine Getah virus infection.. J Vet Med Sci 1991 Oct;53(5):803-6.
    doi: 10.1292/jvms.53.803pubmed: 1661174google scholar: lookup
  6. Sentsui H, Kono Y. An epidemic of Getah virus infection among racehorses: isolation of the virus.. Res Vet Sci 1980 Sep;29(2):157-61.
    pubmed: 6258204
  7. Kamada M, Ando Y, Fukunaga Y, Kumanomido T, Imagawa H, Wada R, Akiyama Y. Equine Getah virus infection: isolation of the virus from racehorses during an enzootic in Japan.. Am J Trop Med Hyg 1980 Sep;29(5):984-8.
    pubmed: 6254385doi: 10.4269/ajtmh.1980.29.984google scholar: lookup
  8. Sugiura T, Ando Y, Imagawa H, Kumanomido T, Fukunaga Y, Kamada M, Wada R, Hirasawa K, Akiyama Y. An epizootiological study of Getah virus among light horses in Japan in 1979.. Bull Equine Res Inst 18:103–109.
  9. Sentsui H, Kono Y. Reappearance of Getah virus infection among horses in Japan.. Nihon Juigaku Zasshi 1985 Apr;47(2):333-5.
    doi: 10.1292/jvms1939.47.333pubmed: 2989599google scholar: lookup
  10. Brown CM, Timoney PJ. Getah virus infection of Indian horses.. Trop Anim Health Prod 1998 Aug;30(4):241-52.
    doi: 10.1023/A:1005079229232pubmed: 9760716google scholar: lookup
  11. Sugiura T, Shimada K. Seroepizootiological survey of Japanese encephalitis virus and Getah virus in regional horse race tracks from 1991 to 1997 in Japan.. J Vet Med Sci 1999 Aug;61(8):877-81.
    doi: 10.1292/jvms.61.877pubmed: 10487225google scholar: lookup
  12. Nemoto M, Bannai H, Tsujimura K, Kobayashi M, Kikuchi T, Yamanaka T, Kondo T. Getah Virus Infection among Racehorses, Japan, 2014.. Emerg Infect Dis 2015 May;21(5):883-5.
    doi: 10.3201/eid2105.141975pmc: PMC4412242pubmed: 25898181google scholar: lookup
  13. Wekesa SN, Inoshima Y, Murakami K, Sentsui H. Genomic analysis of some Japanese isolates of Getah virus.. Vet Microbiol 2001 Nov 8;83(2):137-46.
    doi: 10.1016/S0378-1135(01)00417-5pubmed: 11557154google scholar: lookup
  14. Imagawa H, Sugiura T, Matsumura T, Kamada M, Wada R, Akiyama Y, Tanaka Y, Samejima T. In-field evaluation of efficacy of an inactivated Getah virus vaccine.. Umanokagaku 40:24–32.
  15. . Number of farm households feeding livestock and number of livestock fed etc.. The 88th statistical yearbook of Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (2012–2013) p 213–245.
  16. Kumanomido T, Fukunaga Y, Ando Y, Kamada M, Imagawa H, Wada R, Akiyama Y, Tanaka Y. Ecological survey on Getah virus among swine in Japan.. Bull Equine Res Inst 19:89–92.
  17. Hohdatsu T, Ide S, Yamagishi H, Eiguchi Y, Nagano H, Maehara N, Tanaka Y, Fujisaki Y, Yago K, Taguchi K. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for the serological survey of Getah virus in pigs.. Nihon Juigaku Zasshi 1990 Aug;52(4):835-7.
    doi: 10.1292/jvms1939.52.835pubmed: 2167998google scholar: lookup
  18. Imagawa H, Ando Y, Kamada M, Sugiura T, Kumanomido T, Fukunaga Y, Wada R, Hirasawa K, Akiyama Y. Sero-epizootiological survey on Getah virus infection in light horses in Japan.. Nihon Juigaku Zasshi 1981 Dec;43(6):797-802.
    doi: 10.1292/jvms1939.43.797pubmed: 6283217google scholar: lookup

Citations

This article has been cited 21 times.
  1. Ochi A, Bannai H, Aonuma H, Kanuka H, Uchida-Fujii E, Kinoshita Y, Ohta M, Kambayashi Y, Tsujimura K, Ueno T, Nemoto M. Surveillance of Getah virus in mosquitoes and racehorses from 2016 to 2019 at a training center in Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan, a site of several previous Getah virus outbreaks. Arch Virol 2023 Jan 7;168(2):35.
    doi: 10.1007/s00705-022-05631-3pubmed: 36609628google scholar: lookup
  2. Qiu X, Cao X, Shi N, Zhang H, Zhu X, Gao Y, Mai Z, Jin N, Lu H. Development and application of an indirect ELISA for detecting equine IgG antibodies against Getah virus with recombinant E2 domain protein. Front Microbiol 2022;13:1029444.
    doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2022.1029444pubmed: 36439788google scholar: lookup
  3. Takeishi M, Kuwata R, Ono T, Sasaki A, Ogata M, Iwata E, Taji S, Koike M, Nemoto M, Bannai H, Isawa H, Maeda K, Morikawa S, Kitagawa H, Yoshikawa Y. Seroconversion of anti-Getah virus antibody among Japanese native Noma horses around 2012. J Vet Med Sci 2022 Nov 18;84(12):1605-1609.
    doi: 10.1292/jvms.22-0306pubmed: 36310045google scholar: lookup
  4. Cao X, Qiu X, Shi N, Ha Z, Zhang H, Xie Y, Wang P, Zhu X, Zhao W, Zhao G, Jin N, Lu H. Establishment of a reverse transcription real-time quantitative PCR method for Getah virus detection and its application for epidemiological investigation in Shandong, China. Front Microbiol 2022;13:1009610.
    doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2022.1009610pubmed: 36212868google scholar: lookup
  5. Wang A, Zhou F, Liu C, Gao D, Qi R, Yin Y, Liu S, Gao Y, Fu L, Xia Y, Xu Y, Wang C, Liu Z. Structure of infective Getah virus at 2.8 Å resolution determined by cryo-electron microscopy. Cell Discov 2022 Feb 11;8(1):12.
    doi: 10.1038/s41421-022-00374-6pubmed: 35149682google scholar: lookup
  6. Wang N, Zhai X, Li X, Wang Y, He WT, Jiang Z, Veit M, Su S. Attenuation of Getah Virus by a Single Amino Acid Substitution at Residue 253 of the E2 Protein that Might Be Part of a New Heparan Sulfate Binding Site on Alphaviruses. J Virol 2022 Mar 23;96(6):e0175121.
    doi: 10.1128/jvi.01751-21pubmed: 34986000google scholar: lookup
  7. Nie M, Deng H, Zhou Y, Sun X, Huang Y, Zhu L, Xu Z. Development of a reverse transcription recombinase-aided amplification assay for detection of Getah virus. Sci Rep 2021 Oct 8;11(1):20060.
    doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-99734-7pubmed: 34625631google scholar: lookup
  8. Fang Y, Zhang W, Xue JB, Zhang Y. Monitoring Mosquito-Borne Arbovirus in Various Insect Regions in China in 2018. Front Cell Infect Microbiol 2021;11:640993.
    doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2021.640993pubmed: 33791242google scholar: lookup
  9. Hameed M, Wahaab A, Shan T, Wang X, Khan S, Di D, Xiqian L, Zhang JJ, Anwar MN, Nawaz M, Li B, Liu K, Shao D, Qiu Y, Wei J, Ma Z. A Metagenomic Analysis of Mosquito Virome Collected From Different Animal Farms at Yunnan-Myanmar Border of China. Front Microbiol 2020;11:591478.
    doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2020.591478pubmed: 33628201google scholar: lookup
  10. Rawle DJ, Nguyen W, Dumenil T, Parry R, Warrilow D, Tang B, Le TT, Slonchak A, Khromykh AA, Lutzky VP, Yan K, Suhrbier A. Sequencing of Historical Isolates, K-mer Mining and High Serological Cross-Reactivity with Ross River Virus Argue against the Presence of Getah Virus in Australia. Pathogens 2020 Oct 16;9(10).
    doi: 10.3390/pathogens9100848pubmed: 33081269google scholar: lookup
  11. Nguyen W, Nakayama E, Yan K, Tang B, Le TT, Liu L, Cooper TH, Hayball JD, Faddy HM, Warrilow D, Allcock RJN, Hobson-Peters J, Hall RA, Rawle DJ, Lutzky VP, Young P, Oliveira NM, Hartel G, Howley PM, Prow NA, Suhrbier A. Arthritogenic Alphavirus Vaccines: Serogrouping Versus Cross-Protection in Mouse Models. Vaccines (Basel) 2020 May 5;8(2).
    doi: 10.3390/vaccines8020209pubmed: 32380760google scholar: lookup
  12. Lu G, Ou J, Ji J, Ren Z, Hu X, Wang C, Li S. Emergence of Getah Virus Infection in Horse With Fever in China, 2018. Front Microbiol 2019;10:1416.
    doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2019.01416pubmed: 31281304google scholar: lookup
  13. Sam SS, Teoh BT, Chee CM, Mohamed-Romai-Noor NA, Abd-Jamil J, Loong SK, Khor CS, Tan KK, AbuBakar S. A quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction for detection of Getah virus. Sci Rep 2018 Dec 5;8(1):17632.
    doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-36043-6pubmed: 30518924google scholar: lookup
  14. Nemoto M, Bannai H, Ochi A, Niwa H, Murakami S, Tsujimura K, Yamanaka T, Kokado H, Kondo T. Complete Genome Sequences of Getah Virus Strains Isolated from Horses in 2016 in Japan. Genome Announc 2017 Aug 3;5(31).
    doi: 10.1128/genomeA.00750-17pubmed: 28774985google scholar: lookup
  15. Bannai H, Nemoto M, Niwa H, Murakami S, Tsujimura K, Yamanaka T, Kondo T. Geospatial and temporal associations of Getah virus circulation among pigs and horses around the perimeter of outbreaks in Japanese racehorses in 2014 and 2015. BMC Vet Res 2017 Jun 19;13(1):187.
    doi: 10.1186/s12917-017-1112-6pubmed: 28629406google scholar: lookup
  16. Bannai H, Ochi A, Nemoto M, Tsujimura K, Yamanaka T, Kondo T. A 2015 outbreak of Getah virus infection occurring among Japanese racehorses sequentially to an outbreak in 2014 at the same site. BMC Vet Res 2016 Jun 10;12:98.
    doi: 10.1186/s12917-016-0741-5pubmed: 27286658google scholar: lookup
  17. Sun Y, Yang H, Zhang Y, Liu R, Li L, Shi M, Liu T, Du J, Guo Z, Zhao L, Li Y, Yu L, Chen L. Outbreak and epidemic of Getah virus infection in swine by virulence-enhanced GIII variant in Henan, central China in 2024. Virulence 2025 Dec;16(1):2530661.
    doi: 10.1080/21505594.2025.2530661pubmed: 40653751google scholar: lookup
  18. Yuan Y, Hao Y, Peng C, Zhang D, Ma W, Xiao P, Li N. From transmission to adaptive evolution: genomic surveillance of Getah virus. Front Cell Infect Microbiol 2025;15:1513392.
    doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2025.1513392pubmed: 40535537google scholar: lookup
  19. Lan J, Duan L, Liu X, Zhou Y, Zeng B, Chen S, Ye Y, Huang D, Wan G, Zhang F, Song D. Seroprevalence of Getah virus in pigs in Southeast China determined with a recombinant Cap protein-based indirect ELISA. Front Microbiol 2025;16:1547670.
    doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2025.1547670pubmed: 40034493google scholar: lookup
  20. Shen J, Liu S, Liu S, Shen S, Lei M, Xu Q, Li W, He Q, Xu X, Cai X. Genomic surveillance and evolution of Getah virus. Virus Evol 2025;11(1):veaf007.
    doi: 10.1093/ve/veaf007pubmed: 39989716google scholar: lookup
  21. Jian Z, Jiang C, Zhu L, Li F, Deng L, Ai Y, Lai S, Xu Z. Infectivity and pathogenesis characterization of getah virus (GETV) strain via different inoculation routes in mice. Heliyon 2024 Jul 15;10(13):e33432.
    doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e33432pubmed: 39040396google scholar: lookup
Subscribe to our newsletter
Join 99,357 horse owners like you who receive our email updates on horse health and nutrition.