Equine coital exanthema (EHV-3 virus) infection in India.

The researchers investigated a reproductive disease in horses in a stud farm in Bangalore, India in 1987 and confirmed it as equine coital exanthema, which is caused by the equine herpes virus-3 (EHV-3). This was the first documented case of this disease in India.

Research context and objective

• The study originates from an equine reproductive disease that was encountered in an equine stud farm in Bangalore, in Southern India, in 1987. The researchers aimed to identify the disease and its causative agent.

Identification of the disease

• The disease was identified as equine coital exanthema, a sexually transmitted disease in horses that results in the formation of ulcers on their external genitals. The identification was based on characteristic symptoms and lesions associated with the disease.

Isolation of the causative agent

• Equine Herpes Virus-3 (EHV-3), the virus responsible for the disease, was isolated from scabs collected from animals with active lesions.
• The presence of this virus was definitive proof of an EHV-3 infection as the cause of the disease.

Antibody detection

• The presence of neutralizing antibodies in the sera of recovered mares and a stallion was also demonstrated.
• These antibodies result from the immune system’s response to an EHV-3 infection and their detection in the horses’ blood further confirmed the presence of this disease within the studied population.

Significance of the findings

• This study provided the first authenticated report of an equine coital exanthema outbreak in India caused by an EHV-3 infection.
• These findings are significant as they improve understanding of the disease’s geographical distribution and are crucial for developing effective biosecurity measures to prevent its spread.