Evaluation of equine coronavirus fecal shedding among hospitalized horses.
Abstract: Currently, diagnosis of equine coronavirus (ECoV) relies on the exclusion of other infectious causes of enteric disease along with molecular detection of ECoV in feces or tissue. Although this approach is complete, it is costly and may not always be achievable. Objective: We hypothesized that the overall fecal shedding of ECoV in hospitalized horses is low. Our objective was to determine whether systemically healthy horses and horses with gastrointestinal disorders shed ECoV in their feces at the time of admission to a referral hospital and after 48 hours of stress associated with hospitalization. Methods: One-hundred thirty adult horses admitted to the Washington State University Veterinary Teaching Hospital for gastrointestinal disease (n = 65) or for imaging under anesthesia (n = 65) that were hospitalized for 48 hours. Owner consent was obtained before sampling. Methods: Fecal samples were collected at admission and 48 hours later. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for ECoV and electron microscopy (EM) were performed on all samples. Results: Only 1 of 258 fecal samples was PCR-positive for ECoV. Electron microscopy identified ECoV-like particles in 9 of 258 samples, parvovirus-like particles in 4 of 258 samples, and rotavirus-like particles in 1 of 258 samples. Conclusions: The presence of ECoV in feces of hospitalized adult horses was low. Thus, fecal samples that are PCR-positive for ECoV in adult horses that have clinical signs consistent with this viral infection are likely to be of diagnostic relevance. The clinical relevance of the viruses observed using EM remains to be investigated.
© 2019 The Authors. Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine.
Publication Date: 2019-02-20 PubMed ID: 30788861PubMed Central: PMC6430884DOI: 10.1111/jvim.15449Google Scholar: Lookup
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- Journal Article
- Adult Horses
- Clinical Study
- Diagnosis
- Diagnostic Technique
- Disease Diagnosis
- Electron Microscopy
- Epidemiology
- Equine Coronavirus
- Equine Diseases
- Equine Health
- Feces
- Gastrointestinal Diseases
- Horses
- Hospitalization
- Infection
- Infectious Disease
- Microscopy
- Molecular biology
- Polymerase Chain Reaction
- Veterinary Care
- Veterinary Medicine
Summary
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The research study evaluates the prevalence of Equine Coronavirus (ECoV) in horse feces, particularly among those admitted for treatment in a veterinary hospital. The study suggests that the majority of horses, regardless of their health status, do not shed ECoV in their feces suggesting that fecal samples testing positive for ECoV in adult horses presenting clinical signs associated with this viral infection are more likely to be diagnostically significant.
Objective and Hypothesis
- The researchers hypothesized that fecal shedding of ECoV among hospitalized horses is infrequent.
- The objective was to determine if healthy horses and those with gastrointestinal disorders shed ECoV in the feces during admission and at 48 hours post-admission accounting for the stress related to hospitalization.
Methods
- The study involved 130 adult horses admitted to the Washington State University Veterinary Teaching Hospital. These horses were admitted either for gastrointestinal disease (65 horses) or for imaging under anesthesia (65 horses). They were hospitalized for 48 hours.
- Fecal samples were collected both at admission and 48 hours later. These samples were then subjected to Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) for detecting ECoV and Electron Microscopy (EM) for visualizing the virus particles.
Results
- Out of the 258 fecal samples, PCR tests revealed only a single sample to be positive for ECoV.
- EM tests identified ECoV-like particles in 9 out of the 258 samples, parvovirus-like particles in 4 samples and rotavirus-like particles in 1 sample.
Conclusions
- The study concluded that the prevalence of ECoV in the feces of hospitalized adult horses is low. Hence, any fecal sample from an adult horse presenting clinical signs associated with ECoV infection that tests positive for the virus through PCR is likely to be of diagnostic importance to form a judgement about the infection.
- The study also flags the clinical relevance of the other viruses (such as parvovirus and rotavirus) identified through EM as an area for further investigation.
Cite This Article
APA
Sanz MG, Kwon S, Pusterla N, Gold JR, Bain F, Evermann J.
(2019).
Evaluation of equine coronavirus fecal shedding among hospitalized horses.
J Vet Intern Med, 33(2), 918-922.
https://doi.org/10.1111/jvim.15449 Publication
Researcher Affiliations
- Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington.
- Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington.
- Department of Medicine and Epidemiology, University of California, Davis, California.
- Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington.
- Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington.
- Washington Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington.
MeSH Terms
- Animals
- Betacoronavirus 1 / isolation & purification
- Feces / microbiology
- Feces / virology
- Gastrointestinal Diseases / veterinary
- Horse Diseases / microbiology
- Horse Diseases / virology
- Horses
- Hospitalization
- Microscopy, Electron
- Parvovirus / isolation & purification
- Polymerase Chain Reaction / veterinary
- Rotavirus / isolation & purification
- Washington
Grant Funding
- Boehringer Ingelheim
Conflict of Interest Statement
Authors declare no conflict of interest.
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