Investigation of the Use of Environmental Samples for the Detection of EHV-1 in the Stalls of Subclinical Shedders.
Abstract: In populations of healthy show horses, the subclinical transmission and circulation of respiratory pathogens can lead to disease outbreaks. Due to recent outbreaks of equine herpesvirus-1 myeloencephalopathy (EHM) in the USA and Europe, many show organizers have instituted various biosecurity protocols such as individual horse testing, monitoring for early clinical disease and increasing hygiene and cleanliness protocols. The aim of this study was to determine the accuracy of detecting EHV-1 in the various environmental samples collected from the stalls of subclinical shedders. Four healthy adult horses were vaccinated intranasally with a modified-live EHV-1 vaccine in order to mimic subclinical shedding. Three additional horses served as non-vaccinated controls. All the horses were stabled in the same barn in individual stalls. Each vaccinated horse had nose-to-nose contact with at least one other horse. Prior to the vaccine administration, and daily thereafter for 10 days, various samples were collected, including a 6" rayon-tipped nasal swab, an environmental sponge, a cloth strip placed above the automatic waterer and an air sample. The various samples were processed for nucleic acid purification and analyzed for the presence of EHV-1 via quantitative PCR (qPCR). EHV-1 in nasal secretions was only detected in the vaccinated horses for 1-2 days post-vaccine administration. The environmental sponges tested EHV-1 qPCR-positive for 2-5 days (median 3.5 days) in the vaccinated horses and 1 day for a single control horse. EHV-1 was detected by qPCR in stall strips from three out of four vaccinated horses and from two out of three controls for only one day. EHV-1 qPCR-positive air samples were only detected in three out of four vaccinated horses for one single day. For the vaccinated horses, a total of 25% of the nasal swabs, 35% of the environmental stall sponges, 7.5% of the strips and 7.5% of the air samples tested qPCR positive for EHV-1 during the 10 study days. When monitoring the subclinical EHV-1 shedders, the collection and testing of the environmental sponges were able to detect EHV-1 in the environment with greater frequency as compared to nasal swabs, stationary strips and air samples.
Publication Date: 2024-07-03 PubMed ID: 39066232PubMed Central: PMC11281487DOI: 10.3390/v16071070Google Scholar: Lookup
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- Journal Article
- Research Support
- Non-U.S. Gov't
Cite This Article
APA
Pusterla N, Lawton K, Barnum S.
(2024).
Investigation of the Use of Environmental Samples for the Detection of EHV-1 in the Stalls of Subclinical Shedders.
Viruses, 16(7), 1070.
https://doi.org/10.3390/v16071070 Publication
Researcher Affiliations
- Department of Medicine and Epidemiology, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA.
- Department of Medicine and Epidemiology, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA.
- Department of Medicine and Epidemiology, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA.
MeSH Terms
- Animals
- Horses
- Herpesvirus 1, Equid / isolation & purification
- Horse Diseases / virology
- Horse Diseases / diagnosis
- Horse Diseases / prevention & control
- Herpesviridae Infections / veterinary
- Herpesviridae Infections / virology
- Herpesviridae Infections / diagnosis
- Herpesviridae Infections / prevention & control
- Virus Shedding
- Environmental Microbiology
Grant Funding
- 2023 / Center for Equine Health, University of California, Davis, CA, USA and Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health
Conflict of Interest Statement
The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
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Citations
This article has been cited 1 times.- Pusterla N, Lawton K, Barnum S, Magdesian KG. Comparison of Nose Wipes, Stall Sponges, and Air Samples with Nasal Secretions for the Molecular Detection of Equine Influenza Virus in Clinically and Subclinically Infected Horses.. Viruses 2025 Mar 20;17(3).
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