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The Journal of veterinary medical science2017; 79(3); 636-643; doi: 10.1292/jvms.16-0518

Isolation of equine herpesvirus 3 (EHV-3) from equine coital exanthema of two stallions and sero-epidemiology of EHV-3 infection in Japan.

Abstract: In the spring of 2015, two stallions reared in Farms A and B in Hokkaido in Japan showed symptoms of equine coital exanthema. Equine herpesvirus 3 (EHV-3) was isolated from penis swab samples of both stallions, and the isolates from each stallion in Farms A and B were designated as SS-1 and YS-1 strains, respectively. BamHI restriction profiles of SS-1 and Japanese reference strain Iwate-1 were indistinguishable, but the BamHI-A fragment of YS-1 was larger than those of SS-1 and Iwate-1 by 1.9 kbp because of the lack of two BamHI sites. Nucleotide sequence analyses of glycoprotein G (gG), gB, gC and VP13/14 coding regions revealed that SS-1 and YS-1 had 99.77% to 100% identities to each other. These results suggested that the origins of SS-1 and YS-1 were different. For a sero-epidemiological survey, serum neutralizing tests using SS-1 against 319 sera of horses from eight farms in Hokkaido were conducted. Six of the eight farms were EHV-3 antibody-positive, and positive rates ranged from 2.6% to 17.6%. To determine the infection time of four EHV-3 antibody-positive horses, a retrospective study was conducted. Infection time of the four horses was in the breeding season, and re-infection or reactivation of latently infected EHV-3 might have occurred in one horse. However, these four horses had never shown any clinical symptoms. The results suggested that several EHV-3 strains are distributed in Japan and that infection is maintained widely in horses without clinical symptoms.
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Publication Date: 2017-01-27 PubMed ID: 28132964PubMed Central: PMC5383190DOI: 10.1292/jvms.16-0518Google Scholar: Lookup
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  • 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.

This research paper covers a study conducted in Japan in 2015 that found two stallions infected with equine herpesvirus 3 (EHV-3), a sexually transmitted disease in horses. The research thus illustrates that the virus, despite producing no visible symptoms in some horses, remains widespread within horse populations in Japan.

Study Context

  • Two stallions in Hokkaido, Japan, were found showing symptoms of equine coital exanthema, a disease caused by EHV-3, during the spring of 2015.
  • This disease is a form of herpes that can be transmitted to other horses through sexual contact, hence its detection in penis swabs.
  • The stallions were kept at two separate farms in Hokkaido, referred to as Farms A and B.

Finding and Analyses

  • EHV-3 strains were isolated from both horses and were given the identifiers SS-1 (from the farm A stallion) and YS-1 (from farm B).
  • The research team carried out a form of genetic analysis, using an enzyme called BamHI to cut the viral genome into sections. This revealed differences between the strains, suggesting that their origins were different.
  • The researchers also conducted a nucleotide sequence analysis of several coding regions of the viral genome. The two isolated strains, SS-1 and YS-1, were found to be 99.77% to 100% identical in these areas, corroborating the differences found via the BamHI analysis.

Sero-Epidemiology Study

  • The authors conducted a larger-scale sero-epidemiological survey: they exposed horse serum samples to the SS-1 strain of EHV-3 and then measured how the serum responded.
  • The serum was collected from 319 horses across eight different farms in Hokkaido.
  • A positive immune response indicated that the horse had been previously exposed to this strain of the virus.
  • Across the eight farms, six had at least one positive response, and positive response rates varied between 2.6% and 17.6%.

Retrospective Study

  • The researchers conducted a retrospective study to determine when four of the positively tested horses had been infected.
  • They found that the horses were likely infected during the breeding season.
  • The study suggests that one of the horses may have been re-infected or experienced a reactivation of a latent EHV-3 infection.
  • Importantly, none of these four horses had ever shown clinical symptoms of EHV-3 infection.

Conclusion

  • The study concludes that several strains of EHV-3 are prevalent in Japan and that many horses may carry the infection without showing symptoms.
  • The absence of symptoms makes it challenging to control the spread of the virus, which remains latent in infected horses and can be reactivated under certain conditions.

Cite This Article

APA
Kirisawa R, Toishi Y, Akamatsu A, Soejima K, Miyashita T, Tsunoda N. (2017). Isolation of equine herpesvirus 3 (EHV-3) from equine coital exanthema of two stallions and sero-epidemiology of EHV-3 infection in Japan. J Vet Med Sci, 79(3), 636-643. https://doi.org/10.1292/jvms.16-0518

Publication

The Journal of veterinary medical science
ISSN: 1347-7439
NlmUniqueID: 9105360
Country: Japan
Language: English
Volume: 79
Issue: 3
Pages: 636-643

Researcher Affiliations

Kirisawa, Rikio
  • Laboratory of Veterinary Virology, Department of Pathobiology, School of Veterinary Medicine, Rakuno Gakuen University, 582 Bunkyoudai-Midorimachi, Ebetsu, Hokkaido 069-8501, Japan.
Toishi, Yuko
    Akamatsu, Ai
      Soejima, Kosuke
        Miyashita, Taisuke
          Tsunoda, Nobuo

            MeSH Terms

            • Animals
            • Exanthema / epidemiology
            • Exanthema / veterinary
            • Exanthema / virology
            • Herpesviridae Infections / epidemiology
            • Herpesviridae Infections / veterinary
            • Herpesviridae Infections / virology
            • Herpesvirus 3, Equid / isolation & purification
            • Horse Diseases / epidemiology
            • Horse Diseases / virology
            • Horses
            • Japan
            • Male
            • Sequence Analysis, DNA
            • Seroepidemiologic Studies
            • Sexually Transmitted Diseases, Viral / epidemiology
            • Sexually Transmitted Diseases, Viral / veterinary
            • Sexually Transmitted Diseases, Viral / virology

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            Citations

            This article has been cited 7 times.
            1. Losinno A, Vissani MA, Sanchez D, Damiani AM. Equid herpesvirus type 3 infection produces membrane-associated and secreted forms of glycoprotein G that are not required for efficient cell-to-cell spread of the virus in vitro. Arch Virol 2023 Mar 28;168(4):122.
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            2. Troncoso I, Calvanese R, Saravia F, Muñoz-Leal S, Zegpi NA, Ortega R. First molecular detection of Equine Herpesvirus type 3 (EHV-3) in Chile. Vet Med Sci 2023 Mar;9(2):717-720.
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            3. Hu Y, Jia Q, Liu J, Sun W, Bao Z, Che C, Wu G, Fan B, Jarhen, Ran D. Molecular characteristics and pathogenicity of an equid alphaherpesvirus 1 strain isolated in China. Virus Genes 2022 Aug;58(4):284-293.
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            4. Vissani MA, Damiani AM, Barrandeguy ME. Equine Coital Exanthema: New Insights on the Knowledge and Leading Perspectives for Treatment and Prevention. Pathogens 2021 Aug 20;10(8).
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            5. Toishi Y, Tsunoda N, Kirisawa R. Period of excretion of equine herpesvirus 3 (EHV-3) from a stallion before showing clinical signs of equine coital exanthema and the effect of acyclovir treatment on the duration of EHV-3 excretion. J Vet Med Sci 2020 Sep 24;82(9):1299-1305.
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            6. Toishi Y, Tsunoda N, Kirisawa R. Occurrence of equine coital exanthema (ECE) in stallions in Japan and effectiveness of treatment with valacyclovir for ECE. J Vet Med Sci 2017 Mar 23;79(3):632-635.
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            7. Atay YE, Ekinci G, Öztürk AE, Timur MC, Mete A, Altınbay K, Derelli FM, Akar Y, Keleş İ. Clinical Prevalence of Equine Coital Exanthema in a Thoroughbred Covering Station in Türkiye (2021-2024). Reprod Domest Anim 2025 Jun;60(6):e70086.
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