Serological markers of Bornavirus infection found in horses in Iceland.
Abstract: In a stable of eight horses in Northern Iceland, six horses presented with clinical signs, such as ataxia and reduced appetite, leading to euthanasia of one severely affected horse. Serological investigations revealed no evidence of active equine herpes virus type 1 infection, a common source of central nervous system disease in horses, nor equine arteritis virus and West Nile virus. Another neurotropic virus, Borna disease virus, was therefore included in the differential diagnosis list. Results: Serological investigations revealed antibodies against Borna disease virus in four of five horses with neurological signs in the affected stable. One horse without clinical signs was seronegative. Four clinically healthy horses in the stable that arrived and were sampled one year after the outbreak were found seronegative, whereas one of four investigated healthy horses in an unaffected stable was seropositive. Conclusions: This report contains the first evidence of antibodies to Borna disease virus in Iceland. Whether Borna disease virus was the cause of the neurological signs could however not be confirmed by pathology or molecular detection of the virus. As Iceland has very restricted legislation regarding animal imports, the questions of how this virus has entered the country and to what extent markers of Bornavirus infection can be found in humans and animals in Iceland remain to be answered.
Publication Date: 2013-11-01 PubMed ID: 24180621PubMed Central: PMC3828001DOI: 10.1186/1751-0147-55-77Google Scholar: Lookup
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- Journal Article
- Research Support
- Non-U.S. Gov't
Summary
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This research article focuses on identifying the presence of Bornavirus infection in horses in Iceland, which had been exhibiting specific symptoms indicative of neurological problems. Although common equine viruses were ruled out, antibodies against Borna disease virus were detected in horses showing these symptoms, marking the first evidence of this infection in Icelandic horses.
Objective and Methodology
- The research aimed to identify the cause of neurological symptoms, including ataxia and reduced appetite, observed in six out of eight horses in a stable in Northern Iceland.
- Common viruses that typically cause central nervous system disease in horses such as equine herpes virus type 1, equine arteritis virus, and West Nile virus were ruled out through serological investigations.
- Borna disease virus, another neurotropic virus, was considered as part of the differential diagnosis.
Findings
- The serological examinations detected antibodies against the Borna disease virus in four out of five horses that showed neurological signs from the affected stable. This suggests that these horses had been exposed to this virus.
- One of the horses that did not show any clinical signs tested negative for these antibodies.
- Subsequent testing of four new horses that arrived at the stable a year after the outbreak showed no presence of these antibodies.
- Interestingly, out of four healthy horses in an unaffected stable, one tested positive for these antibodies, indicating exposure to the virus without visible symptoms.
Conclusions and Future Research Directions
- This study provides the first evidence of Bornavirus antibodies in horses in Iceland. However, it still remains uncertain if the Borna disease virus was actually the cause of the neurological symptoms as there was no specific pathological or molecular confirmation.
- Given the strict regulations around animal imports in Iceland, the entry pathway of this virus into the country is an intriguing question that requires further investigation.
- The study raises another significant question about the presence and impact of Bornavirus infection markers in humans and other animals in Iceland, providing scope for future research.
Cite This Article
APA
Björnsdóttir S, Agustsdóttir E, Blomström AL, Oström IL, Berndtsson LT, Svansson V, Wensman JJ.
(2013).
Serological markers of Bornavirus infection found in horses in Iceland.
Acta Vet Scand, 55(1), 77.
https://doi.org/10.1186/1751-0147-55-77 Publication
Researcher Affiliations
- Department of Biomedical Sciences and Veterinary Public Health, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, P,O, Box 7028, SE-750 07 Uppsala, Sweden. Jonas.Wensman@slu.se.
MeSH Terms
- Animals
- Antibodies, Viral / blood
- Bornaviridae / isolation & purification
- Disease Outbreaks
- Horse Diseases / blood
- Horse Diseases / epidemiology
- Horse Diseases / virology
- Horses
- Iceland / epidemiology
- Mononegavirales Infections / blood
- Mononegavirales Infections / epidemiology
- Mononegavirales Infections / veterinary
- Serologic Tests / veterinary
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This article includes 15 references
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Citations
This article has been cited 2 times.- Pinto MC, Craveiro H, Johansson Wensman J, Carvalheira J, Berg M, Thompson G. Bornaviruses in naturally infected Psittacus erithacus in Portugal: insights of molecular epidemiology and ecology. Infect Ecol Epidemiol 2019;9(1):1685632.
- Barba M, Fairbanks EL, Daly JM. Equine viral encephalitis: prevalence, impact, and management strategies. Vet Med (Auckl) 2019;10:99-110.
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