Serological evidence of equine arteritis virus infection and phylogenetic analysis of viral isolates in semen of stallions from Serbia
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Date
2017Author
Lazić, Sava
Lupulović, Diana
Gaudaire, Delphine
Petrović, Tamaš
Lazić, Gospava
Hans, Aymeric
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Background: Equine arteritis virus (EAV) is responsible for infections in equids. It can spread easily within the horse
population and has a major impact on the horse breeding industry. No EAV outbreak has ever been reported in
Serbia. To determine whether EAV is nonetheless circulating there, especially in the Vojvodina region, 340 horse
serum samples were subjected to serology testing to detect EAV antibodies. In parallel, semen samples from three
seropositive stallions were collected to evaluate their EAV status, using RT-qPCR and virus isolation on cell culture.
Results: Horse sera with EAV antibodies represented 15.88% (54/340) of the tested samples, 83.23% (283/340) being
negative, and just three samples (0.89%) being uninterpretable due to cytotoxicity. Only 7.2% (10/138) of horses
kept by private owners on their own property were seropositive for EAV, whereas 21.8% (44/202) of horses kept on
stud farms had EAV antibodies. Phylogenetic analysis showed that the Serbian EAV isolate was most closely related
to isolates from the neighbouring Hungary.
Conclusions: EAV is circulating in the Serbian horse population, especially among the breeding population certainly
due to the use of EAV shedder stallions since there is no surveillance programme in Serbia and only limited checks on
racehorses. Moreover, phylogenetic analysis indicates that the EAV isolated from a Lipizzaner stallion in Serbia is closely
related to isolates from Hungary, and together form a new cluster.