Vet World Vol.15 November-2022 Article-12
Research Article
Veterinary World, 15(11): 2597-2602
https://doi.org/10.14202/vetworld.2022.2597-2602
Molecular detection of equid herpesvirus in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid from asymptomatic horses in Southern Brazil
2. Department of Animal Science, College of Agriculture "Luiz de Queiroz", University of São Paulo, Piracicaba, SP, 13418-900, Brazil.
3. Biotechnology Institute, Sao Paulo State University (UNESP), Botucatu, 18607-440, SP, Brazil.
4. Department of Biomedical Sciences and Pathobiology, Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, 24061, USA.
5. Department of Comparative Pathobiology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, 47907, USA.
6. Director Molecular Diagnostics, Antech Diagnostics - Molecular Diagnostics, Fountain Valley, CA, 92708, USA.
Background and Aim: Molecular approaches to diagnose respiratory viruses have provided an opportunity for early and subclinical pathogen detection, particularly in samples from the upper respiratory tract. This study aimed to investigate the presence of herpesviruses, particularly equid herpesvirus (EHV)-2 and EHV-5, in samples from the lower respiratory tract of healthy racehorses from Southern Brazil.
Materials and Methods: Samples from the lower respiratory tract (i.e., bronchoalveolar lavage fluid [BALF]) were assessed by video endoscopy, cytological evaluation of BALF, and tracheal aspirates (TA), along with quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR), to detect equine herpesvirus infection in the lower respiratory tract samples and compare corresponding cytological and endoscopic findings.
Results: At least one abnormality per horse during endoscopy examination was observed, including, but not limited to, mucous secretion in the airways and pharyngeal lymphoid hyperplasia. The presence of EHV-2 and/or EHV-5 was detected by qPCR in 3/10 animals. One horse was positive for EHV-2 alone, one for EHV-5 alone, and one for both.
Conclusion: To the authors' knowledge, this is the first molecular detection of EHV-2 and EHV-5 in Brazilian thoroughbred horses. These findings may provide new insights into the epidemiology of EHV-2 and EHV-5 in Brazilian horses, evidencing the importance of the molecular investigation, early detection, and prevention of respiratory diseases. Keywords: bronchoalveolar lavage fluid, endoscopy, equine, gammaherpesvirus, polymerase chain reaction, tracheal wash.
Keywords: bronchoalveolar lavage fluid, endoscopy, equine, gammaherpesvirus, polymerase chain reaction, tracheal wash.
How to cite this article: Finger MA, Biava JS, Dornbusch PT, Perotta JH, Ullmann LS, Serpa PBS, Kmetiuk LB, dos Santos AP, Biondo AW, Leutenegger C, and Filho IRB (2022) Molecular detection of equid herpesvirus in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid from asymptomatic horses in Southern Brazil, Veterinary World, 15(11): 2597–2602.
Received: 27-05-2022 Accepted: 03-10-2022 Published online: 17-11-2022
Corresponding author: Ivan Roque de Barros Filho E-mail: ivanbarf@ufpr.br
DOI: 10.14202/vetworld.2022.2597-2602
Copyright: Finger, et al. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http:// creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.