A novel circovirus has been found in a Kentucky horse with liver disease, though it remains unclear whether the virus was the cause of the horse's health problems.
Circoviruses can affect pigs, birds, elk, dogs, cows, pandas, bears, bobcats, pumas, foxes, mink, seals, bats, rodents, fish, and bobcats. They can have no effect on some animals and may be lethal to others.
Dr. Alvin Hui serum tested five horses in Kentucky: one ill and four healthy. The researchers discovered parvovirus-H, equus anellovirus and some distantly related mammalian circoviruses sequences. The circovirus was present in the ill horse, which was a pregnant mare with hepatitis and a fever. The mare was also positive for equine parvovirus-H, which could have been the cause of the liver disease.
The scientists were able to completely map the genome of the equine circovirus 1 strain Charaf (EqCV1-Charaf). The team determined that the equine circovirus genome is most closely related to pig circoviruses PCV1 and PCV2, which are distributed worldwide, and to a Canadian elk circovirus, which has been reported just once.
The team concluded that EqCV1 is a new species in the circovirus genus and the first reported in a horse. Whether the circovirus played a role in the mare's hepatitis is uncertain as the virus's disease-causing ability is unclear.
Read the full article from the journal Viruses.
Read more at HorseTalk.
The post Novel Circovirus Identified In A Kentucky Horse appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
