Virulence of the V592 isolate of equid herpesvirus-1 in ponies

The V592 strain of equid herpesvirus-1 (EHV-1), which was originally isolated from a fetus during an abortion epizootic, has proved to be of low virulence in infection studies. Five Welsh Mountain pony mares and one foal were challenged intranasally or by aerosol with this isolate, and monitored clinically and virologically. All six animals shed virus in nasopharyngeal mucus, and viraemia was recorded from day 7 post-infection (PI). Pathological investigations revealed mild rhinitis and bronchiolitis in the mares, with viral antigen expression in degenerating epithelial cells of the nasal mucosa and bronchioles, and in occasional monocytes in the respiratory tract-associated lymph nodes. Viral antigen expression was not detected in vascular endothelium of the mares, although vasculitis was seen to have affected small numbers of blood vessels in the dorsocaudal lung regions of a mare examined on day 10 PI. In the foal, respiratory lesions of a more localized nature included infection of vascular endothelium and associated vasculitis. The foal also had localized encephalitis affecting the olfactory lobes of the brain, with viral antigen expression in degenerating olfactory neurons and microglia. The data suggest that the relatively low virulence of strain V592 is associated with a lower degree of endotheliotropism than that shown by the highly virulent Ab4 and Army 183 isolates, and that this property is influenced by host immunity.