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Epidemiology and Genetic Characterization of Equine Infectious Anaemia Virus Strains Isolated in Belgium in 2010
Author(s) -
Caij A. B.,
Tig M.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
transboundary and emerging diseases
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.392
H-Index - 63
eISSN - 1865-1682
pISSN - 1865-1674
DOI - 10.1111/tbed.12031
Subject(s) - serology , veterinary medicine , virology , biology , virus , medicine , antibody , immunology
Summary In J anuary 2010, the U nited K ingdom notified cases of equine infectious anaemia ( EIA ) in two horses introduced from B elgium. The animals came from one assembly centre in R omania and had transited through B elgium with 16 other horses. Nine of them, bought by a B elgian horse breeder, were investigated in B elgium and revealed one additional EIA ‐positive animal. Afterwards, the B elgian F ederal A gency for the S afety of the F ood C hain ( FASFC ) organized a serological EIA survey of the horses introduced into B elgium from R omania between 2007 and 2009. Among the 95 horses identified, six additional serological positive cases were found that had been introduced into B elgium in 2008 ( n = 4) and in 2009 ( n = 2). The survey was extended to the horses in contact with the positive cases, but all contact animals were negative, indicating the absence of transmission. Virological examination performed on tissue samples collected from two seropositive animals demonstrated the presence of viral DNA of EIA virus. Phylogenetic analysis based on the sequences of EIA virus gag gene clustered the B elgian isolates with R omanian strains isolated in 2009. The presumption of a common B elgian origin could be rejected.