Epidemiological Aspects of Equine Herpes Virus Infection in South Gujarat, India

Background: The equine herpes viruses (EHV) are highly infective pathogens of all members of the Equidae family worldwide. EHV-1 predominantly associated with the abortion, neonatal death, neurological diseases, whereas, EHV-4 is mostly associated with the respiratory disease, generally termed as equine rhinopneumonitis. This present investigation was planned to study sero-prevalence of EHV-1/4 infections in horses of south Gujarat, India. Methods: A total of 253 horses showing symptoms of respiratory illness or having history were screened by indirect ELISA test. While, blood samples were analysed for various haematological parameters. Effects of risk factors were studied and statistical analysis of data was done. Result: Over all prevalence of EHV-1/4 infection was 16.60% in South Gujarat, India. Effects of various risk factors (age, sex, breed, and locality) were non-significant. Means of all haematological parameters were in normal range and significant difference was not observed between sero-positive and sero-negative horses. Population of mid cells (monocytes) was found significantly higher (p<0.05) in sero-positive horses as compare to sero-negative horses.