Abstract

Currently, there is no recommended immunoprophylaxis against febrile respiratory diseases due to equine herpesvirus-1 (EHV-1) and -4 (EHV-4) in horses below age 5-6 months. This is because of interference by maternally-derived antibody (MDA) of vaccines. Unweaned equine foals are an important reservoir of EHV-1 transmission; therefore, we experimentally assessed the efficacy of a live EHV-1 vaccine in foals age 1.4-3.5 months with MDA. Following vaccination and challenge, parameters assessed were virus shedding in nasal mucus, leucocyte-associated viraemia, circulating virus neutralising antibody activity and clinical reactions. Controlled challenge showed that a single intranasal dose of the vaccine afforded partial but significant protection against febrile respiratory disease, virus shedding and viraemia due to EHV-1 infection, despite virus-neutralising MDA. The prospective vaccine would be a significant step forward in reducing the incidence of the disease caused by EHV-1 infection.

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