Low prevalence of equine coronavirus in foals in the largest thoroughbred horse breeding region of Japan, 2012-2014.

Manabu Nemoto,Takashi Yamanaka,Koji Tsujimura,Tohru Higuchi,Yasuhiro Oue,Yuta Kinoshita,Hiroshi Bannai,Takashi Kondo

doi:10.1186/s13028-015-0149-4

Abstract

BackgroundEquine coronavirus (ECoV) is considered to be a diarrheic pathogen in foals. In central Kentucky in the United States, it has been shown that approximately 30 % of thoroughbred foals are infected with ECoV and thus it is considered widely prevalent. In contrast, the epidemiology of ECoV and its relationship to diarrhea in foals are poorly understood in Japan. We investigated ECoV in rectal swabs collected from thoroughbred foals in Japan.ResultsWe collected 337 rectal swabs from 307 diarrheic foals in the Hidaka district of Hokkaido, the largest thoroughbred horse breeding region in Japan, between 2012 and 2014. In addition, 120 rectal swabs were collected from 120 healthy foals in 2012. These samples were tested by reverse transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification and a real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. All samples collected from diarrheic foals were negative, and only three samples (2.5 %) collected from healthy foals were positive for ECoV. Compared with central Kentucky, ECoV is not prevalent among thoroughbred foals in the Hidaka district of Hokkaido.ConclusionECoV is not prevalent and was not related to diarrhea in thoroughbred foals in the Hidaka district of Hokkaido between 2012 and 2014.

Highlights

Equine coronavirus (ECoV) is considered to be a diarrheic pathogen in foals
Slovis et al [10] reported that approximately 30 % of healthy and diarrheic thoroughbred foals in central Kentucky in the United States were infected with ECoV, using a real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay
These results indicate that ECoV is prevalent among thoroughbred foals in central Kentucky

Summary

Introduction

Equine coronavirus (ECoV) is considered to be a diarrheic pathogen in foals. In central Kentucky in the United States, it has been shown that approximately 30 % of thoroughbred foals are infected with ECoV and it is considered widely prevalent. Equine coronavirus was detected in fecal samples of diarrheic foals in the United States [8, 9], but there have been no reports of an ECoV outbreak in foals. Slovis et al [10] reported that approximately 30 % of healthy and diarrheic thoroughbred foals in central Kentucky in the United States were infected with ECoV, using a real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay.

Results

Conclusion