Wang Tongtong, Hu Leyu, Liu Mengyuan, Wang Tianjiao, Hu Xinyao, Li Ying, Liu Wenqiang, Li Yubao, Wang Yonghui, Ren Huiying, Zhang Wei, Wang Changfa, Li Liangliang
College of Agronomy, Research Institute of Donkey High-Efficiency Breeding and Ecological Feeding, Liaocheng University, Liaocheng, China.
College of Veterinary Medicine, Qingdao Agricultural University, Qingdao, China.
Front Microbiol. 2022 Mar 3;13:840754. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2022.840754. eCollection 2022.
The equine herpesvirus type 8 (EHV-8) can cause significant economic losses in the global horses and donkey industry. The disease has been associated with abortion and respiratory symptoms. However, it is rare for a study to be reported about donkeys with neurological diseases induced by EHV-8 infection. In the present study, one 2-year-old male donkey, from a large-scale donkey farm in China, died with a severe neurological disorder. The causative agent, donkey/Shandong/10/2021 (GenBank accession: OL856098), was identified and isolated from the brain tissue of the dead donkey. Meanwhile, BALB/c mice were used as an animal model to evaluate the pathogenicity of the EHV-8 isolate. Our data showed that EHV-8 was positive in brains by PCR and immunohistochemistry, which induced typical viral encephalitis lesions in both donkey and mice consistent with clinical signs. For the first time, we reported that EHV-8 had been isolated from donkeys with a neurological illness in China, which is helpful to reveal the pathogenicity of EHV-8 in the donkey.
马疱疹病毒8型（EHV-8）可在全球马和驴产业中造成重大经济损失。该疾病与流产和呼吸道症状有关。然而，关于EHV-8感染引起的驴神经疾病的研究报道很少。在本研究中，一头来自中国一个大型养驴场的2岁雄性驴因严重神经紊乱死亡。从死亡驴的脑组织中鉴定并分离出病原体驴/山东/10/2021（GenBank登录号：OL856098）。同时，使用BALB/c小鼠作为动物模型来评估EHV-8分离株的致病性。我们的数据显示，通过PCR和免疫组织化学检测，EHV-8在脑中呈阳性，在驴和小鼠中均诱导出与临床症状一致的典型病毒性脑炎病变。我们首次报道在中国从患有神经疾病的驴中分离出EHV-8，这有助于揭示EHV-8对驴的致病性。
