1. Seroprevalence of Equine Herpesviruses 1 and 9 (EHV-1 and EHV-9) in Wild Grévy's Zebra (Equus grevyi) in Kenya
- Author
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Richard P. Bishop, Alex D. Greenwood, Mathew Mutinda, Azza Abdelgawad, Cynthia Onzere, Zeke Davidson, and Louise Guevara
- Subjects
0301 basic medicine ,Serotype ,040301 veterinary sciences ,Population ,Endangered species ,Captivity ,Zoology ,Animals, Wild ,Antibodies, Viral ,Virus ,0403 veterinary science ,03 medical and health sciences ,Seroepidemiologic Studies ,Animals ,Seroprevalence ,Varicellovirus ,education ,Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics ,Equus grevyi ,education.field_of_study ,Ecology ,biology ,Equidae ,04 agricultural and veterinary sciences ,biology.organism_classification ,Kenya ,Virus Latency ,030104 developmental biology ,Natural population growth - Abstract
Equid herpesviruses types 1 (EHV-1) and 9 (EHV-9) are unusual among herpesviruses in that they lack strong host specificity, and the full extent of their host range remains unclear. The virus establishes latency for long periods and can be reactivated and shed, resulting in clinical disease in susceptible species. A sensitive and specific peptide-based enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was developed to study the seroprevalence of both viruses in a broad range of species among both wild and captive populations. We used this assay to study the seroprevalences of EHV-1 and EHV-9 in a natural population of the highly endangered Grévy's zebra ( Equus grevyi) in Kenya, sampled during a 4-yr period (2012-15). The results were compared with those obtained from captive Grévy's zebras from a previous study. The wild population had a significantly higher seroprevalence of EHV-9 compared with the captive population, suggesting that captivity might reduce exposure to this serotype. In contrast, the seroprevalences of EHV-1 between captive and wild groups was not significantly different. The seroprevalence of EHV-9 was not significantly higher than EHV-1 in zebras within the wild Kenyan population.
- Published
- 2018