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Human papillomavirus type 124 (HPV124), a member of betapapillomavirus, is associated with viral warts, actinic keratosis, and squamous cell carcinoma incidence in human. No reports of HPV124 infection in mainland China have been reported to date. In a survey of Chinese horses, we detected HPV124 via next-generation sequencing (NGS) in nasal swabs from 42% (39/93) of Thoroughbred horses, 7% (2/30) of the Akhal-Teke horses, and 17/50 aborted fetal lung tissues of Yili mares that were initially found to be negative for equid herpesvirus 1, which indicated the virus can be trans-species infection in different breeding horses, and suggested that this pathogen may potentially contribute to abortion incidence among horses. Further investigation showed that some workers involved in horse farm were positive for HPV124, which strongly suggested that horse-origin HPV124 strain may be transmissible from human workers to horses. Sequence analyses of E6 gene sequences from 18 Chinese HPV124 samples were performed, revealing that the 7 of 18 HPV124 strain identified both horses and human in the present study shared 100% sequence identity with previously published HPV124 isolate. Phylogenetic analyses based on E6 gene sequences in GenBank further revealed that the HPV124 isolate identified herein was closely related to the NJ3900 HPV124 reference strain, clustering together with the established Beta 1 HPV lineage. These results provide first evidence that HPV124 can infect horses, may function as a causative agent for abortions in Yili horses, and come from HPV124-positive humans laboring.

Human papillomavirus type 124 (HPV124) is a betapapillomavirus that is associated with viral warts, actinic keratosis, and squamous cell carcinoma incidence. No reports of HPV124 infection in mainland China have been reported to date. In a survey of Chinese horses, we detected HPV124 via next-generation sequencing (NGS) in nasal swabs from 4% (2/56) of thoroughbred horses, and 7% (2/30) of the Akhal-Teke horses, suggesting that horses can serve as a reservoir species for this virus. In addition, HPV124 was detected in 17/50 lung tissue samples from aborted Yili horse fetuses that were initially found to be negative for equid herpesviruses and equine arteritis virus, suggesting that this pathogen may potentially contribute to abortion incidence among horses. Further investigation showed that all workers involved in Yili mare production of farm B were positive for HPV124, while all other assessed individuals in farm B or without any history of contact with horses were negative for this virus. indicating that this HPV124 strain may be transmissible from horses to human workers at an HPV124-positive farm. Sequence analyses of E6 gene sequences from 18 Chinese HPV124 samples were performed, revealing that the 7 of 18 HPV124 strain identified among horses in the present study shared 100% sequence identity with previously published HPV124 isolate. Phylogenetic analyses based on E6 gene sequences in GenBank further revealed that the HPV124 isolate identified herein was closely related to the NJ3900 HPV124 reference strain, clustering together with the established Beta 1 HPV lineage. These results provide new evidence that HPV124 can infect Chinese horses, may function as a causative agent for abortions in Yili horses, and may also infect humans laboring in Yili mare stables.

Background: Nine different species of Equus caballus papillomavirus (EcPV) and three bovine papillomavirus (BPV) have been reported to infect horses, however, there are so far no describing such infections in China. In January 2021, an abortion storm occurred in Yili horses, as a result of which 50 out of 93 aborted fetus samples were found to be negative for equid herpesvirus (EHV) and equine arteritis virus (EAV).Results: In our pioneer study with Chinese horses, we first found EcPV-2 in the nasal swabs (4/230, 1.7%) of Yili horses, and semen (3/18, 16.7%) of the Thoroughbred horses. This indicated that EcPV can be indeed hosted by horses in China, and that EcPV-2 might be transmitted though breeding. Further detection of EcPVs in the lung tissues of aborted fetus in Yili horses, which were originally negative for equid herpesviruses, established that EcPV-2 was positive in 19 of 50 samples, thereby indicating that EcPV-2 might be a new pathogen causing of abortions. Thereafter, the sequence analyses for L1 genes sequences of 26 China’s EcPV-2 were performed which indicated that EcPV-2, that primarily infected the horses in China, shared 98.3%-99.9% nt identity with the already published sequences for EcPV-2. These observations indicated that EcPV-2 identified in the current study were highly similar variants of the previously identified strains of EcPV-2. Phylogenetic analysis based on L1 genes in GenBank showed that EcPV-2, found in the Chinese horses, was closely related to and clustered together with an already known EcPV-2a lineage. Conclusion: Our study provides the first evidence related to EcPV-2 infection in the Chinese horses, which can serve as a causative agent for Yili horse abortions, and thus can possibly lay the foundation for a systematic and detailed epidemiological study of this infection in the Chinese horses.

Background: Nine species of Equus caballus papillomavirus (EcPV) have been reported to infect horses, however, there are so far no reports of such infections in China. Results: In our pioneer study with Chinese horses, we found EcPV-1 in intranasal papilloma and nasal swabs, EcPV-2 in nasal swabs and semen, and EcPV-7 primarily in semen. This indicates that EcPVs are indeed hosted by horses in China, and that EcPV-2 and 7 may be getting transmitted though breeding. Sequence analyses for complete genomic sequences of EcPV-1 (G2), EcPV-2 (XJ-KS1391) and EcPV-7 (XJ-zs1) were performed which indicated that EcPV-1, 2 and 7, that infect horses in China, share 99.3% nt identity with the already published sequences for EcPV-1, 2 and 7. These observations indicate that three types of EcPVs identified in the current study are highly similar variants of previously known types of EcPV-1, 2 and 7. Phylogenetic analysis based on L1 genes in GenBank showed that EcPV-1, 2 and 7, found in Chinese horses, are closely related to and clustered together with already known EcPV-1, 2 and 7, respectively. Conclusion: Our study provides a novel evidence for EcPVs infection and circulation in Chinese horses and thus lays the foundation for a systematic and detailed epidemiological study of these infections in Chinese horses.