Herpesvirus Breakthrough

Preliminary research on equine herpesvirus type 1 (EHV-1) from Cornell University indicates that the commercial vaccine containing modified live virus (Rhinomune) appears to be more effective in preventing infection than killed
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Preliminary research on equine herpesvirus type 1 (EHV-1) from Cornell University indicates that the commercial vaccine containing modified live virus (Rhinomune) appears to be more effective in preventing infection than killed vaccines, and offers some protection against the neurologic form of EHV-1. Klaus Osterrieder, DVM, DVM Habilitation (a German equivalent to a PhD), associate professor of virology in the College of Veterinary Medicine at Cornell, announced his findings prior to peer-reviewed journal publication because of the recent deadly outbreaks of EHV-1. He presented the information to veterinarians on March 26 in Lexington, Ky.

Osterrieder said information from a neurologic outbreak at the University of Findlay in Ohio in 2003 showed that the few horses vaccinated with the modified live vaccine (Rhinomune) had less severe clinical signs than horses vaccinated with killed vaccines. The Ohio outbreak also showed that horses vaccinated with killed vaccines multiple times were more likely to have more severe clinical signs.


Osterrieder hypothesized that we are vaccinating horses too often against EHV-1, and perhaps using the wrong vaccine.


He used virus from the Findlay outbreak to challenge horses in a blinded vaccination trial earlier this year. At the beginning of the study, 15 horses were stressed with shipping and did not develop EHV-1 viremia. Satisfied he would not have horses develop EHV they were already carrying, five study horses were vaccinated with the modified live vaccine (Rhinomune), five with a killed virus vaccine, and five were used as controls. Horses were vaccinated on Days 21 and 55 of the study, then exposed to aerosolized virus in a face mask four weeks later.


Osterrieder and his team recorded respiratory and heart rates and temperature, and they took daily nasal swabs for 14 days after the challenge. They took blood samples for testing viral and antibody levels

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Written by:

Kimberly S. Brown is the editor of EquiManagement/EquiManagement.com and the group publisher of the Equine Health Network at Equine Network LLC.

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