Researchers Contemplate Role of Vesiviruses in MRLS

Oregon State University (OSU) researchers announced last month that they linked vesiviruses to abortions seen during Central Kentucky’s bout with mare reproductive loss syndrome in 2001 and concluded that vesivirus-specific reagents should be

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Oregon State University (OSU) researchers announced last month that they linked vesiviruses to abortions seen during Central Kentucky’s bout with mare reproductive loss syndrome in 2001 and concluded that vesivirus-specific reagents should be included in the diagnostic panel for aborting mares. A University of Kentucky researcher disagrees with the findings of the study, cautioning that a more causative relationship needs to be established before laboratories put tests in place.


Vesiviruses are a genus within the family Caliciviridae, and historically they are best known for causing a clinical disease in pigs, called vesicular exanthema of swine. These viruses were important when they were detected in the United States in the mid-1900s because clinical signs of vesiviral disease can mimic foot and mouth disease, which is a serious threat to the agriculture industry. The OSU researchers said in their study that they wanted to examine possible vesiviral involvement because these agents have been shown to cause abortion not only in swine, but in a variety of mammals including cats, and probably cattle and humans.


Alvin W. Smith, DVM, PhD, Dipl. ACALM, a professor in OSU’s College of Veterinary Medicine, said, “It was an instance of undiagnosed abortion and of some considerable importance. Everyone was trying to figure out what was going on with these mares. I had been working with this agent for 30 years, and it had never been described as a natural infection in horses (although Smith found evidence of naturally occurring vesivirus infection in donkeys that were euthanatized on San Miguel Island, Calif., in the 1970s), so I thought, ‘Why not just check it out and see if my virus is kicking around in these mares?’ I have curiosity, I have a program (to test for vesiviruses at OSU’s Laboratory for Calicivirus Studies), I have an abortogenic virus I know something about, these mares are in trouble…and the two might meet.”


The Study
In two experiments described in the study published in the American Journal of Veterinary Research, Smith and his colleagues reported “significant association” between seropositive status for vesivirus and abortion in mares. The first experiment examined serum from three groups of horses: one group of Central Kentucky mares with a history of abortion problems, another group of “breeding-age control mares,” and a group of mixed-age males and yearling fillies (negative control population). In that experiment, nearly 64% of mares from farms with abortion problems were seropositive for vesivirus antibodies. Forty percent of the breeding-age control mares were seropositive, and all of the horses in the negative control population were seronegative for vesivirus antibodies

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Written by:

Stephanie L. Church, Editorial Director, grew up riding and caring for her family’s horses in Central Virginia and received a B.A. in journalism and equestrian studies from Averett University. She joined The Horse in 1999 and has led the editorial team since 2010. A 4-H and Pony Club graduate, she enjoys dressage, eventing, and trail riding with her former graded-stakes-winning Thoroughbred gelding, It Happened Again (“Happy”). Stephanie and Happy are based in Lexington, Kentucky.

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