Drei durch Virusisolierung aus Pferdefeten abgesicherte Equine Arteritis Virus-(EAV-)Aborte aus Gestüten mit unterschiedlichen Zuchtrassen.

Three cases of abortions were diagnosed as caused by Equine Arteritis Virus (EAV) by isolation and typing of this virus from the respective fetuses. All 3 abortions were single cases, one occurring on a stud with Iceland Ponies, one with Warmbloods, one with Lipizzaner horses. On each stud horses of the respective breed were kept exclusively, therefore there existed no epidemiologic link. By means of seroneutralization tests performed on in contact horses it could be shown, that EAV had only been introduced recently into the stud with the Iceland Ponies. An extraneous mare stabled temporarily for covering by the stud's stallion could be incriminated for introducing EAV. By means of post-abortion serology it could be demonstrated that the Warmblood stud had been harbouring EAV for a longer period of time. Likewise, the Lipizzaner stud could be shown to have been persistently infected, this time on pre-abortion serums stored frozen at our Institute. On both these studs preexisting neutralizing antibodies accounted for the single case of abortion and prevented serial abortions. By investigating frozen serums taken in earlier years we could show that the Lipizzaner stallions had reacted positively to EAV for several years already. However, the gestation period of the aborting mare allowed to exclude EAV-positive semen transmitted on copulation as cause of its abortion. Both the Iceland Pony stallion as well as the Warmblood stallion could be excluded as sources of infection for the respective aborting mares as both repeatedly were seronegative.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)