A clot cutting off blood to the wrong place can spell disaster or death for horses—from unborn foals to mature adults. And researchers now believe that when equine herpesvirus-1 (EHV-1) causes abortions and neurologic disease, blood clots could be to blame.

Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine clinical pathologist Tracy Stokol, BVSc, PhD, has been investigating how the virus triggers these clots. Funded by the Harry M. Zweig Memorial Fund for Equine Research, her work investigating the role of platelets—small cells in blood involved in clotting—in EHV-1 infection pathogenesis has shown that the virus particles appear to be binding to platelets,.

When incubated together with platelets at a multiplicity of infection of one—a ratio of one virus particle per platelet—particles of the neuropathogenic strain Ab4 and abortion-inducing strain RacL11 induced platelet activation within 10 minutes. Activation causes the release of P-selectin, a protein that platelets use to bind to other cells. The viral gene product glycoprotein B was also amplified from platelets, suggesting that the virus is binding to them directly.

“We are excited to discover that EHV-1 activates platelets,” said Stokol. “Platelets play a crucial role in thrombosis, a major cause of abortion and neurological symptoms due to EHV-1. If platelets are involved in the pathogenesis of these EHV-1-associated disease syndromes, administration of platelet-inhibiting medications such as Plavix or aspirin may prove useful in the treatment of infected horses