Novel Hepatitis Viruses in Horses Reviewed

Find out what researchers know and what they don’t about the three recently described hepatitis viruses in horses.
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Not long ago, when a veterinarian dealt with acute liver inflammation in a horse, he or she was likely diagnosing Theiler's disease, or serum hepatitis. But there are three new hepatitis viruses in town, all initially described in the past two years. What are these viruses, and are they clinically relevant?

At the 2014 American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine Forum, held June 4-7 in Nashville, Tennessee, Thomas J. Divers, DVM, Dipl. ACVIM, AVECC, reviewed these new viruses and explained how they might affect horses.

Theiler's Disease Reviewed

Sir Arnold Theiler first described serum hepatitis in the first half of the 20th century when he described "hundreds of cases of a highly fatal form of hepatitis that occurred in horses following vaccination against African horse sickness, by the simultaneous administration of infectious virus and convalescent equine antiserum," Divers said.

Since then, he said, it has been diagnosed periodically throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Divers said a recent review of 13 Theiler's cases at the Cornell University equine hospital in the past 25 years indicated that four of those horses had received equine serum or plasma in the prior 30 to 70 days, while the other nine horses were all diagnosed between June and November

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Written by:

Erica Larson, former news editor for The Horse, holds a degree in journalism with an external specialty in equine science from Michigan State University in East Lansing. A Massachusetts native, she grew up in the saddle and has dabbled in a variety of disciplines including foxhunting, saddle seat, and mounted games. Currently, Erica competes in eventing with her OTTB, Dorado.

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