It started in a diarrheic foal in North Carolina in 1999. A few years later, researchers found it in Japan. Today, scientists have discovered the virus in Europe. And what’s more, they’ve found it in horses' respiratory fluid, whereas before, it’s only been isolated in feces.

What is this new, traveling virus? It’s equine coronavirus, also known as ECoV. ECoV is rarely fatal, but it can cause significant pain and discomfort in horses, mainly through fever and diarrhea. And unfortunately, French researchers recently determined that the disease appears to be on the move.

“ECoV had only been identified in the United States and Japan, but our study makes us think that the virus is circulating more widely on an international level,” said Fabien Miszczak, PhD, of the University of Caen's Virology Laboratory, in Normandy, France.

Miszczak and his fellow researchers tested 595 laboratory samples from French horses suffering from enteric (intestinal) or respiratory illness, he said. Twelve of these samples were positive for ECoV. While 11 of the samples were from feces, one was from respiratory fluid