A serological investigation of the Equine herpesvirus type 1 (EHV-1) and Equine herpesvirus type 4 (EHV-4) in horses in Aydin, Izmir and Uşak regions

The objective of this research was to determine the presence of equine herpesvirus types 1 (EHV-1) and 4 (EHV-4) antibodies in local horses from three provinces in the Western Anatolia region of Turkey. Blood samples were collected from 290 nonvaccinated horses living in Aydın, Uşak and İzmir provinces, and were analyzed via a commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). EHV-1 and EHV-4 antibodies were detected in (%13,1) and (%83,1) of the 290 tested sera, respectively. The seropositivity percentages for EHV-1 and EHV-4 specific antibodies by province were as follows: 6,1% - 87,8% in Aydın, 14,3% - 81,6% in Uşak and 14,6% - 82,3% in İzmir. The present investigation demonstrated that, EHV-1 and EHV-4 infections were more prevalent in the indigenous horse population from three provinces in the Western Anatolia region of Turkey. In addition, high EHV-4 seropositivity was linked to natural infection being passed and high average age of the sampled animal. In this study, no significant differences related to gender proportional. This research is the first study in the region for the EHV-1 and EHV-4 seroepidemiology, also obtained data shed light on the molecular characterization or vaccine studies which will be held in the future.