ABSTRACT
Background: Equine herpes viruses are a major cause of severe illness and mortality in domestic horses worldwide.Equine Herpes Virus-1 and Equine Herpes Virus-4 are genetically and antigenically related viruses. Equine Herpes Virus-1infection is common in horses throughout the world, resulting in abortion and neonatal fetal death, respiratory disease,paresis, sporadic myelitis, myeloencephalopathy, and latent infections. Equine Herpes Virus-4, an important equine viralpathogen, causes respiratory tract disease in horses worldwide. The aim of this study was to investigate the presence ofEquine Herpes Virus-1 and Equine Herpes Virus-4 antibodies in domestic horses in Southeast Anatolia.Materials, Methods & Results: In this study, the blood serum samples of 150 unvaccinated domestic horses were testedfor equine herpes viruses including Equine Herpes Virus-1 and Equine Herpes Virus-4 specific antibodies. Blood serumsamples were collected from the jugular vein of horses in five different provinces (Adiyaman, Diyarbakir, Gaziantep, Kilis,Sanliurfa) in Southeast Anatolia between November 2011 to January 2012. The presence of the Equine Herpes Virus-1 andEquine Herpes Virus-4 antibodies in the samples was determined with commercially available indirect Enzyme-LinkedImmunosorbent Assay (ELISA) kits by using ELISA reader. The optical values of the micro plates were measured at 450nm. The differences between Equine Herpes Virus-1 and Equine Herpes Virus-4 prevalence were evaluated with chi-squaretest (Minitab 14.0 Inc., State College, PA, USA). Difference were considered significant when P < 0.05. Equine HerpesVirus-1 and Equine Herpes Virus-4 specific antibodies were detected as in Adiyaman, Diyarbakir, Gaziantep, Kilis, Sanliurfaas 30% (9/30), 50% (15/30), 0% (0/30), 46.66% (14/30), 46.66% (14/30), 80%(24/30), 73.3% (22/30), 0% (0/30), 83.3%(25/30), 100% (30/30), respectively. Of the serum samples tested, 34.66% (52/150) and 67.33% (101/150) were found...(AU)