Seroprevalence and Risk Factors for Exposure to Equine Coronavirus in Apparently Healthy Horses in Israel

摘要

Equine coronavirus (ECoV) is a β-coronavirus that, together with other coronaviruses, are pathogenic to both human and animals, as seen in the recent COVID-19 pandemic. ECoV is considered as a diarrheic pathogen in foals and is included in the list of viral causes of enteritis. During the last decade, outbreaks of ECoV were reported in adult horses in the USA, EU and Japan. In Israel, other coronaviruses were reported in cattle, camels and in humans; however, coronaviruses have not been reported in horses. In this study, we aimed to determine the exposure of healthy horses to ECoV and determine the selected risk factors for infection. For this purpose, serum samples were collected from 333 healthy horses, 41 (12.3%) of which had anti-ECoV antibodies. Seropositive horses were found in more than half (58.6%) of the farms and horses located in central Israel were more likely to be positive. ECoV should be included in the differential diagnosis list of pathogens in cases of adult horses with acute onset of anorexia, lethargy, fever and gastrointestinal signs in Israel.