Coital exanthema in stallions
Pascoe, R.R.; Bagust, T.J.
Journal of Reproduction and Fertility. Supplement 1975(23): 147-150
1975
ISSN/ISBN: 0449-3087 PMID: 173847 Document Number: 86769
Equine coital exanthema was produced experimentally in stallions by inoculation with an equine herpesvirus (strain 65/61), and was transmitted during coitus with an infected mare. Serological responses to this infection include the production of complement-fixing and neutralizing antibodies which reach maximum levels 14 to 21 days after infection. Complement-fixing antibodies decline rapidly and are usually not detectable by 60 days after infection, whereas neutralizing antibody activity is maintained for at least one year. This disparity provides a useful method for the diagnosis of recent infections and estimation of the temporal incidence of infection in groups of mares. Clinically normal carrier mares probably spread the virus.