Equine arteritis virus (EAV)

Equine arteritis virus (EAV) is a small, enveloped, positive-sense single-stranded RNA virus belonging to the family Arteriviridae within the order Nidovirales (Snijder et al., 2013). It is the causative agent of Equine Viral Arteritis (EVA), a systemic infection in horses characterized by fever, respiratory disease, edema, and abortion in pregnant mares (Balasuriya, 2014). The virus exhibits a specific tropism for alveolar macrophages and vascular endothelial cells, leading to the characteristic necrotizing arteritis observed in clinical cases (MacLachlan et al., 1996). A significant feature of EAV is its ability to establish a persistent, testosterone-dependent infection in the reproductive tract of stallions, making them chronic carriers and primary reservoirs for transmission (Timoney & McCollum, 1993). While there are no specific small-molecule antivirals approved for clinical use in horses, prevention is managed through modified-live vaccines like Arvac, which induce protective immunity (Go et al., 2011). Research into therapeutic targets within the virus focuses on its non-structural proteins, such as the nsp9 RNA-dependent RNA polymerase and the nsp4 3C-like protease, which are essential for the viral life cycle (Zhang et al., 2021).

Other names

Equine viral arteritis virusEAV

Inhibition of viral replication through interference with RNA synthesis or induction of protective neutralizing antibodies via vaccination (Zhang et al., 2021; Go et al., 2011).