Evaluation of equine coronavirus fecal shedding among hospitalized horses

Sanz, Macarena G.; Kwon, SoYoung; Pusterla, Nicola; Gold, Jenifer R.; Bain, Fairfield; Evermann, Jim

Equine coronavirus (ECoV), a member of the Coronaviridae family, is a single-stranded, positive sense, enveloped ribonucleic acid (RNA) virus associated with outbreaks of enteric disease in adult horses. 1, 2 Infection with ECoV reportedly causes fever, lethargy, colic, or diarrhea of variable severity in adult horses. 1, 3 Hyperammonemic encephalopathy also has been reported. 3 Morbidity and mortality range from 10% to 83% [1] [2] [3] [4] and from 7% to 27%, [1] [2] [3] [4] respectively. Historically, electron microscopy (EM) was considered the gold standard for diagnosis of coronavirus in feces. 5, 6 Because of the expertise and equipment required for this technique and its inability to characterize viruses beyond the family level, EM has been augmented in clinical settings by real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) as this test provides a sensitive and specific diagnostic tool to document the presence of ECoV in feces of horses. 1 Epidemiological information regarding ECoV is limited, 7 and as a result, definitive diagnosis of ECoV in adult horses remains challenging.