History of equine rhinopneumonia research

Abstract

Materials on the history of the study of equine rhinopneumonia are presented. The study of rhinopneumonia began in the mid-19th century. At first the disease was called Influenza, and then it began to be differentiated as independent diseases: grippe, Influenza, contagious catarrh of the upper respiratory tract, infectious pleuropneumonia. In 1933, American scientists Dimock and Edwards found that abortions were noted in horses with influenza. After examining the findings, they determined the viral etiology of the disease. Since 1941, opinions have been expressed that influenza and equine viral abortion are the same disease, but occurring in different forms. The nervous form of equine herpes virus was first reported in Norway in 1966, then in the United States, Canada, and European countries. In the USSR in 1955, N.N. Oleinik registered viral abortion of horses. Subsequently, rhinopneumonia of horses was investigated by K.P. Yurov. The virus was first isolated and identified by K.P. Yurov and N.N. Kryukov in 1969, 1970 from the foals with respiratory disease on horse farms in the Ryazan region. The Office International des Epizootics (OIE) reference laboratory for equine rhinopneumonia was established in 1995. Methods of diagnosis and prevention of rhinopneumonia in horses have been developed on the basis of this laboratory. Equine rhinopneumonia is widespread in Europe, Asia and Africa, as well as in both subcontinents of North and South America. There is a large proportion of horses on all continents that have antibodies to this infection virus. According to literature data, equine herpes virus has been reported in a number of European countries, including CIS countries and Russia.