Equus caballus Papillomavirus Type-9: first detection in Italian horses
Papillomavirus (PV) infections may be related to anogenital lesions and cancer development in humans and several other animal species. To date, 11 different PVs have been reported in horses. Among them, a newly described PV named Equus caballus Papillomavirus Type9 (EcPV9) was thus far only reported in the semen of a stallion with penile lesions in Australia. This study reports for the first time the presence of EcPV9 in asymptomatic Italian horses.
From July 2020 to January 2022, genital brush samples were collected from 209 horses with no apparent signs of neoplastic disease and no PV-associated lesions, clinically examined at the Didactic Veterinary University Hospital (OVUD) of Perugia and at the Veterinary University Hospital (OVU) of Turin. Brushes were submitted to real-time PCR targeting the EcPV9-L1 region. The first amplification targeted a region of ~116 bp, followed by the amplification and sequencing of ~533 bp of the positive samples.
Data showed that EcPV9-L1 DNA was found in 11 horses (5.3%), all female and mainly English thoroughbred horses. Co-infection with EcPV2-L1 was found in seven of the 11 EcPV9-L1 positive horses (63.6%).
This study contributes to the description of the prevalence of exposure or infection of EcPVs in the horse population in Italy, for which data are still limited. In this regard, here the authors provide a phylogenetic analysis and the completely reconstructed viral genomes of two Italian EcPV type 9 isolates, as well as four EcPV type 2 obtained from co-infected animals.
Livia De Paolis, et al. “Equus caballus Papillomavirus Type-9 (EcPV9): First Detection in Asymptomatic Italian Horses.” Viruses. 2022 Sep 15;14(9):2050. doi: 10.3390/v14092050.
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