Rotavirus infection in foals.
Fecal samples from 86 foals with diarrhea were examined by electron microscopy during a 2.5 year period. Of these, 26 (30%) were positive for rotavirus. All of the cases were found in epizootic areas. The disease was produced in an experimental foal by inoculation via stomach tube of a bacteria-free fecal filtrate containing rotavirus. Examination of postmortem tissues from the duodenum and jejunum of 2 naturally infected foals and an experimentally infected foal revealed replicating virus in the intestinal epithelial cells. A limited survey of complement-fixing antibody to rotavirus in horses from Kentucky, Virginia, and France indicated that all horses had antibody to the virus. The sole exception was 1 foal from which blood samples were collected prior to suckling. These results were presumptive evidence that rotavirus is a major cause of diarrhea in foals, and the presence of antibody in horses from diverse areas is evidence for the ubiquitousness of this infection.
D000818:Animals; D003967:Diarrhea / Q000382:microbiology / Q000662:veterinary; D004386:Duodenum / Q000648:ultrastructure; D005243:Feces / Q000382:microbiology; D005260:Female; D006734:Horse Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000382:microbiology; D006736:Horses; D007583:Jejunum / Q000648:ultrastructure; D012087:Reoviridae / Q000302:isolation & purification; D012088:Reoviridae Infections / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000662:veterinary*; D012401:Rotavirus / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000648:ultrastructure