title: Confirmed case of encephalitis caused by Murray Valley encephalitis virus infection in a horse.
abstract: A 5-year-old Australian stock horse in Monto, Queensland, Australia, developed neurological signs and was euthanized after a 6-day course of illness. Histological examination of the brain and spinal cord revealed moderate to severe subacute, nonsuppurative encephalomyelitis. Sections of spinal cord stained positively in immunohistochemistry with a flavivirus-specific monoclonal antibody. Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction assay targeting the envelope gene of flavivirus yielded positive results from brain, spinal cord, cerebrospinal fluid, and facial nerve. A flavivirus was isolated from the cerebrum and spinal cord. Nucleotide sequences obtained from amplicons from both tissues and virus isolated in cell culture were compared with those in GenBank and had 96-98% identity with Murray Valley encephalitis virus. The partial envelope gene sequence of the viral isolate clustered into genotype 1 and was most closely related to a previous Queensland isolate.
authors.affiliation: Biosecurity Sciences Laboratory, Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation, Coopers Plains, Queensland, Australia. anita.gordon@deedi.qld.gov.au
authors.forename: Anita N
authors.initials: AN
authors.lastname: Gordon
authors.forename: Cameron R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Marbach
authors.forename: Jane
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Oakey
authors.forename: Glen
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Edmunds
authors.forename: Kelly
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Condon
authors.forename: Sinead M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Diviney
authors.forename: David T
authors.initials: DT
authors.lastname: Williams
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bingham
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D018068:Encephalitis Virus, Murray Valley / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D004671:Encephalitis, Arbovirus / Q000276:immunology / Q000662:veterinary* / Q000821:virology; D017809:Fatal Outcome; D006734:Horse Diseases / Q000276:immunology / Q000821:virology*; D006736:Horses; D007150:Immunohistochemistry / Q000662:veterinary; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D011793:Queensland; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000662:veterinary; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D012367:RNA, Viral; D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins