title: Frequent presence of hepaci and pegiviruses in commercial equine serum pools.
abstract: Novel viruses belonging to the genera Hepacivirus and Pegivirus have recently been discovered in horses and other animal species. Viral genomes of non-primate hepaciviruses (NPHV), equine pegivirus 1 (EPgV 1) and Theiler's disease associated virus (TDAV) were detected in a horse serum routinely used for cell culture propagation in our laboratory. Therefore, a study was carried out to further investigate the presence of these human Hepatitis C virus (HCV) related viruses in equine serum based products used in veterinary medicine and for research and to characterize the viral genomes. Without exception all commercially available equine sera purchased for cell culture propagation (n=6) were tested positive for NPHV, EPgV 1 or TDAV genomes by qRT-PCR. Molecular analyses of one single commercial horse serum from Europe confirmed multiple viral genomes, including two TDAV genomes significantly different from the only published TDAV sequence. Furthermore, multiple batches of horse serum pools (n=35) collected for manufacturing of biological products turned out to be positive for NPHV and EPgV 1 genomes. Nevertheless, the final commercial products (n=9) were exclusively tested qRT-PCR negative. Field samples (n=119) obtained from two premises located in the same region as the donor horses were analyzed, demonstrating the frequent presence of NPHV and EPgV 1, but the absence of TDAV genomes. The presence of NPHV, EPgV 1 and TDAV in commercial equine sera and serum based products could have considerable consequences for biosecurity and may also bias the outcome of research studies conducted with related viruses.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Virology, Department of Infectious Diseases, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Germany.
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Postel
authors.affiliation: Clinic for Horses, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Germany;
authors.forename: Jessika-M V
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Cavalleri
authors.affiliation: Institute for Experimental Virology, Twincore Centre for Experimental and Clinical Infection Research, Hannover, Germany.
authors.forename: Stephanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pfaender
authors.affiliation: Institute for Experimental Virology, Twincore Centre for Experimental and Clinical Infection Research, Hannover, Germany.
authors.forename: Stephanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Walter
authors.affiliation: Institute for Experimental Virology, Twincore Centre for Experimental and Clinical Infection Research, Hannover, Germany.
authors.forename: Eike
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Steinmann
authors.affiliation: Institute for Medical Microbiology, Virology and Hygiene, University Medical Center Hamburg- Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Nicole
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Fischer
authors.affiliation: Clinic for Horses, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Germany;
authors.forename: Karsten
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Feige
authors.affiliation: Institute for Virology, Department of Infectious Diseases, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Germany.
authors.forename: Ludwig
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Haas
authors.affiliation: Institute for Virology, Department of Infectious Diseases, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Germany. Electronic address: Paul.Becher@tiho-hannover.de.
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Becher
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D018067:Flaviviridae / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D018178:Flaviviridae Infections / Q000662:veterinary / Q000821:virology; D016679:Genome, Viral; D006734:Horse Diseases / Q000097:blood / Q000821:virology*; D006736:Horses; D010802:Phylogeny; D015995:Prevalence; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000662:veterinary; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000662:veterinary
keywords: Biosecurity; Commercial sera; Equine pegivirus 1 (EPg V 1); Horse; Non-primate hepacivirus (NPHV); Prevalence; Real-time RT-PCR; Theiler’s Disease Associated Virus (TDAV)