title: Coronavirus infections in horses in Saudi Arabia and Oman.
abstract: Equine coronaviruses (ECoV) are the only coronavirus known to infect horses. So far, data on ECoV infection in horses remain limited to the USA, France and Japan and its geographic distribution is not well understood. We carried out RT-PCR on 306 nasal and 315 rectal swabs and tested 243 sera for antibodies to detect coronavirus infections in apparently healthy horses in Saudi Arabia and Oman. We document evidence of infection with ECoV and HKU23 coronavirus by RT-PCR. There was no conclusive evidence of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus infection in horses. Serological data suggest that lineage A betacoronavirus infections are commonly infecting horses in Saudi Arabia and Oman but antibody cross-reactivities between these viruses do not permit us to use serological data alone to identify which coronaviruses are causing these infections.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Parasitology, College of Veterinary Medicine, King Faisal University, Al-Hasa, Saudi Arabia.|Department of Virology Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Kaferelsheik University, Kaferelsheik, Egypt.
authors.forename: M G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Hemida
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
authors.forename: D K W
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9219-8979
authors.initials: DKW
authors.lastname: Chu
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
authors.forename: R A P M
authors.initials: RAPM
authors.lastname: Perera
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
authors.forename: R L W
authors.initials: RLW
authors.lastname: Ko
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
authors.forename: R T Y
authors.initials: RTY
authors.lastname: So
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
authors.forename: B C Y
authors.initials: BCY
authors.lastname: Ng
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
authors.forename: S M S
authors.initials: SMS
authors.lastname: Chan
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chu
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Studies, College of Veterinary Medicine, King Faisal University, Al-Hasa, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: A A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Alnaeem
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Parasitology, College of Veterinary Medicine, King Faisal University, Al-Hasa, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Alhammadi
authors.affiliation: Division of Virology, Department of Infectious Diseases, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA.
authors.forename: R J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Webby
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
authors.forename: L L M
authors.initials: LLM
authors.lastname: Poon
authors.affiliation: Maxwell H. Gluck Equine Research Center, Department of Veterinary Science, College of Agriculture, Food and Environment, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, USA.|Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Molecular Genetics, College of Medicine, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, USA.
authors.forename: U B R
authors.initials: UBR
authors.lastname: Balasuriya
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Peiris
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000073640:Betacoronavirus / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D002522:Chlorocebus aethiops; D017934:Coronavirus / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D018352:Coronavirus Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000662:veterinary* / Q000821:virology; D003429:Cross Reactions; D006734:Horse Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology; D006736:Horses; D065207:Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D009850:Oman / Q000453:epidemiology; D012529:Saudi Arabia / Q000453:epidemiology; D014709:Vero Cells
keywords: HKU23; cross-neutralization; equine coronavirus; middle east respiratory syndrome coronavirus; polymerase chain reaction; serology