Molecular Detection and Phylogenetic Analysis of Equine Herpes Virus-1 in Horses with History or Clinical Signs in Four Provinces of Iran

BACKGROUND: Equine herpes virus-1 (EHV-1) is a major cause of economic loss in horse industry and is well recognized as a cause of abortion, respiratory disease, neurologic disorders and death of neonatal foals.OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to evaluate the frequency of EHV-1 in horses with clinical signs and/or history associated with this virus from four provinces of Iran (Golestan, Tehran, Khuzestan, West Azer- baijan) that have considerable horse population, followed by phylogenetic study of positive cases and compare them with herpes viruses in other parts of the world.METHODS: Blood samples and nasal swabs were taken from 150 horses from four aforementioned provinc- es. DNA of samples was extracted and used for detection in real-time PCR TaqMan assay. Finally, phyloge- netic trees were designed based on neighbor joining method.RESULTS: Out of 150 sampled horses, a total of 14 (9.33%) were found to be positive for EHV-1. The results indicated that positive cases of EHV-1 from this study were clustered to herpes virus cases in other parts of the world with a noticeable similarity.CONCLUSIONS: This study confirmed the presence of EHV-1 in these provinces of Iran, thus consideration should be given to preventive and control programs to prevent dissemination and outbreak of this virus.