SEXUAL AND IN-CONTACT TRANSMISSION OF ASININE STRAIN OF EQUINE ARTERITIS VIRUS AMONG DONKEYS

Two in a group of five naturally seropositive donkey stallions were fo und to shed equine arteritis virus (EAV) in their semen as demonstrate d by virus isolation. Direct intramuscular inoculation of sonicated se men from one virus-shedding stallion (S3) caused clinical disease in t wo donkeys from which virus was recovered and in which seroconversion was detected. Sexual transmission was confirmed in two mares mated to S3 when after a febrile response during which EAV was isolated from bu ffy coats and nasal and ocular exudates, both mares were found to have seroconverted. In-contact transmission in a susceptible stallion was demonstrated after its exposure to a sexually infected mare. The 3' en d of the asinine virus was amplified directly from donkey semen with E AV-specific primers, and its nucleotide sequence was found to be homol ogous to that of the prototype Bucyrus virus isolated from horses, The se results indicate that EAV and its disease transmission are analogou s in donkeys and horses.