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Abstract
AIM: To review laboratory aspects of the equine viral arteritis (EVA) control scheme in New Zealand between 1989 and 2002.
METHODS: The optimisation and performance of the virus neutralisation test (VNT) for equine arteritis virus (EAV) antibody, and the cell culture test to detect EAV in semen were analysed. Laboratory data and control scheme results were reviewed.
RESULTS: Using optimised tests, it has been shown that antibody prevalence in Standardbred horses has steadily declined from 54% to <20%. Prevalences in Thoroughbred horses have remained at a low level of around 3%. The number of horses shedding EAV (all Standardbreds) has steadily declined from a maximum at any one time of 20 to the current figure of three.
CONCLUSION: Eradication of EVA from the horse population in New Zealand is achievable in the near future.
Acknowledgements
The virology technical staff at the Ruakura Animal Health Laboratory and the National Centre for Disease Investigation (formerly the Central Animal Health Laboratory) are thanked for the many thousands of tests they carried out. Special thanks are due to Roy Hunter and Della Orr for much of the test optimisation work.
Notes
A Foreman, Australian Animal Health Laboratory, Geelong, Australia