Transmission of West Nile Virus during Horse Autopsy | CDC EID

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Volume 16, Number 3–March 2010
Letter
Transmission of West Nile Virus during Horse Autopsy
Marietjie Venter, Johan Steyl, Stacey Human, Jacqueline Weyer, Dewald Zaayman, Lufcille Blumberg, Patricia A. Leman, Janusz Paweska, and Robert Swanepoel
Author affiliations: University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa (M. Venter, J. Steyl, S. Human, D. Zaayman); and National Institute for Communicable Diseases, Sandringham, South Africa (M. Venter, J. Weyer, L. Blumberg, P.A. Lehman, J. Paweska, R. Swanepoel)

Suggested citation for this article

To the Editor: West Nile virus (WNV) circulates mainly in birds and ornithophilic mosquitoes. Humans and horses are considered incidental, dead-end hosts (1). Fever, rash, arthralgia, and myalgia develop in ≈20% of cases in humans; severe neurologic disease may develop in <1% (1). In horses, 20% of infections result in clinical disease, of which ≈90% involve neurologic disease with ataxia, weakness, recumbency, muscle fasciculation, and high death rates (30%) (2).

Genetic variants of WNV include lineage 1 found in the Northern Hemisphere and Australia; lineage 2 found mainly in southern Africa and Madagascar (3); lineages 3 and 4 found in central and eastern Europe (4); and lineage 5 found in India (5). Differences in neuroninvasiveness and pathogenic potential are functions of individual genotypes, not lineage (3,6–8).

We recently reported WNV lineage 2 in several cases of neurologic disease in horses in South Africa (most cases were fatal) (7). We report a case of zoonotic transmission to a veterinary student during the autopsy of a horse. The study was reviewed and approved by the Ethics Committee of the University of Pretoria, and informed consent was provided by the veterinary student.

On April 9, 2008, a 4-month-old Welsh pony from Gauteng in South Africa had fever, Schiff-Sherrington signs, and a leukocyte count of 32 × 109 cells/L. He was treated with dimethyl sulfoxide, dexamethasone, and chloramphenicol and responded well. He was able to stand with help, and did not show neurologic signs at this stage. On May 9, he was sent home and was able to walk with support. On May 12, he had a relapse with neurologic deterioration and rectal prolapse, and was treated with antiinflammatory agents. Symptoms worsened and he was humanely killed on May 15 by using ketamine and MgSO4. The carcass was sent to the Faculty of Veterinary Sciences, University of Pretoria, for autopsy because of unusual neurologic signs in the pony. Autopsy was performed by a veterinary pathologist and 2 students on May 16, 2008.

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Suggested Citation for this Article
Venter M, Steyl J, Human S, Weyer J, Zaayman D, Blumberg L, et al. Transmission of West Nile virus during horse autopsy [letter]. Emerg Infect Dis [serial on the Internet]. 2010 Mar [date cited]. http://www.cdc.gov/EID/content/16/3/573.htm

DOI: 10.3201/eid1603.091042