Asinine herpesvirus genomes: comparison with those of the equine herpesviruses

Abstract

Two previously unknown and distinct herpesviruses were isolated from donkeys. One, with the characteristics of a betaherpesvirus, was isolated from the leukocytes of an apparently healthy donkey, while the second, an alphaherpesvirus, was recovered from the nasal cavity of donkeys given high doses of corticosteroids, and caused rhinitis in two seronegative weanling donkeys when they were intranasally infected. Few, if any, restriction endonuclease fragments were shared by the donkey betaherpesvirus, equine herpesvirus 2 (EHV2) or EHV5, a second distinctly different equine betaherpesvirus, nor by the donkey alphaherpesvirus, EHV1, EHV4, or EHV3. In Southern blot analysis the donkey betaherpes..