The objective of this study was to identify and partially characterize 3 equid herpesviruses that were isolated postmortem from zebras in Ontario, Canada in 1989, 2002, and 2007. These 3 virus isolates were characterized by plaque morphology, restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) of their genomic deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay, and sequence analyses of the full length of the glycoprotein G (gG) gene (ORF70) and a portion of the DNA polymerase gene (ORF30). The isolates were also compared to 3 reference strains of equid herpesvirus 1 (EHV-1). Using rabbit kidney cells, the plaques for the isolates from the zebras were found to be much larger in size than the EHV-1 reference strains. The RFLP patterns of the zebra viruses differed among each other and from those of the EHV-1 reference strains. Real-time PCR and sequence analysis of a portion of the DNA polymerase gene determined that the herpesvirus isolates from the zebras contained a G at nucleotide 2254 and a corresponding N at amino acid position 752, which suggested that they could be neuropathogenic EHV-1 strains. However, subsequent phylogenetic analysis of the gG gene suggested that they were EHV-9 and not EHV-1.

During the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Animal Health Monitoring System’s (NAHMS) 2007‐2008 beef study, 567 producers from 24 US States were offered the opportunity to collect fecal samples from weaned beef calves and have them evaluated for the presence of parasite eggs (Phase 1). Participating producers were provided with instructions and materials for sample collection. Up to 20 fresh fecal samples were collected from each of the 99 participating operations. Fresh fecal samples were submitted to one of 3 randomly assigned laboratories for evaluation. Upon arrival at the laboratories, all samples were processed for the enumeration of strongyle, Nematodirus, and Trichuris eggs using the modified Wisconsin technique. The presence or absence of coccidian oocysts and tapeworm eggs was also noted. In submissions where the strongyle eggs per gram exceeded 30, aliquots from 2 to 6 animals were pooled for DNA extraction. Extracted DNA was subjected to genus level polymerase chain reaction (PCR) identification for the presence of Ostertagia, Cooperia, Haemonchus, Oesophagostomum, and Trichostrongylus. In this study, 85.6% of the samples had strongyle type, Nematodirus, and Trichuris eggs. Among the samples evaluated, 91% had Cooperia, 79% Ostertagia, 53% Haemonchus, 38% Oesophagostomum, 18% Nematodirus, 7% Trichuris, and 3% Trichostrongylus. The prevalence of coccidia and tapeworm eggs was 59.9% and 13.7%, respectively.