NOTE Virology Full Genome Sequences of Zebra-Borne Equine Herpesvirus Type 1 Isolated from

ABSTRACT. A strain of equine herpesvirus type 1 (EHV-1) was isolated from zebra. This strain, called “zebra-borne EHV-1”, was also isolated from an onager and a gazelle in zoological gardens in U.S.A. The full genome sequences of the 3 strains were determined. They shared 99 % identities with each other, while they shared 98 % and 95 % identities with the horse derived EHV-1 and equine herpesvirus type 9, respectively. Sequence data indicated that the EHV-1 isolated from a polar bear in Germany is one of the zebra-borne EHV-1 and not a recombinant virus. These results indicated that zebra-borne EHV-1 is a subtype of EHV-1. KEY WORDS: equine herpesvirus, genome sequence, zebra doi: 10.1292/jvms.14-0183; J. Vet. Med. Sci. 76(9): 1309–1312, 2014 Equine herpesvirus type 1 (EHV-1; genus Varicellovirus, subfamily alphaherpesvirinae) has been isolated from zebras and other zoo animals [1, 8, 12, 16, 21]. Especially, the 1 iso-lated from zebras has been focused as an emerging agent in zoo animals. The EHV-1 associated with zebras has been called as zebra-borne EHV-1 [1]. Zebra-borne EHV-1 has been isolated from wild equids kept in zoological gardens. EHV-1 T-529 was isolated from a Persian onager (Equu