For viruses to utilize environmental vectors (hard surfaces, soil, water) for
transmission, physical and chemical stability is a prerequisite. There are
many factors including pH, salinity, temperature, and turbidity that are known
to contribute to the ability of viruses to persist in water. Equine
herpesvirus type-1 (EHV-1) is a pathogenic alphaherpesvirus associated with
domestic horses and wild equids. EHV-1 and recombinants of EHV-1 and EHV-9 are
able to cause infections in non-equid animal species, particularly in captive
settings. Many of the captive non-equid mammals are not naturally sympatric
with equids and do not share enclosures, however, in many cases water sources
may overlap. Similarly, in the wild, equids encounter many species at
waterholes in times of seasonal drought. Therefore, we hypothesized that EHV-1
is stable in water and that water may act as a vector for EHV-1. In order to
establish the conditions promoting or hindering EHV-1 longevity, infectivity
and genomic stability in water; we exposed EHV-1 to varied water environments
(pH, salinity, temperature, and turbidity) in controlled experiments over 21
days. The presence and infectivity of the virus was confirmed by both qPCR and
cell culture experiments. Our results show that EHV-1 remains stable and
infectious under many conditions in water for up to three weeks