Characterization of equine liver viruses in vivo and in vitro

Hepatopathies, which can have a variety of causes, are a common problem in horses. Clinical signs are frequently mild and unspecific or even lacking completely before >80% of the liver tissue is damaged. The identification of the underlying cause can be challenging. Viral association was only rarely described. Within the last years, due to next generation sequencing technologies, “new” liver viruses - Equine Hepacivirus (EqHV), Equine Parvovirus Hepatitis (EqPV-H) and Equid Hepaitis B Virus (EqHBV) were detected in equids. While they are hepatotropic viruses and show a high prevalence worldwide, their clinical significance still remains to be elucidated. While clinical studies regarding prevalence, transmission, and disease association are still ongoing, one main focus of our research is to study these viruses in vitro using equine liver organoids as an infection model.