Immune response of ponies to experimental infection with Ehrlichia equi.

Four ponies experimentally infected with Ehrlichia equi developed substantial cell-mediated immune responses, as measured by the leukocyte migration-inhibition test. Serum anti-E equi antibodies up to 1:1,280 were demonstrated by the indirect fluorescent antibody test. Cell-mediated immune responses returned to a base-line value by day 200 after primary inoculation, but serum antibody titers persisted for at least 300 days after inoculation. Two additional susceptible ponies, which were inoculated with convalescent blood or organ homogenates from ponies recovered from acute equine ehrlichiosis, treated with tetracycline, and subsequently challenge exposed with E equi-infective blood, did not develop clinical disease. This study suggested that ponies are resistant to reinfection with E equi following clinical ehrlichiosis.