Horses and mules have the highest mortality, donkeys have a lower mortality, and African donkeys have a subclinical infection.
Zebras have a subclinical infection.
They are believed to play a role in the persistence of the virus in Africa because zebras can be viremic for up to 6 weeks. But they are probably not the reservoir, for they eventually clear the viremia. Dogs can become infected by eating AHSV-infected meat. In the 1987-90 outbreak in Spain, dogs that did not eat infected meat were found to be seropositive, suggesting infection by arthropod bites. Intracerebral inoculation of baby mice is the preferred method of isolating the virus.