BALB/c mice were inoculated with 3 EHV-2 low passage isolates. After intranasal inoculation, viral DNA was detected by virus-specific nested PCR in the lung up to day 30 post inoculation and in nasal turbinates till day 7. In trigeminal ganglia, olfactory bulb, brain and lymph nodes viral DNA was randomly shown by PCR. After intraperitoneal inoculation viral DNA was present in lymphoid tissues. The spleen was PCR positive up to day 30 and showed a splenomegaly. Clinical signs, virus replication and viraemia, were not observed and no virus strain-specific differences were obvious. Control mice inoculated with equine herpesvirus 4 were PCR negative in all tissues.