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Topic:Animal Health
Animal Health encompasses a broad range of topics focused on maintaining and improving the well-being of equine species. This field addresses various aspects of horse care, including disease prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and management of health conditions. Key areas of interest include equine nutrition, vaccination protocols, parasite control, dental care, and the management of chronic conditions such as laminitis and colic. Additionally, animal health research in horses investigates the impact of exercise and training on physical health, the role of genetics in disease susceptibility, and the development of new therapeutic approaches. This page compiles peer-reviewed research studies and scholarly articles that explore the latest advancements, challenges, and best practices in preserving and enhancing the health of horses.
A study regarding bovine enterovirus type 1 infection in domestic animals and humans: An evaluation from the zoonotic aspect. Bovine enteroviruses (BEV) are members of Enterovirus genus of the family Picornaviridae. BEV1 has a broad host spectrum, including humans. The virus usually causes subclinical infection, but fatal/severe cases have also been reported in different animal species. There is quite limited data regarding BEV1 in humans. The purpose of this study is to investigate human infection and to identify possible risk factors for viral exposure. For this purpose, blood serum samples (n=1,526) were collected from a city center and nearby villagers simultaneously from humans and farm animals in Elazig provinc...
Delayed onset vagus nerve paralysis after occipital condyle fracture in a horse. Occipital condylar fractures (OCFs) causing delayed onset lower cranial nerve paralysis (LCNPs) are rare. We present a 7-year-old Friesian horse with delayed onset dysphagia caused by vagus nerve (CNX) paralysis and suspicion of glossopharyngeal nerve (CNIX) paralysis developed several days after a minor head injury. Endoscopic examination revealed right laryngeal hemiplegia and intermittent dorsal displacement of the soft palate. An area of submucosal hemorrhage and bulging was appreciated over the dorsal aspect of the medial compartment of the right guttural pouch. Radiological examination o...
West Nile Virus: Veterinary Health and Vaccine Development. West Nile virus (WNV) (Flaviviridae: Flavivirus) was discovered in Africa more than 80 yr ago and became recognized as an avian pathogen and a cause of neurologic disease in horses largely during periodic incursions into Europe. Introduction of WNV into North America stimulated great anxiety, particularly in the equine industry, but also for pet owners and livestock producers concerned about the effect of WNV on other domestic animals. Numerous subsequent studies of naturally occurring and experimentally induced disease greatly expanded our understanding of the host range and clinical conseque...
Rein Tension in Transitions and Halts during Equestrian Dressage Training. In dressage, the performance of transitions between gaits and halts is an integral part of riding sessions. The study aimed to evaluate rein tension before, during and after the transitions between different gaits and the transitions into halts. The kinematic (inertial measurement units) data for the head and croup, and rein tension data, were collected (128 Hz) from six professional riders each riding three of their own horses, training levels varying from basic to advanced, during normal training sessions. The activities were categorised into gaits, halts and transitions based on video evalu...
Anthelmintic activity of crude powder and crude aqueous extract of Trachyspermum ammi on gastrointestinal nematodes in donkey (Equus asinus): An in vivo study. Trachyspermum ammi has been used traditionally as a popular ethnobotanical plant in human and animal parasitic infestations. Few scientific studies have been conducted on in vitro anthelmintic activity of T. ammi against various helminths and there is no study on its in vivo/in vitro anthelmintic properties against equine helminths. Objective: The present study aimed to evaluate in vivo anthelmintic activity of crude powder (CP) and crude aqueous extract (CAE) of T. ammi seeds against gastrointestinal nematodes in the donkey. Methods: Thirty donkeys, naturally and severely infected with Stro...
Pixel by pixel: real-time observation and quantification of passive flotation speeds of three common equine endoparasite egg types. The efficacy of anthelmintic treatments against populations of endoparasites infecting livestock throughout the world is decreasing. To mitigate this, the use of fecal egg counts is recommended to determine both the necessity, and to ensure the appropriate choice, of anthelmintic treatment. Traditionally, and in order to facilitate easier identification and/or enumeration, samples are analysed after separating eggs from other fecal particulates by exposing them to a solution with a density higher than that of the eggs, but lower than the remaining fecal contents. While many parasite egg flotat...
Characterization of Feeding, Sport Management, and Routine Care of the Chilean Corralero Horse during Rodeo Season. The aim of this study was to characterize the routine care, training, feeding, and nutritional management of Chilean corralero horses that participated in the rodeos of the Chilean Rodeo Federation. Forty-nine horse farms between the Metropolitan (33°26'16″ south (S) 70°39'01″ west (W)) and Los Lagos Regions (41°28'18″ S 72°56'12″ W), were visited and a survey was conducted on the management and feeding of the Chilean horse. Of the horses which participated in at least one official rodeo in the 2014-2015 season, 275 horses were included in the study. The survey consisted of five qu...
How do horses (Equus caballus) learn from observing human action? A previous study demonstrated that horses can learn socially from observing humans, but could not draw any conclusions about the social learning mechanisms. Here we develop this by showing horses four different human action sequences as demonstrations of how to press a button to open a feed box. We tested 68 horses aged between 3 and 12 years. 63 horses passed the habituation phase and were assigned either to the group Hand Demo (N = 13) for which a kneeling person used a hand to press the button, Head Demo (N = 13) for which a kneeling person used the head, Mixed Demo (N = 12) fo...
Inter-breed diversity and temporal dynamics of the faecal microbiota in healthy horses. Understanding gut microbiota similarities and differences across breeds in horses has the potential to advance approaches aimed at personalized microbial modifications, particularly those involved in improving sport athletic performance. Here, we explore whether faecal microbiota composition based on faecal 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequencing varies across six different sport breeds at two time points 8 months apart within a cohort of 189 healthy horses cared for under similar conditions. Lusitano horses presented the smallest and Hanoverians the greatest bacterial diversity. We found subtle bu...
Water treadmill exercise reduces equine limb segmental accelerations and increases shock attenuation. Equine water treadmills (WTs) are growing in popularity because they are believed to allow for high resistance, low impact exercise. However, little is known about the effect of water height on limb loading. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of water height and speed on segmental acceleration and impact attenuation during WT exercise in horses. Three uniaxial accelerometers (sampling rate: 2500 Hz) were secured on the left forelimb (hoof, mid-cannon, mid-radius). Horses walked at two speeds (S1: 0.83 m/s, S2: 1.39 m/s) and three water heights (mid-cannon, carpus, stifle), ...
Perceptions of Whether Stereotypic Off-the-Track Thoroughbreds are Harder to Rehome Than Nonstereotypic OTTBs-A Pilot Survey Study. Several studies have indicated higher incidence of stereotypic behaviors (STBs) in Thoroughbreds. The aftercare of Off-the-Track Thoroughbreds (OTTBs) has received increased attention in the last decade; however, research on the impact of STBs on placement of OTTBs after their racing career is limited. Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance (TAA) accredits centers throughout North America that work to rehome OTTBs in a safe, welfare-friendly manner. Although the authors have suspected that having an STB would make OTTBs more challenging to rehome, this hypothesis remains to be empirically tested. The...
Estimation of the incidence of animal rabies in Punjab, India. Rabies is a devastating zoonotic disease of mammals that causes encephalitis and death. It is endemic in India, with an estimated annual 20,000 human deaths (one-third of the global rabies burden). The magnitude of animal rabies incidence is unknown. In four sub-districts of Punjab, India, we monitored canine and livestock populations from August 15, 2016 to August 14, 2017. Demographic, clinical and rabies diagnostic laboratory (RDL) data were collected from suspected cases of rabies. The annual incidence rate / 10,000 animal years at risk (95% CI) in each sub-district was estimated for each ...
Optimization and diagnostic evaluation of monoclonal antibody-based blocking ELISA formats for detection of neutralizing antibodies to Hendra virus in mammalian sera. Maintenance of Hendra virus (HeV) in pteropid bat populations has been associated with spillover events in horses, humans and dogs. Experimental studies have demonstrated infections for several other species including guinea pigs, cats and ferrets. The criteria of a sensitive and specific serological test that is effective for a range of species, but which does not require use of live virus, has not been satisfactorily addressed by currently available tests. We have evaluated the use of two HeV neutralizing monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) in a blocking format enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (bE...
Saccharomyces cerevisiae as a probiotic feed additive to non and pseudo-ruminant feeding: a review. The production of livestock and poultry faces major challenges to meet the global demand for meat and dairy products and eggs due to a steady increase in the world's population and the ban of antibiotics in animal production. This ban has forced animal nutritionists to seek for natural alternatives to antibiotics. In this context, the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae has received considerable attention in the last decade. It has been reported that feed supplementation with live yeast cells improve feed efficiency, enhance feed digestibility, increase animal performance, reduce the number of path...
The Effect of an Irregular Feeding Schedule on Equine Behavior. We used eight horses 1 to 12 years old to investigate the influence of irregular feeding times on the behavior. The animals were housed in individual boxes, fed with hay and barley-oat mixture at three set times; 05:00 (earlier feeding) on Thursdays, 07:00 (delayed feeding) on Saturdays and 06:00 (regular feeding) on other weekdays. Direct observations took place in 10 continuous weeks; they started 1 h prior to feeding and lasted for 2 h. Long-term behaviors (i.e. hay and concentrate consumption, resting) were recorded every 5 min, short-term behaviors (i.e. kicking, pawing the ground, comfo...
Demographic Factors Associated with Prince Edward Island Horse Farm Owner Awareness of the Code of Practice for the Care and Handling of Equines. The objectives of this study were to determine the proportion of owners of horse farms in Prince Edward Island (PEI), Canada that were aware of the (CODE) and determine demographic factors associated with awareness. A questionnaire was completed by owners at fifty horse farms. In total, 38% of the farm owners were unaware of the CODE, 48% were aware, but were not familiar with its content and only 14% used the CODE when making decisions on caring for their horses. Owners of private stables were more aware of the CODE than owners of boarding stables. The CODE awareness varied between the three...
Diffusion of fluoroquinolones into equine fetal fluids did not induce fetal lesions after enrofloxacin treatment in early gestation. While recent work demonstrated that enrofloxacin and ciprofloxacin reach the fetoplacental unit without causing obvious lesions in the 9-month-old equine fetus or resulting foal, many practitioners still hesitate to prescribe a fluoroquinolone during pregnancy. Since early gestation is a critical time for fetal skeletal development, if fluoroquinolones are chondrotoxic to the fetus at any point during gestation, this period would be important. The aim of this study was to assess the effects of 2 weeks' exposure to enrofloxacin on the equine fetus between 46 and 60 days gestation. Twelve pregna...
A novel 13-plex STR typing system for individual identification and parentage testing of donkeys (Equus asinus). Previous studies investigating donkey parentage and genetic diversity used horse-specific multiplex systems. However, several mis-allele and null-allele issues were found with some of the horse primers when used in donkeys. In 2017, the International Society for Animal Genetics (ISAG) recommended 13 dinucleotide short tandem repeats (STRs) (AHT4, ASB23, HMS2, HMS3, HMS6, HMS7, HMS18, HTG7, HTG10, TKY297, TKY312, TKY337 and TKY343) as a core panel that should be used to identify individuals and to test for parentage in donkeys. To date, no single multiplex STR typing system containing all 13 do...
Natural Horse Boarding Vs Traditional Stable: A Comparison of Hormonal, Hematological and Immunological Parameters. In the equestrian world, two different types of management can be distinguished: traditional management and natural boarding. The aim of this research was to compare hormonal, hematological and immunological parameters of 47 horses kept in these two different managements. Blood and horsehair of the horses were sampled to determine DHEA (dehydroepiandrosterone) and cortisol concentration through RIA. Moreover, blood count was conducted, and flow cytometry was employed to phenotype lymphocyte subpopulations. Results showed that, in horsehair, DHEA concentration was significantly higher in natura...
Genome-wide association study for insect bite hypersensitivity susceptibility in horses revealed novel associated loci on chromosome 1. Equine insect bite hypersensitivity (IBH) is a pruritic skin allergy caused primarily by biting midges, Culicoides spp. IBH susceptibility has polygenic inheritance and occurs at high frequencies in several horse breeds worldwide, causing increased costs and reduced welfare of affected horses. The aim of this study was to identify and validate single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with equine IBH susceptibility. After quality control, 33,523 SNPs were included in a Bayesian genome-wide association study on 177 affected and 178 unaffected Icelandic horses. We report associated regio...
Effect of a commercial anionic dietary supplement on urinary pH and concentrations of electrolytes and pH in blood of horses. To compare urine urinary pH, blood pH and concentration of electrolytes in blood of healthy horses fed an anionic salt supplement to achieve diets with a dietary cation-anion difference (DCAD) of -40 or 0 mEq/kg DM, with horses a fed a diet with a DCAD of 85 mEq/kg DM. Eight healthy horses received each of three diets in a randomised crossover design. Diets consisted of grass hay and concentrate feed, with a varying amount of an anionic supplement to achieve a DCAD of 85 (control), 0 or -40 mEq/kg DM. They were fed for 14 days each with a washout period of 7 days between. Urine pH was m...
Mutual interactions between cognition and welfare: The horse as an animal model. Research in cognitive psychology has repeatedly shown how much cognition and emotions are mutually related to one another. Psychological disorders are associated with cognitive (attention, memory and judgment) biases and chronic pain may affect attention, learning or memory. Laboratory studies have provided useful insights about the processes involved but observations about spontaneous animal models, living in different stress/welfare conditions may help understand further how cognition and welfare are interrelated in the « real world ». Domestic horses constitute such a model as they live i...
State-of-the-Art Diagnostic Methods to Diagnose Equine Spinal Disorders, With Special Reference to Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation and Transcranial Electrical Stimulation. Spinal cord disorders are a common problem in equine medicine. However, finding the site of the lesion is challenging for veterinarians because of a lack of sensitive diagnostic methods that can assess neuronal functional integrity in horses. Although medical imaging is frequently applied to help diagnose corticospinal disorders, this approach does not reveal functional information. For the latter, transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and more recently transcranial electrical stimulation (TES) can be useful. These are brain stimulation techniques that create either magnetic or electrical fi...
Screening of nematophagous-fungi from fresh faeces of grazing animals and soils. An investigation was undertaken for screening and isolating nematophagous-fungi from the faecal samples of various grazing animals and soils in Malaysia. Total of 111 faeces and 50 soil samples were collected and the samples were cultured on 2% water agar plates. The growth of nematophagous-fungi was stimulated by sprinkling-baiting technique. The conidia of suspected nematophagous-fungi were inoculated on 2% water agar plates. All isolated were maintained on 2% cornmeal agar plates. Verticillium spp., Fusarium spp. and Arthrobotrys spp. were identified from the faecal and soil samples. 62.5% ...
Multiple introductions of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus ST612 into Western Australia associated both with human and equine reservoirs. Staphylococcus aureus is a serious human and animal pathogen. Multilocus sequence type 612 (ST612) is the dominant methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) clone in certain South African hospitals and is sporadically isolated from horses and horse-associated veterinarians in Australia. Colonisation and infection by ST612-MRSA is increasing in Western Australia. Whole-genome sequencing was performed for 51 isolates of ST612-MRSA from Western Australian patients and healthcare workers, South African hospital patients, Australian veterinarians and New South Wales horses. Core genome phylogenies sug...
Activities of antioxidant seminal plasma enzymes (SOD, CAT, GPX and GSR) are higher in jackasses than in stallions and are correlated with sperm motility in jackasses. This study compared the activities of four antioxidant enzymes (superoxide dismutase, SOD; catalase, CAT; glutathione peroxidase, GPX; and glutathione reductase, GSR) in the seminal plasma of stallions and jackasses. Eighteen stallion ejaculates and 24 jack ejaculates were collected through an artificial vagina. Seminal plasma was obtained by several centrifugations at 3000×g and 4 °C for 10 min, and activities of SOD, CAT, GPX and GSR were subsequently determined. We also evaluated whether the collecting season had any influence on the activities of these four enzymes in both stallions ...
Endometrial Histomorphometry of Anestrous Mares Under the Influence of Different Embryo Transfer Hormonal Protocols. Aiming to investigate the effects of different hormonal protocols on the endometrium morphometry of anestrous mares, 26 animals were assigned to four different treatment groups: (1) EB2.5LAP4: single dose of 2.5 mg of estradiol benzoate (EB); (2) EB5LAP4: 5 mg of EB in 2 consecutive days; (3) EB10LAP4: 10 mg of EB in three consecutive days, considering that all EB-treated groups received a single dose of 1,500 mg of long-acting progesterone (LA P4) after the single/last EB dose; and (4) LAP4: only 1,500 mg of LA P4. Results were also compared with those found in cyclic mares (control grou...
