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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.
Feral horses’ (Equus ferus caballus) behavior toward dying and dead conspecifics. In the rapidly expanding field of comparative thanatology, reports from a wide range of taxa suggest that some aspects of a concept of death may be shared by many non-human species. In horses, there are only a few anecdotal reports on behaviors toward dead conspecifics, mostly concerning domestic individuals. Here, we describe the case of a 2-month-old, free-ranging male foal that died around 12 h after being found severely injured due to a presumed wolf attack, focusing on other individuals' reactions to the dying foal. We also placed camera traps near horse carcasses to investigate reaction...
Genomic measures of inbreeding in the Norwegian-Swedish Coldblooded Trotter and their associations with known QTL for reproduction and health traits. Since the 1950s, the Norwegian-Swedish Coldblooded trotter (NSCT) has been intensively selected for harness racing performance. As a result, the racing performance of the NSCT has improved remarkably; however, this improved racing performance has also been accompanied by a gradual increase in inbreeding level. Inbreeding in NSCT has historically been monitored by using traditional methods that are based on pedigree analysis, but with recent advancements in genomics, the NSCT industry has shown interest in adopting molecular approaches for the selection and maintenance of this breed. Consequent...
Estimation of Live Weight by Body Measurements in the Miranda Donkey Breed. The use of the measurement of heart girth (HG), in locations where a scale is not available, with the application of weight estimation formulas or special weight tapes, is well established as a practical and accurate way to estimate the live weight (LW). Although several studies were performed to correlate donkey body measurements and LW, none of these was done in the large frame European donkey breeds. When using smaller frame breeds formulas, the tendency was to underestimate the live weight of larger frame breeds. The sample used in this study consisted of 65 Miranda breed donkeys, with age...
Chemical Analysis of Lepidium meyenii (Maca) and Its Effects on Redox Status and on Reproductive Biology in Stallions †. The present study was conducted to assess the chemical composition of Yellow Maca () and its biological activity on stallions following oral administration of hypocotyl powder. Maca was subjected to methanolic extraction and the chemical analysis was carried out by LC-MS-QTOF (liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry). Our results showed that Maca contains some effective antioxidants, a high percentage of glucosinolates, and other important components with a high antioxidant capacity. To evaluate the plant biological activity in stallions fed with Maca powder for 60 days, the redox status and s...
The Effect of Goldfish (Carassius auratus) on Water Quality in Horse Stock Tanks. Goldfish (Carassius auratus) have been reported as a method to keep water tanks clean; however, little information exists on this approach. The objectives were to evaluate the efficacy of goldfish on maintaining water quality in tanks and to evaluate the frequency that this method is used. The first objective was completed during June through October 2017 in St. Paul, MN, using plastic and metal 379 L stock tanks, each with and without goldfish in a drylot that housed six adult horses. The stocking rate was 5 goldfish per tank. Daily readings of total dissolved solids (TDS) and water turbidit...
Heart Rate Monitoring in Mangalarga Marchador Horses During a Field Marcha Test. Measurement of heart rate (HR) and velocity before, during, and after training exercises under field conditions indicates health and fitness level and intensity of imposed physical effort and allows rapid adjustments in training and nutritional protocols, improving welfare of athletic horses. The aim of this study was to monitor HR of Mangalarga Marchador horses during a marcha field test. Fifteen Mangalarga Marchador horses were evaluated during an aerobic exercise (marcha) for 40 minutes using a HR monitor system with GPS (Polar RS800CX-G3). Results were analyzed through Polar ProTrainer 5 ...
The Effect of a 160-Kilometer Competitive Endurance Ride on Inflammatory Marker mRNA Expression in Horses. Previous work to evaluate various risk factors for failure to complete competitive endurance rides has examined clinicopathologic parameters, measurements of inflammation, and speed. Here, inflammatory markers were measured before, during, and after a long-distance, competitive endurance ride to examine the intraride dynamics of inflammatory marker expression and attempt to correlate those findings with whether a horse completed or failed to complete the ride. A total of 77 horses entered into the 2018 Tevis Cup Ride in California were enrolled in the study. Peripheral blood samples for mRNA i...
Intra-articular triamcinolone acetonide improves lung function in horses with severe asthma. Locally administered corticosteroids are commonly used to treat joint diseases in sport and racehorses. As they are also the most potent drugs for the treatment of equine asthma, we hypothesised that the intra-articular corticosteroids used to treat joint diseases also improve the lung function in horses with severe asthma, thus potentially delaying the diagnosis of this common lung condition. Objective: To compare the effects of intra-articular (IA) and intramuscular (IM) triamcinolone acetonide (TA) on lung function in horses with severe asthma. Methods: Randomised and controlled experiment ...
Schwannosis in Three Foals and a Calf. Proliferation of ectopic Schwann cells within the central nervous system (CNS) parenchyma (schwannosis) in early life is most commonly associated with human neurofibromatosis type-2 and has been unrecognized in domestic animals. Three foals and a calf, 5 to 11 weeks old, with progressive neurological signs from birth were studied. Histologically, at multiple levels of the spinal cord, all animals had bilateral plaques of proliferative spindle cells, predominantly affecting the white matter adjacent to dorsal and ventral nerve roots and variably extending into the gray matter. Proliferating cel...
Tracking main environmental factors masking a minor steroidal doping effect using metabolomic analysis of horse urine by liquid chromatography-high-resolution mass spectrometry. There is an urgent need to implement holistic and untargeted doping control protocols with improved discriminatory power, compared to conventional methods that only target doping agents. Metabolomics, which aims to characterize all metabolites present in biological matrices, could fulfill this need. In this context, the aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of environmental factors on the ability to obtain a metabolic signature of stanozolol administration in horse doping situation. Urine samples from 16 horses breeded in two different places were collected over a one-year period, befor...
Evaluation of surgical models for training veterinary students to perform enterotomies. To compare surgical models for teaching enterotomies to students. Methods: Prospective, randomized study. Methods: Second-year veterinary students (n = 59) and faculty surgeons/surgery residents (n = 19). Methods: Participants performed an enterotomy on each of 3 models (equine cadaver intestine, SurgiReal small intestine simulator, and SynDaver canine bowel) and completed a survey comparing them to either an enterotomy on an anesthetized pig (students) or intestinal surgery experience (faculty/residents). Surveys results were compiled and analyzed. Results: Both student and faculty/resident g...
Efficacy of Tea Tree Oil in the Treatment of Equine Streptothricosis. Streptothricosis is a dermatitis characterized by matted tufts of hair and coalescing, pustular crusts that affects many livestock species, including horses. It results from cutaneous infection by the actinobacterium Dermatophilus congolensis. For economic reasons, the ailment is often treated with commercially available over-the-counter (OTC) products or home remedies rather than prescribed medications. This study aimed to determine the efficacy of tea tree oil (TTO), an essential oil of Melaleuca alternifolia, as an OTC treatment for streptothricosis. Bacteria were isolated from presumptive ...
Urinary Bladder Matrix Does Not Improve Tenogenesis in an In Vitro Equine Model. Extracellular matrix (ECM) is responsible for tendon strength and elasticity. Healed tendon ECM lacks structural integrity, leading to reinjury. Porcine urinary bladder matrix (UBM) provides a scaffold and source of bioactive proteins to improve tissue healing, but has received limited attention for treating tendon injuries. The objective of this study was to evaluate the ability of UBM to induce matrix organization and tenogenesis using a novel in vitro model. We hypothesized that addition of UBM to tendon ECM hydrogels would improve matrix organization and cell differentiation. Hydrogels se...
Stem Cells in Equine Veterinary Practice-Current Trends, Risks, and Perspectives. With this Editorial, we introduce the Special Issue "Adipose-Derived Stem Cells and Their Extracellular Microvesicles (ExMVs) for Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine Applications" to the scientific community. In this issue, we focus on regenerative medicine, stem cells, and their clinical application.
Granulomatous Rhinitis in a Horse due to Mycobacterium intracellulare Infection. Mycobacterial infections in horses are uncommon, but are caused most frequently by Mycobacterium bovis of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex or Mycobacterium avium of the M. avium complex. Disease caused by Mycobacterium intracellulare, the second most common species within the M. avium complex, has not been reported in horses to date. Mycobacteriosis in horses most often presents as enteric, pulmonary or, rarely, systemic disease. Here we report a case of M. intracellulare infection in a horse presenting as a granulomatous nasal mass.
Effect of Changing Diet on Gastric Ulceration in Exercising Horses and Ponies After Cessation of Omeprazole Treatment. Diet is an accepted risk factor for equine squamous gastric disease (ESGD), but there is little published evidence for the benefit of dietary change (DC). This study evaluated the effect of DC with or without initial omeprazole medication. Twelve pairs of exercising horses with ESGD Grade 2/4 (EM) and 17 pairs with ESGD Grade ≥3/4 (ES), were monitored. Paired horses had similar management, feeding times, workloads, and initially feed or forage. One of each pair was randomly assigned, postgastroscopy (Scope1), to a specified restricted starch ration; the other remained on their original diet....
The Equine Sarcoid: Why Are There so Many Treatment Options? This article discusses the main treatments for sarcoid and the specific difficulties of these. It explains to some extent why the frustrations of a condition for which there is no single treatment option have led to the burgeoning of an industry of irrational treatments. The factors that need to be considered before selecting an option for treatment are wider than is the case in most other disease entities as a result of the complexity of the condition, its variable phenotypes, and the individual perceptions and experiences of both veterinarians and owners.
Fertility and 63,X Mosaicism in a Haflinger Sibship. Chromosomal abnormalities are notable causes of infertility in horses. Mares show various degrees of estrous behavior, and ultrasound examination often reveals an underdeveloped genital tract. This article reports investigations on fertility in a Haflinger sibship with a healthy, normally developed, fertile mare with at least three healthy offspring. Chromosomal analysis performed incidentally and blinded for this mare revealed 63,X/64,XX/65,XXX mosaicism. Two closely related mares were also mosaics (63,X/64,XX), and one of them was a carrier of a marker chromosome. Repeated examinations of th...
Morphometric measurements and zootechnical indices of the Pantanal in race horses of different ages and gender. The aim of this study was to perform linear measurements and assess morphometric indices of equines of the Pantanal race of different ages in the municipality of Poconé-Mato Grosso. Fifty-seven clinically healthy male and female horses between 1 and 19 years of age were selected and divided into groups by sex: 41 animals males and 17 animals femeles, and age groups: group 1 (nine animals up to 12 months of age), group 2 (eight animals from 12 to 24 months), group 3 (15 animals from 24 to 48 months), and group 4 (27 animals older than 48 months). With the aid of a hypometer, the following...
Exercise-induced Pulmonary Hemorrhage: Is It Important and Can It Be Prevented? Exercise-induced pulmonary hemorrhage (EIPH) occurs commonly in horses undergoing strenuous exercise. Reported risk factors include racing in cold temperatures and wearing of bar shoes. In horses with documented moderate to severe EIPH, increasing the interval between races and adopting a negative race pace strategy may reduce the severity of EIPH in subsequent races. EIPH seems to have an impact on performance only when moderate to severe. This occurs in a small number of starters, approximately 6%. EIPH often is erratic in severity from race to race, although across a population it is weakly...
Molecular evidence of bacteria in Melophagus ovinus sheep keds and Hippobosca equina forest flies collected from sheep and horses in northeastern Algeria. The sheep ked, Melophagus ovinus, and the forest fly, Hippobosca equina, are parasitic dipteran insects of veterinary importance. As hematophagous insects, they might be considered as potential vectors of diseases which may be transmissible to humans and animals. The purpose of this study was to present initial primary data about these two species in Algeria. To do so, we conducted a molecular survey to detect the presence of bacterial DNA in flies collected in Algeria. A total of 712 flies including, 683 Melophagus ovinus and 29 Hippobosca equina were collected from two regions in northeaster...
[Quality Assessment of Bovine and Equine Colostrum – An Overview]. Good quality colostrum intake is essential for passive immunity in neonatal calf and foals. The quality of colostrum depends on its IgG content. Since in practice the possibilities for a direct determination of these parameter are limited, an estimation of colostrum quality is often based on its biophysical properties. The simple methodology allows to perform measurements directly on site and immediately after birth. The biophysical properties included in the current review are density, refractive index, relative density, viscosity, pH, and color. The determination of the density of bovine col...
[Vaccinovigilance: Reported adverse reactions of immunological veterinary medicinal products in 2018]. The registration of adverse events after the use of immunological veterinary medicinal products (VMP) is the aim of the vaccinovigilance reporting system in Switzerland. Adverse events comprise suspected adverse reactions and lack of expected efficacy. Since the Institute of virology and immunology (IVI) is the competent authority for the regulation of immunological VMP in Switzerland, the reporting system is administrated by the IVI. In 2018, 162 reports concerning authorized immunological VMP were received. While most of the reports were submitted by the marketing authorization holders (79%)...
Deoxynivalenol, but not fumonisin B1, aflatoxin B1 or diesel exhaust particles disrupt integrity of the horse’s respiratory epithelium and predispose it for equine herpesvirus type 1 infection. The horse's respiratory tract daily encounters a plethora of respirable hazards including air pollutants, mycotoxins and airborne pathogens. To date, the precise effect of air pollution and mycotoxins on respiratory epithelial integrity and subsequent pathogen invasion in the horse has not been studied. Here, diesel exhaust particles (DEP) and three major mycotoxins (deoxynivalenol [DON], aflatoxin B1 [AFB1] and fumonisin B1 [FB1]) were applied to the apical surfaces of both ex vivo respiratory mucosal explants and in vitro primary equine respiratory epithelial cells (EREC) cultivated at the a...
The prevalence of horse trypanosomiasis in Sumba Island, Indonesia and its detection using card agglutination tests. Horses have a strategic and vital role to play in the lives of the people of Sumba Island, East Nusa Tenggara Province. They act as social animals that are involved in death ceremonies, horse races, and during pasola, thereby supporting tourism, and are given away as dowry in wedding ceremonies. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of trypanosomiasis among horses in four districts of Sumba Island by examining clinical symptoms and detecting parasites, antibodies, and other factors that are related to infection in horses. Methods: We studied a total of 211 horses that belonged to 88 ...
Repeatability of the hyperglycaemic clamp for assessment of β-cell response and insulin sensitivity in horses. The hyperglycaemic clamp has been used for measurement of insulin sensitivity (IS) but not for measurement of β-cell response in the horse. However, the repeatability of this test has not been reported for horses. Objective: To determine the repeatability and reliability of measures for IS and β-cell response to glucose using the hyperglycaemic clamp in horses. Methods: Repeated measures, longitudinal study. Methods: Six healthy Standardbred mares underwent a 120-min hyperglycaemic clamp on two occasions with a 10-day washout period. Indices of repeatability and reliability were calculated f...
Do different livestock dwellings on single grassland share similar faecal microbial communities? Huge numbers of microorganisms reside in livestock faeces and constitute one of the most complex microbial ecosystems. Here, faecal microbial communities of three typical livestock in Xilingol steppe grassland, i.e. sheep, cattle, and horse, were investigated by Illumina MiSeq sequencing and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes comprised the majority of bacterial communities in three livestock faeces. Sordariomycetes, Leotiomycetes, and Dothideomycetes were dominant in fungal communities, as well as Methanobacteria and Methanomicrobia were domin...
Warmblood Fragile Foal Syndrome causative single nucleotide polymorphism frequency in Warmblood horses in Brazil. Warmblood Fragile Foal Syndrome (WFFS) is an autosomal recessive genetic disorder caused by a mutation in the procollagen-lysine, 2-oxoglutarate 5-dioxygenase 1 (PLOD1) gene, associated with collagen biosynthesis. WFFS causes lesions and malformations of the skin in neonatal foals, and abortion. The objective of this study was to investigate the allelic frequency of the single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) c.2032G>A in the PLOD1 gene in warmblood samples from Brazil. Of the 374 Warmblood horses tested, 41 animals (11%) were identified as heterozygous for the WFFS SNP and 333 (89%) were homozyg...
Urinary bladder matrix does not improve tenogenesis in an in vitro equine model. Extracellular matrix (ECM) is responsible for tendon strength and elasticity. Healed tendon ECM lacks structural integrity, leading to reinjury. Porcine urinary bladder matrix (UBM) provides a scaffold and source of bioactive proteins to improve tissue healing, but has received limited attention for treating tendon injuries. The objective of this study was to evaluate the ability of UBM to induce matrix organization and tenogenesis using a novel in vitro model. We hypothesized that addition of UBM to tendon ECM hydrogels would improve matrix organization and cell differentiation. Hydrogels see...
