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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.
Lectin-binding sites on ejaculated stallion sperm during breeding and non-breeding periods. Stallion sperm from semen collected in Southern Italy during the breeding (June-July) and non-breeding (December-January) periods were analyzed by means of twelve lectins to evaluate the glycoconjugate pattern and to verify whether there are any seasonal differences in the glycosylation pattern of the sperm glycocalyx. The acrosomal cap showed reactivity for Maackia amurensis (MAL II), Sambucus nigra (SNA), Arachis hypogaea (PNA), Glycine max (SBA), Helix pomatia (HPA), Canavalia ensiformis (Con A) Triticum vulgaris (WGA), and Griffonia simplicifolia isolectin II (GSA II) in breeding and non-b...
Dysautonomia in a six-year-old mule in the United States. Equine dysautonomia, also known as equine grass sickness (EGS), is a well documented disease in several countries. To the authors' knowledge, EGS has not been reported previously in North America. This report describes EGS in a 6-year-old female mule in the USA. Failure initially to consider EGS resulted in a delayed diagnosis. EGS should be considered as a differential diagnosis and appropriate diagnostic tests performed in similar cases in North America.
Evaluation of current equine welfare issues in Ireland: causes, desirability, feasibility and means of raising standards. Significant potential threats to the health and welfare of horses exist in Ireland when supply exceeds demand and the identification system for horses is not yet robust. Objective: To secure engagement with stakeholder groups and determine their perception of equine welfare in Ireland and encourage the development of inclusive, rather than imposed, policy solutions. Methods: A 3 round, web-based Policy Delphi incorporating novel vignette methodology was conducted from November 2007-March 2008 to canvass opinion (in both quantitative and qualitative forms) on the perceived most significant equi...
The effects of different saddle pads on forces and pressure distribution beneath a fitting saddle. Saddle pads are widely used in riding sports but their influence on saddle pressures is poorly understood. Objective: To evaluate the forces acting on the horse's back, and the eventual pressure distribution by using different saddle pads underneath a fitting saddle. Methods: Sixteen sound horses of different breeds and ages were ridden on a treadmill at walk and sitting trot. The horses were wearing a dressage saddle with a fitting saddle tree and 4 different saddle pads (gel, leather, foam and reindeer fur) successively. For comparison, measurements were made without any saddle pad. Right fo...
A survey on two years of medication regulation in horse races in Iran. The present survey evaluated the use of prohibited substances cases in the first 2 years of medication regulation in horseracing in Iran so that the impact of these regulations on the level of positive cases over the period could be assessed. Objective: To determine the prevalence of positive tests for prohibited substances in horse races during 2 years of a drugs testing programme in Iran. Methods: A total of 656 horses that were winners or second in races were tested during the 2 year study. In the first year 354 horses (209 males and 145 females) and in the second year 302 horses (155 males...
Morphological study of tracheal shape in donkeys with and without tracheal obstruction. There is limited information on the gross tracheal morphology of donkeys with or without tracheal abnormalities. Objective: To: 1) examine the morphology of tracheas of donkeys with and without clinical and/or post mortem evidence of tracheal obstruction; 2) record the cross-sectional dimensions and shapes of tracheal rings at fixed sites; and 3) document prevalence, sites and characteristics of detected tracheal abnormalities. Methods: The tracheas of 75, predominantly aged (median age 30 years, range 7-48 years) donkeys that died or were subjected to euthanasia on humane grounds were examine...
Return to work following unilateral enucleation in 34 horses (2000-2008). REASONS FOR STUDY: The effect of unilateral enucleation on vision and potential loss of performance in horses has received little study. Objective: To evaluate the likelihood of return to prior discipline following unilateral enucleation in horses, assessing the role of age at enucleation, equine discipline, reason for enucleation, time to vision loss and eye enucleated. Objective: Unilateral enucleation has no significant effect on likelihood of return to work in horses, for both right and left eyes, across age and discipline. Methods: A retrospective review of medical records identified 92 h...
Measurement of C-peptide concentrations and responses to somatostatin, glucose infusion, and insulin resistance in horses. Hyperinsulinaemia is detected in horses with insulin resistance (IR) and has previously been attributed to increased pancreatic insulin secretion. Connecting peptide (C-peptide) can be measured to assess pancreatic function because it is secreted in equimolar amounts with insulin and does not undergo hepatic clearance. Objective: A human double antibody radioimmunoassay (RIA) detects C-peptide in equine serum and concentrations would reflect responses to different stimuli and conditions. Methods: A validation procedure was performed to assess the RIA. Six mature mares were selected and somatos...
Isolation and cultivation of equine corneal keratocytes, fibroblasts and myofibroblasts. To establish an in vitro model for the investigation of equine corneal wound healing. To accomplish this goal, a protocol to isolate and culture equine corneal keratocytes, fibroblasts and myofibroblasts was developed. ANIMAL MATERIAL: Equine corneal buttons were aseptically harvested from healthy research horses undergoing humane euthanasia for reasons unrelated to this study. Slit-lamp biomicroscopy was performed prior to euthanasia by a board-certified veterinary ophthalmologist to ensure that all samples were harvested from horses free of anterior segment disease. Methods: Equine corneal s...
Gene-based vaccines: Recent developments. Gene-based vaccines are under development for a broad variety of applications, ranging from vaccines to immunotherapies for infectious diseases, cancer, autoimmune diseases and allergy. In addition, following the licensing of DNA vaccines for use in fish and horses, and DNA immunotherapy for the treatment of cancer in dogs, several veterinary uses of vaccines have been demonstrated for species ranging from fish and shrimp to cattle and horses. A variety of publications describing preclinical and clinical studies of the technologies used to increase the potency of gene-based vaccines, and resea...
Clinical update on the use of mesenchymal stem cells in equine orthopaedics. Stem cells have received much attention in recent times because of their potential to improve healing of othropaedic problems. This manuscript presents the genesis, issues and current state of stem cell treatment in equine medicine. Current literature supports the use of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) for treatment of orthopaedic problems.
ELISA-seroprevalence of Toxoplasma gondii in draught horses in Greater Cairo, Egypt. Toxoplasma gondii is one of the important zoonotic parasites of worldwide. In this paper the seroprevalence of T. gondii in draught horses (3-15 years) including 90 males and 10 females in the first half of the year 2009 was studied. The result showed that the overall ELISA-T. gondii antibodies were 25% of the horses in Greater Cairo, 50% (females) and 22.2% (males).
Plasma disposition and fecal elimination of doramectin after oral or intramuscular administration in horses. A study was done to compare plasma disposition kinetics and the fecal elimination profile of doramectin (DRM) after oral or intramuscular (IM) administration in horses. Ten clinically healthy horses, 328-502 kg body weight (bw), were assigned to 2 experimental groups of 5 horses each. Group 1 was treated with an oral dose of 0.2 mg DRM/kg bw, while Group 2 was treated with 0.2 mg DRM/kg bw by IM route. Blood and fecal samples were collected at different times between 0.5h and 60 days post-treatment. After plasma and fecal drug extraction and derivatization, samples were analysed by high perfor...
An unexpected advantage of whiteness in horses: the most horsefly-proof horse has a depolarizing white coat. White horses frequently suffer from malign skin cancer and visual deficiencies owing to their high sensitivity to the ultraviolet solar radiation. Furthermore, in the wild, white horses suffer a larger predation risk than dark individuals because they can more easily be detected. In spite of their greater vulnerability, white horses have been highly appreciated for centuries owing to their natural rarity. Here, we show that blood-sucking tabanid flies, known to transmit disease agents to mammals, are less attracted to white than dark horses. We also demonstrate that tabanids use reflected pola...
An inactivated Vero cell-grown Japanese encephalitis vaccine formulated with Advax, a novel inulin-based adjuvant, induces protective neutralizing antibody against homologous and heterologous flaviviruses. Advax is a polysaccharide-based adjuvant that potently stimulates vaccine immunogenicity without the increased reactogenicity seen with other adjuvants. This study investigated the immunogenicity of a novel Advax-adjuvanted Vero cell culture candidate vaccine against Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) in mice and horses. The results showed that, in mice, a two-immunization, low-dose (50 ng JEV antigen) regimen with adjuvanted vaccine produced solid neutralizing immunity comparable to that elicited with live ChimeriVax-JE immunization and superior to that elicited with tenfold higher doses of a ...
Prevalence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus colonization in horses in Saskatchewan, Alberta, and British Columbia. This study estimated the prevalence of methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in nasal swabs of 458 horses in western Canada. The rate of colonization was 1.3% +/- 5.84% [95% confidence interval (CI)], a rate similar to those reported elsewhere. Colonization tended to be transient and seemed unrelated to stress or administration of antimicrobials. Five of the 6 isolates were Canadian epidemic MRSA-5, a human clone that appears to predominate in horses in North America. The other isolate was spa type 539 (t034), a sequence type 398 strain, and this is the first report of this clone ...
Effect of diet on plasma tryptophan and serotonin in trained mares and geldings. Concentrations of tryptophan (TRP) and serotonin (5-HT) in plasma were measured in 36 moderately trained Dutch warmblood horses after eight weeks on a high fibre (n=18) or high starch (n=18) diet. Samples were taken three hours after feeding, when the horse was at rest, either at 11.00 or 14.00 hours. Plasma 5-HT and pH were significantly higher in horses fed a high fibre diet than those fed a high starch diet (P<0.05 and P<0.01, respectively), and significantly higher levels of TRP were found in mares than geldings (P<0.05). Plasma 5-HT may therefore be a good marker of serotonergic ...
Effect of treatment with a topical ophthalmic preparation of 1% nalbuphine solution on corneal sensitivity in clinically normal horses. To assess the effect of treatment with a topical ophthalmic preparation of 1.2% nalbuphine solution on corneal sensitivity in clinically normal horses. Methods: 8 horses. Methods: Baseline corneal touch threshold (CTT) was measured (defined as the mean filament length [mm] at which a consistent blink response was elicited) for both eyes of each horse by use of a Cochet-Bonnet aesthesiometer. Subsequently, 0.2 mL of 1.2% nalbuphine solution was instilled in 1 randomly selected eye of each horse, and 0.2 mL of artificial tears solution was instilled in the contralateral eye (control treatment). ...
Fecal egg counts after anthelmintic administration to aged horses and horses with pituitary pars intermedia dysfunction. To determine effects of pituitary pars intermedia dysfunction (Cushing's disease) and age on fecal egg count and time to egg reappearance after anthelmintic treatment in horses residing in similar environments. Methods: Cross-sectional study. Methods: 29 healthy horses (4 to 35 years old) and 13 horses with PPID (13 to 33 years old). Methods: Fecal egg counts were performed by use of a modified Wisconsin flotation method at 2-week intervals before and after ivermectin treatment. Results: Horses with PPID had higher fecal egg counts before and 8, 10, and 12 weeks after ivermectin treatment, com...
Squamous cell carcinoma and suspect peripheral nerve sheath tumor in a 10-year-old Paint horse. A round mass 4 cm in diameter was present on the proximal rostro-lateral border of the right pinna of a 10-year-old, gelded, Paint horse. A preliminary histopathological diagnosis of a potential squamous cell carcinoma and peripheral nerve sheath tumor was made, and the lesion was resected at the base of the lateral edge of the ear. Une masse ronde de 4 cm de diamètre était présente sur le bord rostrolatéral proximal du pavillon de l’oreille droite d’un Paint horse castré âgé de 10 ans. Un diagnostic histopathologique préliminaire d’un carcinome squameux et d’une tumeur de la ...
Detection of three distinct genetic lineages in methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) isolates from animals and veterinary personnel. This study involved the phenotypic and molecular characterization of a population of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus isolates from animals and from veterinary personnel in Ireland. Isolates from 77 animals (dogs, n=44; cats, n=4; horses, n=29) and from 28 veterinary personnel were characterized using their antimicrobial resistance profiles and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis patterns. In addition, a representative number of these isolates (n=52) were further analysed using spa-typing techniques. The results obtained identified the presence of three distinct clonal complexes, CC5, ...
Reductive nitrosylation of ferric cyanide horse heart myoglobin is limited by cyanide dissociation. Cyanide binds to ferric heme-proteins with a very high affinity, reflecting the very low dissociation rate constant (k(off)). Since no techniques are available to estimate k(off), we report herewith a method to determine k(off) based on the irreversible reductive nitrosylation reaction to trap ferric myoglobin (Mb(III)). The k(off) value for cyanide dissociation from ferric cyanide horse heart myoglobin (Mb(III)-cyanide) was determined at pH 9.2 and 20.0 degrees C. Mixing Mb(III)-cyanide and NO solutions brings about absorption spectral changes reflecting the disappearance of Mb(III)-cyanide w...
Isolation and genetic characterization of H3N8 equine influenza virus from donkeys in China. During the 2007 outbreak of equine influenza (EIV) in China, an influenza virus designated A/donkey/Xinjiang/5/2007 (donkey/Xinjiang/2007) was isolated from a symptomatic donkey in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China. To analyze the genetic evolution of the new isolate, the hemagglutinin (HA) gene of donkey/Xinjiang/2007 was amplified and sequenced. Sequence alignment, prediction of glycosylation sites and phylogenetic analysis of the HA1 protein of donkey/Xinjiang/2007 showed most similarity to the Florida sublineage clade 2 of the American lineage of equine influenza viruses. The HA1 seq...
The prevalence of cardiac murmurs among standardbred racehorses presented with poor performance. Seven hundreds fifty-two Standardbreds, with poor performance, underwent a thorough diagnostic protocol. In 157 out of 233 horses, with cardiac murmurs, echocardiography and color flow Doppler (CFD) mapping were performed. Murmur of tricuspid valve regurgitation was identified in 185 horses, while murmurs of mitral (23), aortic (9) and pulmonary (3) valve regurgitations were detected less frequently. Functional systolic, functional pre-systolic, and functional early diastolic murmurs were identified in 10, 11 and 2 horses. Two-dimensional and M-mode echocardiography showed no abnormality in 14...
Species specific thyroid signal transduction: conserved physiology, divergent mechanisms. In the literature, data obtained in signal transduction from various species thyroids and cells lines are often integrated in a common model. We investigate qualitatively and systematically, using the same protocol, the control by TSH of the two main functions of the thyrocytes, the synthesis and the secretion of thyroid hormones. In all species investigated, the TSH receptor activates both. In some species, including humans, rats and mice, the TSH receptor activates both the cAMP and phospholipase C-PIP2 cascades, in others (e.g. dog) it only stimulates the first. The cAMP pathway activates t...
Spatial niche competition among helminth parasites in horse’s large intestine. The spatial distribution of large intestinal helminth parasites of 50 horses was studied. Both adult and mucosal larval stages were examined and counted within the ventral colon, dorsal colon and caecum. Thirty-three species of adult parasites were identified and their distribution in the three large intestinal regions reported, together with the localization of cyathostome encysted larvae and of empty mucosal cysts. In order to highlight interspecific interactions, both Spearman pairwise correlation (among all parasites) and multivariable negative binomial regression (among the most abundant ...
Numerical sex chromosome aberrations and abnormal sex development in horse and sheep. Gonadal dysgenesis and heterosexual conditions are often associated with sex chromosome abnormalities. In this study we report on 2 cases of abnormal sex development involving numerical sex chromosome aberrations in both horse and sheep. A 17-month-old Standardbred filly was sent to an equine fertility centre as an embryo donor due to its reduced size, being much smaller than a racehorse filly of the same age, which excluded it from an athletic career. External genitalia were clinically normal but manual palpation of the reproductive tract showed the presence of a small underdeveloped uterus a...
