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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.
Genetic diversity and zoonotic potential of Cryptosporidium parvum causing foal diarrhea. Cryptosporidium isolates from diarrheic foals in New Zealand (n = 9) were identified as C. parvum, subtyped at two polymorphic loci, and compared with human (n = 45) and bovine (n = 8) isolates. Foal C. parvum isolates were genetically diverse, markedly similar to human and bovine isolates, and carried GP60 IIaA18G3R1 alleles, indicating a zoonotic potential.
Rabies post-exposure prophylaxis in the Philippines: health status of patients having received purified equine F(ab’)(2) fragment rabies immunoglobulin (Favirab). Recommended treatment for severe rabies exposure in unvaccinated individuals includes wound cleaning, administration of rabies immunoglobulins (RIG), and rabies vaccination. We conducted a survey of rabies treatment outcomes in the Philippines. Methods: This was a case series involving 7,660 patients (4 months to 98 years of age) given purified equine RIG (pERIG) at the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (Muntinlupa, Philippines) from July 2003 to August 2004 following Category II or III exposures. Data on local and systemic adverse reactions (AR) within 28 days and biting animal status ...
Sperm production and sperm morphology of Swedish Warmblood stallions. The present study investigated daily sperm output and sperm morphology of fresh semen in eight Swedish Warmblood stallions aged 5-8 years. They were used for artificial insemination, and their fertility during the breeding season of semen collection exceeded 60% per cycle. One ejaculate of semen was collected daily for 10 consecutive days from each stallion. The gel-free volume was measured, and the sperm concentration was assessed with a Bürker chamber. The volume of gel-free fraction was multiplied by the sperm concentration to give the total number of spermatozoa (TSN). Sperm morphology wa...
Evaluation of ‘Section-Ligation-Release (SLR)’ technique devised for castration in the stallion. A novel technique [Section-Ligation-Release (SLR)] was evaluated for castration in the horse. Clinical traits, serum testosterone concentrations after challenge with human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG), and histopathological changes of the testicular tissue were assessed. Five stallions, aged 24-48 months, were castrated using SLR technique under general anaesthesia. Both spermatic cords in each stallion were exposed at the scrotal neck by two 5-cm long incisions, followed by sharp dissection through the parietal vaginal tunic. Both vascular and non-vascular structures in the cords were triple...
Monoclonal antibodies to equine interferon-alpha (IFN-alpha): new tools to neutralize IFN-activity and to detect secreted IFN-alpha. Interferon-alpha (IFN-alpha) is a type I interferon that is secreted during the early stages of the innate immune response and is often induced upon infection with viral pathogens. IFN-alpha production affects multiple downstream events influencing both innate and adaptive immune responses. Here, we describe the expression of an equine rIFN-alpha/IgG4 fusion protein in mammalian cells. The anti-viral activity of rIFN-alpha/IgG4 was found to be 70-fold higher than that of a previously described IFN-gamma/IgG1 as tested by bioassay. The purified rIFN-alpha was subsequently used for the generatio...
Concerted evolution of vertebrate CCR2 and CCR5 genes and the origin of a recombinant equine CCR5/2 gene. Chemokine receptors (CCRs) play an essential role in the initiation of an innate immune host response. Several of these receptors have been shown to modulate the outcome of viral infections. The recent availability of complete genome sequences from a number of species provides a unique opportunity to analyze the evolution of the CCR genes. A phylogenetic analysis revealed that the CCR2 gene evolved in concert with the paralogous CCR5 gene, but not with another paralogous gene, CCR3, in the opossum, platypus, rabbit, guinea pig, cat, and rodent lineages. In addition, evidence of concerted evolu...
[Hereditary diseases in the horse: II. Polygenetic or multifactorial diseases]. Many of the important diseases of sport and pleasure horses are thought to have a genetic component. The majority of these diseases, however, are multifactorial and are influenced not only by genetics, but also by environmental factors. In this review some of the most important multifactorial diseases are described and the current evidence for a genetic background is discussed.
[Hereditary diseases in the horse: I. Monogenetic diseases]. Overall, monogenetic hereditary diseases are less important for the breeding industry than polygenetic diseases because they are relatively rare. For the individual animal, however, these diseases have often a dramatic outcome and many of these diseases presently known are lethal. For several of them the exact pathogenesis is known and DNA-tests are available to confirm the exact diagnosis.
Phospholipid compositions of sera and synovial fluids from dog, human and horse: a comparison by 31P-NMR and MALDI-TOF MS. Alterations of the phospholipid (PL) compositions of body fluids are assumed to be indicative of inflammatory diseases, e.g. rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Recently, we have shown that particularly the phosphatidylcholine/lysophosphatidylcholine (PC/LPC) ratio determined in human synovial fluids (SF) and sera represents a reliable measure of the inflammatory state in RA patients. However, it is not yet clear to what extent the PC/LPC ratio is also affected by nutrition habits. In the present study, the PL and the corresponding acyl chain compositions of human body fluids (SF and serum of RA patien...
Exercise induced stress in horses: selection of the most stable reference genes for quantitative RT-PCR normalization. Adequate stress response is a critical factor during athlete horses' training and is central to our capacity to obtain better performances while safeguarding animal welfare. In order to investigate the molecular mechanisms underlying this process, several studies have been conducted that take advantage of microarray and quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) technologies to analyse the expression of candidate genes involved in the cellular stress response. Appropriate application of qRT-PCR, however, requires the use of reference genes whose level of expression is not affected by the test, by ge...
Persistently infected horses are reservoirs for intrastadial tick-borne transmission of the apicomplexan parasite Babesia equi. Tick-borne pathogens may be transmitted intrastadially and transstadially within a single vector generation as well as vertically between generations. Understanding the mode and relative efficiency of this transmission is required for infection control. In this study, we established that adult male Rhipicephalus microplus ticks efficiently acquire the protozoal pathogen Babesia equi during acute and persistent infections and transmit it intrastadially to naïve horses. Although the level of parasitemia during acquisition feeding affected the efficiency of the initial tick infection, infected t...
The effect of metformin on measurements of insulin sensitivity and beta cell response in 18 horses and ponies with insulin resistance. Laminitis in equids is a very common debilitating disease, and insulin resistance (IR) and hyperinsulinaemia are increasingly recognised as important predisposing factors. Pharmacological modification of IR and hyperinsulinaemia might reduce the risk of laminitis. Objective: Metformin, a drug commonly prescribed for treatment of human IR, may also decrease IR in equids. Methods: Eighteen horses and ponies with IR and recurrent laminitis were treated with 15 mg/kg bwt metformin per os q. 12 h. Each animal served as its own control by comparing pre- and post treatment proxies for IR, insulin sen...
Immunophysiological responses of horses to a 12-hour rest during 24 hours of road transport. Thirty-eight mature horses were assigned to one of two equal groups to evaluate two treatments consisting of either 24 hours of continuous road transport (24T) or two 12-hour periods of transport separated by off-loading, resting and feeding the horses for 12 hours (12/12T). A subset of six horses from each group served as controls for the other group. The horses were loaded into a commercial straight-deck trailer and travelled loose in one of two standard-sized compartments. After the journeys the horses were put back into their paddocks for a 24-hour recovery period. Venous blood samples wer...
Effects of altrenogest treatment of mares in late pregnancy on parturition and on neonatal viability of their foals. In this study, effects of altrenogest treatment (0.088 mg/kg daily) given to mares during late gestation until parturition on the time and the process of foaling, neonatal adaptation and postnatal development were analysed. The number of animals was 6 in the treatment group and 7 in the control group. Gestational length tended to be shorter in mares given altrenogest. Birth weight of the foals and weight of the placenta did not differ between groups. The second stage of parturition was prolonged in the altrenogest-treated mares (p<0.05). Foals born to altrenogest-treated mares had a significan...
Spelt, an ancient cereal and first pressure linseed oil as ingredients of compound feedstuffs for modern horse feeding. Spelt is a covered cereal with large glumellas. In experiment 1, it has been compared in terms of chemical composition with barley, oat and maize. Spelt is characterized by rather low protein and ether extract (EE) contents. The neutral detergent fibre (NDF) content of spelt was slightly higher than that of oat but the acid detergent fibre (ADF) content was lower. Two compound feedstuffs were fed along with hay to six horses used in a cross-over design. Both diets were well appreciated by the horses and there were no significant differences in the apparent digestibility coefficients, except fo...
Dermatophytoses in animals. Dermatophytoses are one of the most frequent skin diseases of pets and livestock. Contagiousness among animal communities, high cost of treatment, difficulty of control measures, and the public health consequences of animal ringworm explain their great importance. A wide variety of dermatophytes have been isolated from animals, but a few zoophilic species are responsible for the majority of the cases, viz. Microsporum canis, Trichophyton mentagrophytes, Trichophyton equinum and Trichophyton verrucosum, as also the geophilic species Microsporum gypseum. According to the host and the fungal spec...
[Prevalence of dental disorders in 483 horses and ponies]. Prevalence of dental disorders in 483 horses and ponies Five equine veterinarians working at three equine referral hospitals examined the oral cavity of 483 horses and ponies prior to surgery, to gain information about the prevalence of common dental disorders in the horse. A thorough examination, using hands/fingers, a full-mouth speculum, a dental mirror and a good light source, is essential to detect such disorders. Many horses examined needed dental attention even though there were no problems with mastication or riding. The most detected abnormalities were sharp enamel points on the bucca...
Effects of warm-up intensity on oxygen transport during supramaximal exercise in horses. To determine whether warm-up exercise at different intensities alters kinetics and total contribution of aerobic power to total metabolic power in subsequent supramaximal exercise in horses. Methods: 11 horses. Methods: Horses ran at a sprint until fatigued at 115% of maximal oxygen consumption rate (VO(2max)), beginning at 10 minutes following each of 3 warm-up protocols: no warmup (NoWU), 1 minute at 70% VO(2max) (moderate-intensity warm-up [MoWU]), or 1 minute at 115% VO(2max) (high-intensity warm-up [HiWU]). Cardiopulmonary and blood gas variables were measured during exercise. Results: Th...
Evaluation of the diffusion of corticosteroids between the distal interphalangeal joint and navicular bursa in horses. To determine whether clinically effective concentrations of methylprednisolone or triamcinolone can be achieved in the navicular bursa after injection of methylprednisolone acetate (MPA) or triamcinolone acetonide (TA) into the distal interphalangeal joint (DIPJ) and whether clinically effective concentrations of these drugs can be achieved in the DIPJ after injecting the navicular bursa with the same doses of MPA or TA. Methods: 32 healthy horses. Methods: Horses in groups 1 through 4 received 40 mg of MPA in the DIPJ, 10 mg of TA in the DIPJ, 40 mg of MPA in the navicular bursa, and 10 mg of...
A case of an intersex horse with 63,X/64,XX/65,XX,del(Y)(q?) karyotype. Cytogenetic and molecular genetic studies of an intersex horse have been carried out. The investigated animal had overall male body conformation; however, its external genitalia consisted of incompletely developed vulva and penis. The X and Y chromosome painting probes detected three cell lines in the examined horse: 63,X, 64,XX and 65,XX with a fragment of a Y chromosome (del Y). The DNA analysis with the PCR and PCR/RFLP methods showed absence of SRY,AMELY and ZFY genes as well as of six Y microsatellite markers (YM2, YP9, YJ10, YE1, YH12, and YA16). These results suggest that the Y chromoso...
Three autosomal chromosome translocations associated with repeated early embryonic loss (REEL) in the domestic horse (Equus caballus). Repeated early embryonic loss (REEL) represents a considerable economic loss to the horse industry. Mares that experience REEL may be overlooked as potential carriers of a chromosome abnormality. Here we report three different autosomal translocations in Thoroughbred mares presented for chromosome analysis because of REEL. The karyotypes were 64,XX,t(1;21), 64,XX,t(16;22), and 64,XX,t(4;13), respectively. In order to confirm the chromosomes involved in the translocations, to map the breakpoints, and to determine if the translocations were reciprocal, genes surrounding the breakpoints were iden...
Species-specific concentrations of perfluoroalkyl contaminants in farm and pet animals in Japan. The persistent metabolites of perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) which have been detected in the tissues of both humans and wildlife, and human contamination by PFCs suggest differences in the exposure patterns to these compounds. However, studies focused on identifying human exposure pathways to PFCs are scarce. To provide a preliminary assessment of PFCs in farm animals such as chicken, cattle, pigs, goats and horses, blood and liver samples were collected from various regions in Japan. Additionally, dog sera samples representing pet animals were also employed for analysis. Perfluorooctane sulf...
