Disease control in horses encompasses the strategies and measures implemented to prevent, manage, and eradicate infectious and non-infectious diseases within equine populations. This field involves the study of pathogen transmission, host-pathogen interactions, and the development of effective vaccination and biosecurity protocols. Disease control also includes monitoring and surveillance of equine health to identify outbreaks and implement timely interventions. Key aspects of disease control in horses involve understanding the epidemiology of equine diseases, improving diagnostic techniques, and enhancing treatment options. This page compiles peer-reviewed research studies and scholarly articles that explore various methodologies, technologies, and practices aimed at controlling diseases in horses, with a focus on improving overall equine health and welfare.
Duquesne F, Breuil MF, Hans A, Petry S.The cultural diagnosis of the causal agent of contagious equine metritis (Taylorella equigenitalis) using transport swabs is challenging. Swabs must be placed in Amies charcoal medium, refrigerated during transport, and plated out at the laboratory no later than 48 h after sampling. In this study, the viability of T. equigenitalis strain CIP 79.7T in 11 commercial swab transport systems was initially compared at 1 day and 2 days of storage at ambient (20 ± 3 °C) or refrigerated (5 ± 3 °C) temperature. The four best swab transport systems, systems B, E, F (used as the reference) and K, were...
Dong J, Liu G, Gao N, Suo J, Matthijnssens J, Li S, Yuan D, Du Y, Zhang J, Yamashita N, Haga T, Cook FR, Zhu W.In contrast to horses, the only evidence suggesting gastrointestinal disease in neonatal donkeys is associated with Group A rotaviruses (RVAs) is the detection of viral antigens by ELISA in just 1 of 82 symptomatic donkey foals. No additional, more comprehensive investigations have been conducted, and RVAs if circulating in donkey populations have not been molecularly characterised. Objective: To investigate if RVAs are associated with an outbreak of severe enteritis in neonatal donkeys and if associated determine the genotype(s) along with the phylogenetic relationship to RVA strains circulat...
Bannai H, Tominari M, Kambayashi Y, Nemoto M, Tsujimura K, Ohta M.Antibody response in horses after accelerated-schedule Getah virus vaccination was evaluated for its potential adoption during outbreaks. One-year-old Thoroughbred horses received two doses of priming vaccinations following an accelerated schedule (accelerated group: 14-day interval, n = 30) or the conventional schedule (control group: 28-day interval, n = 30). At Day 14, both groups showed similar seropositive rates (66.7% in control group and 73.3% in accelerated group) and geometric mean (GM) virus-neutralizing titers (5.2 [95% confidence interval (CI), 3.0-8.8] in control group and 5.3...
Kamran K, Ali A, Villagra C, Siddiqui S, Alouffi AS, Iqbal A.Zoonotic diseases are significant public health issues. There is an urgent need to focus our efforts on the development of strategies that prevent and control potential arthropod vector-borne pathogens. Hard ticks transmit a variety of viral, bacterial and protozoan pathogens to their vertebrate hosts. This is becoming of more concern, as anthropogenic alterations of the environment may unleash the spread of tick-borne diseases throughout the world. Developing countries that are highly dependent on the livestock economy are a hot spot for tick-borne infectious diseases. In this work, through a...
Fetene E, Leta S, Regassa F, Büscher P.Trypanosomosis caused by Trypanosoma vivax is one of the diseases threatening the health and productivity of livestock in Africa and Latin America. Trypanosoma vivax is mainly transmitted by tsetse flies; however, the parasite has also acquired the ability to be transmitted mechanically by hematophagous dipterans. Understanding its distribution, host range and prevalence is a key step in local and global efforts to control the disease. Methods: The study was conducted according to the methodological recommendations of the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRIS...
Gwee SXW, St John AL, Gray GC, Pang J.Dengue is a rapidly spreading mosquito-borne flavivirus infection that is prevalent in tropical and sub-tropical regions. Humans are known to be the main reservoir host maintaining the epidemic cycles of dengue but it is unclear if dengue virus is also maintained in a similar enzootic cycle. The systematic review was conducted in accordance to Cochrane's PRISMA recommendations. A search was done on PubMed, EMBASE, Scopus and Cochrane Library. Key data on animal dengue positivity was extracted and classified according to animal type and diagnostic modes. Of the 3818 articles identified, 56 arti...
McKinney CA, Bedenice D, Pacheco AP, Oliveira BCM, Paradis MR, Mazan M, Widmer G.Fecal microbial transplantation (FMT) is empirically implemented in horses with colitis to facilitate resolution of diarrhea. The purpose of this study was to assess FMT as a clinical treatment and modulator of fecal microbiota in hospitalized horses with colitis. A total of 22 horses with moderate to severe diarrhea, consistent with a diagnosis of colitis, were enrolled at two referral hospitals (L1: n = 12; L2: n = 10). FMT was performed in all 12 patients on 3 consecutive days at L1, while treatment at L2 consisted of standard care without FMT. Manure was collected once daily for 4 days fro...
During the last century and today, the Tennessee walking horse has been used primarily for pleasure and show competition. Unique and natural to the breed is a smooth four-beat “running walk” gait. In the 1950s the accentuated or exaggerated running walk, known as the “big lick” became popular at high-level competitions. The combination of exaggerated high-action step in front and long stride behind is still considered desirable in today's horse show competitions, and it is often achieved through soring. Soring is the practice of applying a substance or mechanical device to the lower li...
Ramalho Sousa S, Anastácio S, Nóvoa M, Paz-Silva A, Madeira de Carvalho LM.In Portugal, equine parasitism in pasture animals is characterized by high parasitic burden and high helminthic biodiversity; both factors are potentially pathogenic for their hosts. The decrease in the number of donkeys over the last years in Portugal, their importance in rural lowland and mountain ecosystems and pastures and the scarce information regarding their parasitism led to this research, which aimed to evaluate the parasitological status of a Miranda donkey breed population, a native breed mainly located in the northeast of Portugal. This study provides better knowledge of their gast...
García-Carrasco JM, Muñoz AR, Olivero J, Segura M, Real R.West Nile virus is a widely spread arthropod-born virus, which has mosquitoes as vectors and birds as reservoirs. Humans, as dead-end hosts of the virus, may suffer West Nile Fever (WNF), which sometimes leads to death. In Europe, the first large-scale epidemic of WNF occurred in 1996 in Romania. Since then, human cases have increased in the continent, where the highest number of cases occurred in 2018. Using the location of WNF cases in 2017 and favorability models, we developed two risk models, one environmental and the other spatio-environmental, and tested their capacity to predict in 2018...
Fearon SH, Dennis SJ, Hitzeroth II, Rybicki EP, Meyers AE.African horse sickness (AHS) is a devastating viral disease affecting equines and has resulted in many disastrous epizootics. To date, no successful therapeutic treatment exists for AHS, and commercially used live-attenuated vaccines have various undesirable side effects. Previous studies have shown that mice inoculated with insoluble African horse sickness virus (AHSV) VP7 crystals are protected from live challenge with a lethal dose of AHSV. This study investigates the humoral and cell-mediated immune responses in guinea-pigs to a safer monovalent vaccine alternative based on AHSV-5 VP7 quas...
Szewc M, De Waal T, Zintl A.Gastrointestinal nematodes (GIN) are a cause of significant losses in animal production worldwide. In recent years, there have been important advances in the biological control of GIN of ruminants and horses. While these measures are still relatively under-utilised in practice, interest will undoubtedly grow due to the emergence of drug resistant parasite populations, the rise in demand for organically farmed products (which does not allow prophylactic use of drugs, including anthelmintics) and legislation, which regulates and restricts the use of anthelmintics. This review provides an overvie...
Yuen KY, Fraser NS, Henning J, Halpin K, Gibson JS, Betzien L, Stewart AJ.Hendra virus (HeV) continues to pose a serious public health concern as spillover events occur sporadically. Terminally ill horses can exhibit a range of clinical signs including frothy nasal discharge, ataxia or forebrain signs. Early signs, if detected, can include depression, inappetence, colic or mild respiratory signs. All unvaccinated ill horses in areas where flying foxes exist, may potentially be infected with HeV, posing a significant risk to the veterinary community. Equivac® HeV vaccine has been fully registered in Australia since 2015 (and under an Australian Pesticides and Veteri...
Reemers S, van Bommel S, Cao Q, Sutton D, van de Zande S.Equine influenza virus (EIV) is a major cause of respiratory disease in horses. Vaccination is an effective tool for infection control. Although various EIV vaccines are widely available, major outbreaks occurred in Europe in 2018 involving a new EIV H3N8 FC1 strain. In France, it was reported that both unvaccinated and vaccinated horses were affected despite >80% vaccination coverage and most horses being vaccinated with a vaccine expressing FC1 antigen. This study assessed whether vaccine type, next to antigenic difference between vaccine and field strain, plays a role. Horses were vaccin...
Saiz JC.West Nile virus (WNV) is a widely distributed enveloped flavivirus transmitted by mosquitoes, which main hosts are birds. The virus sporadically infects equids and humans with serious economic and health consequences, as infected individuals can develop a severe neuroinvasive disease that can even lead to death. Nowadays, no WNV-specific therapy is available and vaccines are only licensed for use in horses but not for humans. While several methodologies for WNV vaccine development have been successfully applied and have contributed to significantly reducing its incidence in horses in the US, n...
Kinoshita Y, Takechi M, Uchida-Fujii E, Miyazawa K, Nukada T, Niwa H.Bacterial placentitis in horses commonly results in abortion, premature birth or compromised neonatal foal health. Although mycobacterial infections are generally uncommon in horses, 10 equine abortion cases caused by Mycobacterium avium subsp. hominissuis (MAH) infections occurred between 2018 and 2019 in Japan. They occurred on seven Thoroughbred horse farms in the Hidaka district of Hokkaido, but direct contact among the mares on different farms was not recorded. Most cases were characterized by extensive pathological lesions of the placenta, which are not typical in cases of common pathoge...
Sears K, Knowles D, Dinkel K, Mshelia PW, Onzere C, Silva M, Fry L.Control of , the primary cause of equine theileriosis, is largely reliant on acaracide use and chemosterilization with imidocarb dipropionate (ID). However, it is currently unknown if ID is effective against , the recently identified second causative agent of equine theileriosis, or if the drug maintains effectiveness against in the presence of co-infection. The purpose of this study was to address these questions using ID treatment of the following three groups of horses: (1) five infected horses; (2) three - infected horses; and (3) three - infected horses. Clearance was first evaluated u...
Wilson A, Pinchbeck G, Dean R, McGowan C.Vaccination is integral to preventive healthcare. Despite numerous guidelines on equine vaccination, evidence of current vaccination practices is lacking. Objective: To describe current vaccination practices advised by vets treating horses in the United Kingdom (UK) and compare practices with manufacturer datasheets and current guidelines. Methods: Cross-sectional survey. Methods: An online questionnaire was distributed using email addresses acquired through professional registration listings and social media, targeting vets who treat horses in the UK. The questionnaire collected demographic d...
Lattimer J, Roberts H, Barnard M, Paterson A, Bell I, Hepple R, Holland S, George A.In early 2019, four stallions in the south of England tested positive for equine viral arteritis following routine prebreeding screening. Here, a team from Defra and the APHA describe the epidemiological investigation that was carried out to determine the origin of infection and the potential for its transmission across the country.
Cianci J, Boyle AG, Stefanovski D, Biddle AS.Anecdotal accounts correlate equine colic onset to changing weather conditions; however, atmospheric effects on colic have not been studied extensively. We hypothesized that changes in barometric pressure would increase the likelihood of a colic diagnosis compared with other noncolic sick events. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to look for associations between colic diagnosis and barometric pressure. The University of Pennsylvania Field Service electronic medical records were searched by identifiable examination type via billing procedure codes collecting 3,108 emergent and...
Farchati H, Merlin A, Saussac M, Dornier X, Dhollande M, Garon D, Tapprest J, Sala C.Accurate demographic knowledge of the equine population is needed to assess and model equine health events. France is one of the few European countries with an operational centralized database (SIRE) recording individual data on all declared equines living in France and on their owners and keepers. Our study aimed to assess SIRE database quality concerning the updating of information by equine owners and keepers with a view to its improvement and use in surveillance and research. Two online surveys were conducted with the participation of 6244 registered keepers and 13,869 owners. Results show...
Yuen KY, Gibson JS, Hinrichsen S, Medina-Torres CE, Bertin FR, Stewart AJ.Prudent use of antimicrobials is paramount to slow the development of resistance and for successful treatment. The use of cumulative antibiograms will allow evidence-based antimicrobial selection with consideration of local resistance patterns. We generated a "first-isolate-per-patient" cumulative antibiogram for a regional equine referral hospital. Bacterial organisms cultured from horses between 2011 and 2018, sample origin, antimicrobial susceptibilities, and multidrug-resistant (MDR) status were tabulated. Of 1,176 samples, 50% were culture positive. Overall, 93 of 374 (25%) were MDR. Of t...
Di Francesco CE, Smoglica C, De Amicis I, Cafini F, Carluccio A, Contri A.Eight Martina Franca pregnant jennies were selected in order to evaluate the transfer of colostral antibodies against equine herpesvirus type 1 in their relative foals after immunization with a commercial inactivated vaccine, compared with an unvaccinated group. Samples of serum and colostrums/milk were collected from jennies and foals under study starting from 10 min before and up to 21 days after the foaling. Specific anti-EHV-1 antibody titers were evaluated by means of a serum neutralization test, and the results obtained from both groups were analyzed. The serological titers in the vaccin...
Kamran K, Ali A, Villagra CA, Bazai ZA, Iqbal A, Sajid MS.Ivermectin and fipronil have been used regularly to control the hard tick Hyalomma anatolicum (Acari: Ixodidae) in domestic ruminants for more than a half-decade in Balochistan, Pakistan. Inappropriate and indiscriminate use of these acaricides has resulted in the development of resistances in tick species. In this work, acaricides (ivermectin and fipronil) resistance was evaluated in H. anatolicum through in vitro and in vivo bioassays in a horse farm of Quetta, Balochistan province, Pakistan. A participatory epidemiological survey was conducted to assess potential risk factors associated wit...
Snyder RE, Feiszli T, Foss L, Messenger S, Fang Y, Barker CM, Reisen WK, Vugia DJ, Padgett KA, Kramer VL.The California Arbovirus Surveillance Program was initiated over 50 years ago to track endemic encephalitides and was enhanced in 2000 to include West Nile virus (WNV) infections in humans, mosquitoes, sentinel chickens, dead birds and horses. This comprehensive statewide program is a function of strong partnerships among the California Department of Public Health (CDPH), the University of California, and local vector control and public health agencies. This manuscript summarizes WNV surveillance data in California since WNV was first detected in 2003 in southern California. From 2003 through ...
Daly JM, Megid J, Langoni H, de Nardi Júnior G, Ribeiro MG.Equine influenza (EI) virus is one of the most economically important pathogens of respiratory diseases of horses worldwide. Despite availability of vaccines for control of EI, the highly contagious nature and variability properties of the virus mean global outbreaks occur. Thus, continuous surveillance programs, including seroprevalence studies of disease in different countries, may contribute to better control of the disease. In this study, the seroprevalence of equine influenza in 850 horses from Brazil was investigated. The serodiagnosis was based on the single radial hemolysis (SRH) assay...
Neustroev MP, Petrova SG.An inactivated vaccine based on the BN-12 strain with the TNP-3 strain filtrate used as immunomodulator has been developed in order to prevent salmonella-induced equine abortion. Preclinical and clinical trials with the white mice and the horses, respectively, are carried out. The lack of toxicity is proven. The vaccine immunogenicity for mouse and mare models comprised 90 and 100%, respectively. The industrial vaccine tests showed that the industrial output of foals increased by 13.8% after immunization. Cost-effectiveness of the vaccine used with the TNP-3 strain filtrate comprised 14.1 r...
Bengis RG, Frean J.Anthrax is a peracute, acute or subacute multispecies bacterial infection that occurs on many continents. It is one of the oldest infectious diseases known; the biblical fifth and sixth plagues (Exodus chapters 7 to 9) that affected first livestock and then humans were probably anthrax. From the earliest historical records until development of an effective vaccine midway through the 20th Century, anthrax was one of the foremost causes of uncontrolled mortality in cattle, sheep, goats, horses and pigs, with 'spill over' into humans, worldwide. With the development of the Sterne spore vaccine, a...
Powell DG, Watkins KL, Li PH, Shortridge KF.Equine-2 influenza virus A (H3N8) infection occurred among vaccinated thoroughbred horses in Hong Kong during November and December 1992. The outbreak was unique in that it occurred among a large population stabled under intensive conditions. It resulted in the postponement of seven race meetings over a period of 32 days. The outbreak originated after the importation of horses 25 to 32 days before any clinical signs were reported. Vaccination did not prevent 75 per cent of the population from becoming infected, and half the infected horses developed clinical signs. Vaccination did, however, co...
Little D, Flowers JR, Hammerberg BH, Gardner SY.Possible anthelmintic resistance on a breeding farm where a rapid rotation anthelmintic programme had been implemented for 9 years was investigated. Cyathostomins resistant to fenbendazole and pyrantel were documented by faecal worm egg count reduction test (FWECRT). Objective: To 1) manage small strongyle transmission in a herd of horses in which resistance to both pyrantel pamoate and fenbendazole was identified and thereby reduce the risk of clinical disease in the individual animal, 2) monitor the change in resistance patterns over time and 3) monitor the efficacy of ivermectin over the st...
van de Water SG, van Gennip RG, Potgieter CA, Wright IM, van Rijn PA.African horse sickness virus (AHSV) is a virus species in the genus Orbivirus of the family Reoviridae. There are nine serotypes of AHSV showing different levels of cross neutralization. AHSV is transmitted by species of Culicoides biting midges and causes African horse sickness (AHS) in equids, with a mortality rate of up to 95% in naive horses. AHS has become a serious threat for countries outside Africa, since endemic Culicoides species in moderate climates appear to be competent vectors for the related bluetongue virus (BTV). To control AHS, live-attenuated vaccines (LAVs) are used in Afri...
Diouf ND, Etter E, Lo MM, Lo M, Akakpo AJ.Since first being detected in Nigeria in January 2007, African horse sickness virus serotype 2 (AHSV-2) has spread throughout the northern hemisphere, and was first reported in Senegal. A retrospective study was conducted from December 2009 to April 2010 using data collected in the field combined with information available at the Direction of Veterinary Services. The epidemic started in the Dakar region with two outbreaks in March and June 2007, respectively, and spread in several parts of the country between July and November 2007. During this period, 232 outbreaks and 1137 horse deaths were ...
Barrandeguy M, Parreño V, Lagos Mármol M, Pont Lezica F, Rivas C, Valle C, Fernandez F.Many countries have reported rotavirus diarrhoea in foals. In Argentina it causes important economic losses to the horse industry. In this work we present the results obtained using an experimental vaccine in a farm with enzootic infection of rotavirus. A hundred mares were vaccinated 60 and 30 days before foaling with inactivated rotavirus SA11 (G3P2), H2 (G3P12), Lincoln (G6P1), with aluminum hydroxide as adjuvant; 65 mares were included in the unvaccinated, control group. To evaluate the vaccine, morbidity, duration of the diarrhoea and rotavirus shedding were recorded. Antibody levels were...
Backer JA, Nodelijk G.African horse sickness (AHS) is an equine viral disease that is spread by Culicoides spp. Since the closely related disease bluetongue established itself in The Netherlands in 2006, AHS is considered a potential threat for the Dutch horse population. A vector-host model that incorporates the current knowledge of the infection biology is used to explore the effect of different parameters on whether and how the disease will spread, and to assess the effect of control measures. The time of introduction is an important determinant whether and how the disease will spread, depending on temperature a...
Scantlebury CE, Zerfu A, Pinchbeck GP, Reed K, Gebreab F, Aklilu N, Mideksa K, Christley R.Epizootic lymphangitis (EZL) is reported to have a significant impact upon livelihoods within resource-poor settings. This study used a participatory approach to explore peoples' experiences of EZL and examine the perceived impact of disease, owner knowledge and understanding of EZL, lay management of disease and, attitudes and strategies towards disease prevention. Focus-group discussions were held with 358 cart-horse owners and drivers recruited from 7 towns attended by SPANA (Society for the protection of animals abroad) mobile veterinary clinics and 2 unexposed towns where no SPANA clinics...
Martínez-Valladares M, Geurden T, Bartram DJ, Martínez-Pérez JM, Robles-Pérez D, Bohórquez A, Florez E, Meana A, Rojo-Vázquez FA.The objective of this study was to evaluate the status of anthelmintic resistance (AR) in ruminants and horses in Spain. The efficacy of commonly used macrocyclic lactones (MLs) - ivermectin (IVM) and moxidectin (MOX) - was measured in sheep, cattle and horses. In addition, albendazole (ABZ) and levamisole (LEV) were evaluated in sheep and oxibendazole (OXI) and pyrantel (PYR) in horses. Efficacy was evaluated based on the difference between the arithmetic mean pre- and post-treatment faecal egg count (in cattle and horses), or compared to an untreated control group (in sheep). AR was present ...
Craigo JK, Montelaro RC.Equine infectious anemia (EIA), identified in 1843 [1] as an infectious disease of horses and as a viral infection in 1904, remains a concern in veterinary medicine today. Equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV) has served as an animal model of HIV-1/AIDS research since the original identification of HIV. Similar to other lentiviruses, EIAV has a high propensity for genomic sequence and antigenic variation, principally in its envelope (Env) proteins. However, EIAV possesses a unique and dynamic disease presentation that has facilitated comprehensive analyses of the interactions between the evolv...
Tagmyer TL, Craigo JK, Cook SJ, Even DL, Issel CJ, Montelaro RC.A highly effective attenuated equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV) vaccine (EIAV(D9)) capable of protecting 100% of horses from disease induced by a homologous Env challenge strain (EIAV(PV)) was recently tested in ponies to determine the level of protection against divergent Env challenge strains (J. K. Craigo, B. S. Zhang, S. Barnes, T. L. Tagmyer, S. J. Cook, C. J. Issel, and R. C. Montelaro, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 104:15105-15110, 2007). An inverse correlation between challenge strain Env variation and vaccine protection from disease was observed. Given the striking differences in pro...
Kamran K, Ali A, Villagra CA, Bazai ZA, Iqbal A, Sajid MS.Ivermectin and fipronil have been used regularly to control the hard tick Hyalomma anatolicum (Acari: Ixodidae) in domestic ruminants for more than a half-decade in Balochistan, Pakistan. Inappropriate and indiscriminate use of these acaricides has resulted in the development of resistances in tick species. In this work, acaricides (ivermectin and fipronil) resistance was evaluated in H. anatolicum through in vitro and in vivo bioassays in a horse farm of Quetta, Balochistan province, Pakistan. A participatory epidemiological survey was conducted to assess potential risk factors associated wit...
Zhang W, Lonning SM, McGuire TC.Most equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV)-infected horses have acute clinical disease, but they eventually control the disease and become lifelong carriers. Cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) are considered an important immune component in the control of infections with lentiviruses including EIAV, but definitive evidence for CTL in the control of disease in carrier horses is lacking. By using retroviral vector-transduced target cells expressing different Gag proteins and overlapping synthetic peptides of 16 to 25 amino acids, peptides containing at least 12 Gag CTL epitopes recognized by virus-st...
Nielsen SS, Bicout DJ, Calistri P, Canali E, Drewe JA, Garin-Bastuji B, Gonzales Rojas JL, Gortazar Schmidt C, Herskin M, Michel V, Miranda Chueca MA....The European Commission requested EFSA assess antimicrobial-resistant bacteria responsible for animal transmissible diseases, with a view to listing such pathogens for European Union action. This Scientific Opinion addresses the ad hoc method developed: (i) to give a global state of play as regards resistant animal pathogens that cause transmissible animal diseases, (ii) to identify the most relevant bacteria in the EU and (iii) to summarise their actual or potential animal health impact, and to perform their assessment for being listed and categorised according to the criteria of Articles 7, ...
Hammond SA, Raabe ML, Issel CJ, Montelaro RC.We previously demonstrated in trials of a variety of experimental vaccines to equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV) a remarkable spectrum of efficacy ranging from sterilizing protection to severe enhancement of virus replication and disease, depending on the immunization strategy used. This range of vaccine efficacy observed in vivo offers a unique opportunity for evaluating potential in vitro immune correlates of protection and enhancement. We describe here a comprehensive analysis and comparison of EIAV envelope-specific antibody responses elicited by attenuated, inactivated whole virus and ...
Leadon D, Waran N, Herholz C, Klay M.Enormous numbers of horses are transported locally, nationally and internationally every year. National legislation and international guidelines set standards for the health and welfare of animals during transport. As a consequence, equine clinicians have major responsibilities in safeguarding the horse industry against the spread of disease and in being aware of the problems inherent in horse transport. The authors explore road, sea and air transport and their effect on horses. Various types of road transport are available and there are various sources of impact on horses. These include loadi...
Kasel JA, Couch RB.The recognition of an antigenic relationship between the haemagglutinins of A/Equi-2 and A2/Hong Kong/68 viruses led to experimental studies in man and horses with these virus types.Human volunteers were inoculated with A/Equi-2/Miami/63 virus and virus shedding ensued in all subjects. The most common clinical response was a febrile illness indistinguishable from naturally occurring human influenza. After administration of A2/Hong Kong/68 virus to 10 ponies there was virus shedding from 9 and a febrile response in 6.When the human subjects previously inoculated with equine virus were challenge...
Craigo JK, Leroux C, Howe L, Steckbeck JD, Cook SJ, Issel CJ, Montelaro RC.The genetic variation of equine infectious anaemia virus (EIAV) clearly affects the antigenic properties of the viral envelope; however, effects on immunogenicity remain undefined, although widely assumed. Here, the immunogenicity is reported of a novel, neutralization-resistant, pony-isolate envelope EIAV(PV564DeltaPND) that contains a 14-residue deletion in the designated principal neutralizing domain (PND) of the gp90 protein. Two ponies inoculated with a chimeric virus, EIAV(DeltaPND), containing the EIAV(PV564DeltaPND) envelope in a reference provirus strain, remained asymptomatic through...
Rodriguez L, Reedy S, Nogales A, Murcia PR, Chambers TM, Martinez-Sobrido L.H3N8 equine influenza virus (EIV) is an important and significant respiratory pathogen of horses. EIV is enzootic in Europe and North America, mainly due to the suboptimal efficacy of current vaccines. We describe, for the first time, the generation of a temperature sensitive (ts) H3N8 EIV live-attenuated influenza vaccine (LAIV) using reverse-genetics approaches. Our EIV LAIV was attenuated (att) in vivo and able to induce, upon a single intranasal administration, protection against H3N8 EIV wild-type (WT) challenge in both a mouse model and the natural host, the horse. Notably, since our EIV...
Ciarlet M, Reggeti F, Piña CI, Liprandi F.Two group A rotavirus strains isolated from diarrheic foals in Venezuela were classified as belonging to G14 serotype by cross-neutralization tests and on the basis of the homology of the sequenced VP7 gene. This report confirms that rotavirus strains of G14 serotype specificity circulate among equine populations.
Schnabel CL, Babasyan S, Rollins A, Freer H, Wimer CL, Perkins GA, Raza F, Osterrieder N, Wagner B.Equine herpesvirus type 1 (EHV-1) outbreaks continue to occur despite widely used vaccination. Therefore, development of EHV-1 vaccines providing improved immunity and protection is ongoing. Here, an open reading frame 2 deletion mutant of the neuropathogenic EHV-1 strain Ab4 (Ab4ΔORF2) was tested as a vaccine candidate. Three groups of horses ( = 8 each) were infected intranasally with Ab4ΔORF2 or the parent Ab4 virus or were kept as noninfected controls. Horses infected with Ab4ΔORF2 had reduced fever and nasal virus shedding compared to those infected with Ab4 but mounted similar ada...
Moodley A, Guardabassi L.A cross-sectional study was carried out to investigate species distribution and clonality of methicillin-resistant coagulase-negative staphylococci (MRCoNS) isolated from the nasal cavity of 39 horses and 32 veterinary or caretaker staff, and from 76 environmental surfaces at three equine facilities in Denmark. MRCoNS obtained by selective isolation were characterised by 16S rDNA sequencing, PCR detection of mecA, and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). MRCoNS were found in 32 (82%) horses, 20 (63%) humans and 50 (66%) environmental samples. The most common species was S. vitulinus (n=56)...
We found a male Hyalomma rufipes Koch, 1844 tick feeding on a horse grazing near Valtice, south Moravia, Czech Republic on October 24, 2019. The horse was born in Czechland and did not leave the country at least during the last five years. Relevant findings of Hyalomma ticks in other parts of central Europe are reviewed, including also records of pre-imaginal Hyalomma marginatum complex ticks on migrating birds all over Europe.
Crawley JA, Chapman SN, Lummaa V, Lynsdale CL.Parasite infection status, intensity and resistance have traditionally been quantified via flotation techniques, but the need for immediate analysis following defecation imposes limitations and has led to the use of several faecal storage techniques. However, their effect on nematode egg counts has not been systematically validated and is often generalised across taxa despite evidence of differences between species. Here, we take the domestic horse Equus ferus caballus as a model to examine the impact of commonly used storage techniques on egg recovery: 1) high and low concentrations of ethano...
Robin M, Page P, Archer D, Baylis M.African horse sickness (AHS) is an arboviral disease of equids transmitted by Culicoides biting midges. The virus is endemic in parts of sub-Saharan Africa and official AHS disease-free status can be obtained from the World Organization for Animal Health on fulfilment of a number of criteria. AHS is associated with case fatality rates of up to 95%, making an outbreak among naïve horses both a welfare and economic disaster. The worldwide distributions of similar vector-borne diseases (particularly bluetongue disease of ruminants) are changing rapidly, probably due to a combination of globalisa...
Minke JM, Toulemonde CE, Coupier H, Guigal PM, Dinic S, Sindle T, Jessett D, Black L, Bublot M, Pardo MC, Audonnet JC.To determine onset and duration of immunity provided by a 2- or 3-dose series of a new canarypox-vectored recombinant vaccine for equine influenza virus (rCP-EIV vaccine) expressing the hemagglutinin genes of influenza H3N8 virus strains A/eq/Kentucky/94 and A/eq/Newmarket/2/93 in ponies. Methods: Forty-nine 1- to 3-year-old male Welsh Mountain Ponies that were seronegative for equine influenza virus. Methods: Vaccinated and control ponies were challenged with aerosolized influenza virus A/eq/Sussex/89 (H3N8), representative of the Eurasian lineage of circulating influenza viruses. In trial 1,...
Chiam R, Sharp E, Maan S, Rao S, Mertens P, Blacklaws B, Davis-Poynter N, Wood J, Castillo-Olivares J.African horse sickness virus (AHSV) causes a non-contagious, infectious disease in equids, with mortality rates that can exceed 90% in susceptible horse populations. AHSV vaccines play a crucial role in the control of the disease; however, there are concerns over the use of polyvalent live attenuated vaccines particularly in areas where AHSV is not endemic. Therefore, it is important to consider alternative approaches for AHSV vaccine development. We have carried out a pilot study to investigate the ability of recombinant modified vaccinia Ankara (MVA) vaccines expressing VP2, VP7 or NS3 genes...
