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.
Moorthy AR, Spradbrow PB.
Summary:
During a survey in Queensland in 1974—77 four strains of rickettsia-like organisms were isolated from the respiratory tract of horses, of which two, NS7 and NS68 were isolated from nasal swabs of clinically normal horses and two, KSDH 91 and NSDH 100, from lung samples of slaughtered horses showing gross pathological lesions in the form of acute bronchiolitis and subacute interstitial pneumonia, respectively. The isolates are characterised as rickettsia-like organisms on the basis of their morphology, tinctorial property, growth in chicken embryos, inability to grow on bacteria...
Jaussaud P, Courtot D, Doron P, Guyot JL.Chronopharmacokinetics of intravenous phenylbutazone in the horse was studied with the aim of antidoping control. Among parameters studied, the single one which seemed to depend on circadian rhythm was the elapsed time between the injection and the plasmatic peak. There was no relationship between the injection time and the both parameters: half-life and time required to reach the forensic level of 4 micrograms/ml. This later, and oxyphenbutazone/phenylbutazone ratio, should depend on individual factors. Therefore, the injection time should not be a main parameter for the phenylbutazone evalua...
Della-Porta AJ.There has been concern that the present nomenclature system for the members of the Reoviridae family, and particularly the Orbivirus genus, does not represent the actual relationships exhibited between the members. In order to follow the conventions established by the International Committee for the Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV), it is tentatively proposed that the present Reoviridae genera be upgraded in status to the following sub-families: reovirinae, orbivirinae, Fijivirinae, cypovirinae, rotavirinae, coltivirinae and phytoreovirinae. Below the sub-family level, divisions of genus (equivalent...
Mettler NE, Fernández AS, Di Santo MI, Pardo DA.Sera from 282 equines from Tandil country and surroundings were investigated searching for hemagglutination inhibition (HI), Complement fixation (CF), and Neutralizing (NT) antibodies against three flavivirus:Ilheus, St. Louis Encephalitis, and Yellow Fever from the Togaviridae family. Sera were collected between 3-20-79 and 11-25-80 from 10 different places in Tandil and Ayacucho countries. Animals ranged from 45 days to 27 years old. Forty nine of them reacted with one or more flavivirus by HI and/or CF tes representing a prevalence of 17.4% for this antigenic complex. Twenty four of them ne...
Cho SN, Collins MT, Reif JS.The indirect fluorescent antibody test was used to examine 109 samples of equine sera randomly selected from serum pools. Results were compared with titers obtained by the microagglutination (MA) test. A high correlation (r = 0.89) was found between titers measured by the 2 tests. Blood samples were obtained serially from a total of 156 horses at a research farm and the sera were tested against Legionella pneumophila serogroups 1 through 4 using the MA test; 29 horses (19%) seroconverted to at least 1 serogroup of L pneumophila. The indirect fluorescent antibody test substantiated the results ...
Fitzpatrick DR, Studdert MJ.The specificity of selected immune responses to equine herpesvirus type 1 (EHV-1) and type 4 (EHV-4) was examined in 3 colostrum-deprived specific-pathogen-free foals. Single foals were vaccinated with inactivated EHV-1, inactivated EHV-4, or control cell lysate plus adjuvant followed by successive intranasal challenge exposures with EHV-1 and EHV-4 or with EHV-4 and EHV-1. Vaccination with inactivated virus preparations elicited cellular immune responses and antibody which were augmented by subsequent challenge exposures. Cellular immune responses, as measured by in vitro lymphocyte blastogen...
Powers JD, Powers TE, Varma KJ, Gabel AA, Spurlock SL.Quantification of the clinical manifestations of a disease has been a serious problem particularly as related to clinical trials or drug efficacy studies. Historically, this quantification has been limited to categorizing each patient into one of three or four groups, e.g. worse, no improvement, improved. This problem becomes serious when an investigation utilizes an experimentally induced animal disease model. A health index, which quantifies the clinical state of horses which have an experimentally induced beta-hemolytic streptococcal infection, is described. Aspects of experimental design a...
Ludwig KG, Craig TM, Bowen JM.Six mares were treated on the day of parturition with an intramuscular injection of 0.2 mg kg-1 ivermectin and placed in a pasture free of equine parasites as soon as possible after foaling. The mares and their foals were compared with a similar group of untreated mares and foals on an adjoining pasture. The experimental data was derived from mare and foal fecal egg counts, foal necropsies and pasture larval counts. Ivermectin administered to mares on the day of parturition, when combined with movement to parasite-free pastures, significantly lowered the cyathostome (small strongyle) egg produ...
Pascoe RR.Twelve medicaments were tested for their efficacy in the treatment of Trichophyton equinum var. autotrophicum; povidone iodine, thiabendazole ointment, captan ointment and Burroughs Wellcome Ringworm Ointment gave satisfactory results but their usefulness may be limited for treatment of large numbers of horses. Aqueous washes containing 0.5% hexetidine or 0.3% chloramine-T did not prevent fungi being isolated from lesions for up to 7 days after treatment. Similarly neither etisazole nor thiabendazole suspension prevented fungi from being isolated from lesions for up to 15 days after treatment....
Burrows R, Goodridge D, Denyer MS.Vaccinated yearlings , two-year-old and in-foal pony mares with appropriate controls were exposed to aerosols of a subtype 1 virus one to two months after two or three vaccinations; all became infected. No obvious differences in the febrile responses, clinical signs and subsequent abortions were found between vaccinated and control mares. All vaccinated yearlings and two-year-old ponies developed a febrile respiratory disease but this was less severe than that suffered by the controls and the amounts and duration of virus shedding were reduced.
Mumford JA, Bates J.Serological responses following two and three doses of an inactivated equid herpesvirus 1 ( EHV -1) vaccine containing a subtype 1 strain were examined in yearling ponies. Complement fixing antibody responses were significantly higher against the subtype 1 vaccine strain than against a subtype 2 virus. Complement fixing antibody responses declined rapidly after the second dose of vaccine and had returned to almost pre-vaccination levels eight weeks after the second dose of vaccine. Complement fixing antibody titres to the heterologous subtype 2 strain increased after each successive dose of va...
Aguilar CM, Fernández E, de Fernández R, Deane LM.During an outbreak of cutaneous leishmaniasis in a locality (Las Rosas, Cojedes State, Venezuela) previously non-endemic, 12.9% of humans, 7% of dogs and 21.4% of donkeys (Equus asinus) had lesions with parasites. The agent in the three hosts was identified as Leishmania braziliensis, subspecies braziliensis at least in man and donkey. The probable vector was Lutzomyia panamensis. No infection was found in a small sample of wild mammals examined. The outbreak was apparently linked with the importation of donkeys with ulcers, from endemic areas. The authors call attention to the fact that not o...
Houston RS, Fincher GT, Craig TM.The migration of infective strongyle larvae through sandy clay loam soil was determined by evaluating the burial of horse dung as a method of reducing parasitism in horses. Equine feces containing 325 strongyle eggs/g of feces were buried at depths of 2.5, 5.0, 7.5, 10.0, 12.5, 15.0, 20.0, and 30.0 cm below the pasture surface in sandy clay loam soil. Herbage samples were taken periodically from above the buried feces and were analyzed to determine the maximum vertical migration of infective larvae. The greatest distance of migration was 20 cm which occurred 31 days after the feces were buried...