Disease diagnosis in horses involves the identification and characterization of illnesses through various diagnostic methods and tools. This process is essential for effective veterinary care and management of equine health. Techniques used in diagnosing diseases in horses include clinical examinations, laboratory tests, imaging modalities such as ultrasonography and radiography, and molecular diagnostics. Blood tests are frequently utilized to assess parameters such as complete blood count and biochemical profiles, which can indicate underlying health issues. Additionally, advancements in genetic testing and biomarker identification have enhanced the ability to detect specific diseases early. This page aggregates peer-reviewed research studies and scholarly articles that explore diagnostic methodologies, their applications, and their impact on equine health management.
Yasine A, Daba M, Ashenafi H, Geldhof P, Van Brantegem L, Vercauteren G, Demissie T, Bekana M, Tola A, Van Soom A, Duchateau L, Goddeeris B, Govaere J.Dourine, caused by Trypanosoma equiperdum, is a life-threatening venereal disease in equidae. So far, there is no clear evidence on how and when stallions become infectious, nor which tissues are affected by the parasite in diseased animals. Post-infection, after a transient, temporary phase of parasitaemia, the parasite disperses to different tissues in an unknown distribution pattern. This study describes the distribution of the parasite after infection by artificial insemination (AI) or blood transfusion. Mares (N = 4) were artificially inseminated with T. equiperdum spiked semen wherea...
Ren WX, Zhang XX, Long CY, Zhao Q, Cheng T, Ma JG, Xu P, Hou G, Ni HB.Horse meat and milk are an important source of nutrition for many Chinese. Previous studies have shown a fairly high prevalence of infection in horses. However, there is no data concerning the molecular characterization of in horses in China. The present study tested 231 cervical lymph node samples of horses from northern China (97 from Jilin, 54 from Liaoning, and 80 from Xinjiang) for the presence of the B1 gene by seminested PCR. The B1-positive samples were genotyped at nine nuclear loci, that is, SAG1, alternative SAG2, SAG3, BTUB, c22-8, GRA6, c29-2, PK1, and an apicoplast locus, usin...
Watts MR, Hegedus OC, Eades SC, Belknap JK, Burns TA.Hyperinsulinemia is associated with equine laminitis, and digital lamellar inflammation in equine metabolic syndrome-associated laminitis (EMSAL) is modest when compared with sepsis-associated laminitis. Objective: To characterize digital lamellar inflammation in horses in a euglycemic-hyperinsulinemic clamp (EHC) model of laminitis. Methods: Sixteen healthy adult Standardbred horses. Methods: Prospective experimental study. Horses underwent EHC or saline infusion (CON) for 48 hours or until the onset of Obel grade 1 laminitis. Horses were euthanized, and digital lamellar tissue was collecte...
Yan L, Zhang M, Tang L, Ente M, Ma X, Chu H, Li K, Hu D, Zhang D.Myiasis has great economic and medical importance. However, myiasis in wildlife that is caused by oestroid flies is relatively rarely recorded compared with that in humans and domestic animals. Recently, during our research on the conservation of Przewalski's horse (PH), we observed two new records of oestroid flies parasitizing wildlife in China. The first is the horse nasal bot fly, Rhinoestrus sp. (Diptera: Oestridae), found in a dead PH from Kalamaili Nature Reserve. One morphotype (R. purpureus-like) was identified. The second is the Wohlfahrt's wound myiasis fly, Wohlfahrtia magnifica (S...
Raftery AG, Jallow S, Rodgers J, Sutton DGM.Globally, working equines have a continued and growing socioeconomic role in supporting the livelihoods of between 300-600 million people in low income countries which is rarely recognised at a national or international level. Infectious diseases have significant impact on welfare and productivity in this population and equine trypanosomiasis is a priority disease due to its severity and prevalence. Strategies are required to improve the prevention, diagnosis, management and treatment of trypanosomiasis in equines and more data are required on the efficacy and safety of current trypanocidal dr...
Satoh M, Higuchi T, Inoue S, Miyakoshi D, Gotoh T.Assessment of the cricoarytenoideus dorsalis muscle (CAD) in horses using a transesophageal ultrasound, computed tomography, or magnetic resonance imaging is available in a limited number of hospitals. This study assessed the ease of ultrasonographic imaging of the CAD using an external transcutaneous technique in horses. After confirmation of the CAD in the cadavers, ultrasonography in twenty live horses was carried out using a transcutaneous approach. In live horses, ultrasonographic imaging of the CAD was possible by pushing the larynx from the opposite side with the other hand. It is belie...
Mizobe F, Nomura M, Kanai K, Ishikawa Y, Yamada K.Six Thoroughbred racehorses with palmar process fractures of the distal phalanx were evaluated with standing magnetic resonance imaging (sMRI). In all the cases, the fractures were detectable on T1-weighted images and fat-suppressed images. Furthermore, multi-planar reconstruction images were useful for assessing the articular involvement of the fractures. Follow-up sMRI was obtainable in 3 cases, which revealed that the area of high signal intensity on fat-suppressed images decreased over time as symptoms improved. Our findings support the use of sMRI for the detailed evaluation of distal pha...
Seino KK, Secord T, Vig M, Kyllonen S, DeClue AJ.Our aim was to assess three-dimensional kinematic motion analysis as an objective diagnostic tool for the characterization of the movement disorder of Shivers in horses. Kinematic parameters were measured in three horses with Shivers and were compared with a control group of four normal horses. Multiple parameter differences were found in the horses with Shivers at the walk, during backing, and when asked to pick up their hindlimbs. Most significant changes were a wider hindlimb stance of 0.39 ± 0.15 m and increased abduction angle of 48.7 ± 7.52° and hoof elevation (0.77 ± 0.08 m left a...
Gergeleit H, Bienert-Zeit A, Seemann-Jensen A, Delarocque J, Ohnesorge B.The objective of this study was to determine whether the assessment of cytological features of secretions from the paranasal sinuses represents a useful diagnostic tool in equine sinusitis to distinguish between different etiologies. Secretion samples from 50 horses with sinusitis and 10 healthy horses were taken transendoscopically from the drainage angle of the nasomaxillary aperture using a Swing Tip catheter. An additional direct sample from the caudal maxillary sinus was taken from all healthy horses after trephination. A direct sample was obtained from the affected sinus in 19 diseased h...
Dos Santos TM, Roier ECR, Pires MS, Santos HA, Vilela JAR, Peckle M, Paulino PG, Baldani CD, Massard CL.The present study aims to determine the frequencies of Theileria equi and Anaplasma phagocytophilum antibodies among horses from the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and to detect the presence of DNA of these pathogens through molecular methods. A total of 98 serum samples of horses from the municipality of Seropedica were tested by indirect immunofluorescence antibody (IFA) to detect anti-A. phagocytophilum and anti-T. equi IgG antibodies. In addition, quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) was used to detect these pathogens in the DNA extracted from the whole blood and buffy coat of horses. Bivar...
Tirosh-Levy S, Solomovich-Manor R, Comte J, Nissan I, Sutton GA, Gabay A, Gazit E, Steinman A.Envenomation by venomous snakes is life threatening for horses. However, the efficacy of available treatments for this occurrence, in horses, has not yet been adequately determined. The aim of this study was to describe the treatments provided in cases of Daboia palaestinae envenomation in horses and to evaluate the safety and efficacy of antivenom administration. Data regarding 123 equine snakebite cases were collected over four years from 25 veterinarians. The majority of horses were treated with procaine-penicillin (92.7%), non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (82.3%), dexamethasone (81.4%...
Leathwick DM, Sauermann CW, Reinemeyer CR, Nielsen MK.A model was developed to reproduce the dynamics of the parasitic stages of equine cyathostomins. Based on a detailed review of published literature, a deterministic simulation model was constructed using the escalator boxcar-train approach, which allows for fully-overlapping cohorts of worms and approximately normally distributed variations in age/size classes. Key biological features include a declining establishment of ingested infective stage larvae as horses age. Development rates are constant for all the parasitic stages except the encysted early third stage larvae, for which development ...
Torrent A, Kilcoyne I, Johnson A, Affolter VK, Berryhill E, Aleman M.This report describes an unusual presentation of multicentric B-cell lymphoma with central and peripheral nerve involvement in a horse that was presented with acute onset, severe, multiple limb lameness, and muscle atrophy. This case highlights the importance of including neoplasia in the differential list in horses presenting for severe limb lameness associated with muscle atrophy, muscle fasciculations, and weakness. Présentation atypique d’un lymphome à cellules B multisystémique chez un cheval. Ce rapport décrit la présentation inhabituelle d’un lymphome à cellules B multicentriq...
Kandeil A, Gomaa M, Shehata M, El-Taweel A, Kayed AE, Abiadh A, Jrijer J, Moatasim Y, Kutkat O, Bagato O, Mahmoud S, Mostafa A, El-Shesheny R....Dromedary camels are natural host of the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV). However, there are limited studies of MERS-CoV infection of other domestic mammals exposed to infected dromedaries. We expanded our surveillance among camels in Egypt, Tunisia, and Senegal to include other domestic mammalian species in contact with infected camels. A total of 820 sera and 823 nasal swabs from cattle, sheep, goats, donkeys, buffaloes, mules, and horses were collected. Swabs were tested using RT-PCR and virus RNA-positive samples were genetically sequenced and phylogenetically analy...
Duchesne R, Castagnet S, Maillard K, Petry S, Cattoir V, Giard JC, Leon A.This study aimed to analyse antimicrobial susceptibility evolution of equine pathogens isolated from clinical samples from 2006-2016. A collection of 25 813 bacterial isolates was studied, clustered according to their origins (respiratory tract, cutaneous, genital and other), and analysed for their antimicrobial susceptibility using the disk diffusion method. The most frequently isolated pathogens were group C Streptococci (27.6%), Escherichia coli (20.0%), Staphylococcus aureus (7.8%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (4.0%), Enterobacter spp. (3.4%), Klebsiella pneumoniae (2.4%), and Rhodococcus equi ...
Davis KU, Sheats MK.Equine asthma syndrome (EAS) is a common problem that affects horses of any age. Severe EAS is reported to affect 10-20% of adult horses in the northern hemisphere, while mild/moderate EAS is reported to affect 60-100% of adult horses, depending on the population and geographic region. For both severe and mild/moderate EAS, the presence of lower airway inflammation is attributed to airborne "triggers" such as dust, mold, and bacterial components that horses encounter in hay and stable-environments; and treatment recommendations for horses with EAS often include full-time pasture turnout. The c...
Salciccia A, Gougnard A, Grulke S, de la Rebière de Pouyade G, Libertiaux V, Busoni V, Sandersen C, Serteyn D.The ultrasonographic images of the gastrointestinal tract in horses can be influenced by fasting and sedation but the proper effect of general anaesthesia (GA) on them has not been determined yet. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of GA on ultrasonographic images of the gastrointestinal tract in horses and to compare these effects with a clinical evaluation. Twenty horses undergoing non-abdominal surgeries were evaluated by ultrasonography before and 4 times within 24 h after GA. Each ultrasonographic exam focused on the stomach, the duodenum and on 5 locations on the jejunum. The fou...
Rossi TM, Moore A, O'Sullivan TL, Greer AL.Respiratory disease is a common morbidity of young racehorses. Infections can lead to compromised welfare, and economic loss. Identification of risk factors for infection through clinical signs monitoring and collection of demographic, serologic, and contact network data can aid in the development of prevention and control strategies. The study objectives were to: (1) describe the transmission and clinical course of infectious respiratory disease in standardbred racehorses in a multi-barn training facility and, (2) identify demographic, serological, and contact network risk factors associated ...
Joostens Z, Evrard L, Busoni V.Lifting the contralateral forelimb (unipodal stance) is often used as a method of restraint in horses. This experimental one group pretest, posttest study was conducted to evaluate the effects of unipodal stance on quantitative radiographic parameters in equine forefeet. Seven nonlame horses were randomly selected. Lateromedial (LM) and dorsopalmar (DP) projections were acquired for both forefeet, squarely placed on blocks, using two X-ray generators. Radiographs of each foot were acquired first in a bipodal stance, immediately followed by the same radiographic projections obtained in a unipod...
Mayaki AM, Intan-Shameha AR, Noraniza MA, Mazlina M, Adamu L, Abdullah R.Back disorder is an ailment that often affects athletic and riding horses. Despite the rapidly growing equine athletic and equestrian activities, there is no documentation on the nature of equine back disorder (EBD) in Malaysian horses. The purpose of this study was to characterize EBD cases presented to University Veterinary Hospital, Universiti Putra Malaysia, between 2002 and 2017. Methods: The compilation of data was based on signalment, case history, duration of clinical signs, anatomical location of the pain, method of diagnosis, type of EBD, treatment, and outcome. The diagnosis of EBD ...
Mitchell KJ.Analyzing electrocardiographic (ECG) recordings, making a diagnosis and assessment of any arrhythmias present, is an important part of the workup of many equine cases. Accurate analysis requires a good-quality recording, free of as many artifacts as possible, with clear P-QRS-T complex morphology. For sustained arrhythmias, short-term recordings are sufficient to make the appropriate diagnosis before instigating treatment. Longer-term recordings are essential for arrhythmias that are paroxysmal, intermittent, or occurring infrequently, while exercising ECGs are required for arrhythmias associa...
Durando MM.Horses have a high prevalence of resting arrhythmias, cardiac murmurs, and valvular regurgitation, and training can increase the prevalence. This makes it challenging for equine veterinarians who are asked to evaluate horses for poor performance to determine the clinical relevance of some findings. In addition, cardiac disease has the potential to cause collapse or sudden death, putting both the horse and rider at risk. Further diagnostics, such as echocardiograms and resting and exercising ECGs can help to sort out the impact of an abnormality found on resting physical examination. However un...
Keen JA.Despite advances, increased convenience, and availability of echocardiography and other diagnostic techniques in equine cardiology, a comprehensive history and clinical examination still forms the essential first step in any cardiac evaluation. This article summarizes the approach to the cardiac examination at rest, highlighting key areas for the clinician to assess, and stressing the importance of context for assessing the significance of any abnormalities detected. Ancillary techniques, such as blood pressure measurement and the laboratory assessment of cardiac disease in the horse, are also...
Reef VB.Arrhythmias detected on prepurchase examination should be confirmed with an ECG. Exercising ECG determines if the arrhythmia is overdriven during exercise or is a safety concern. An echocardiogram is needed in all horses with a grade 3/6 or louder mid to late systolic, holosystolic, or pansystolic murmur or any holodiastolic decrescendo murmur to identify the cardiac abnormality and its hemodynamic impact. Most horses with arrhythmias and murmurs have a normal performance career and life expectancy and are insurable. Risks for sudden death and congestive heart failure associated with the commo...
Bonagura JD.Equine heart diseases can be categorized with morphologic, etiologic, and physiologic diagnoses and classified anatomically as diseases of the pericardium, myocardium, valves (endocardium), and great vessels. An appreciation of normal and pathologic physiology is a key to understanding diagnosis and therapy of heart disease. Pathophysiologic diagnoses include arrhythmias, congestive heart failure, and pulmonary hypertension. Heart rhythm disturbances can occur in isolation or with structural disease. Heart failure stems from arterial filling owing to insufficient cardiac output. Pulmonary hype...
Decloedt A.Pericardial, myocardial, and great vessel diseases are relatively rare in horses. The clinical signs are often nonspecific and vague, or related to the underlying cause. Physical examination usually reveals tachycardia, fever, venous distension or jugular pulsation, a weak or bounding arterial pulse, ventral edema, and abnormal cardiac auscultation such as arrhythmia, murmur, or muffled heart sounds. The prognosis depends on the underlying cause and the disease progression, and ranges from full recovery to poor prognosis for survival. This article focuses on the etiology, diagnosis, prognosis,...
Go YY, Wong SJ, Branscum AJ, Demarest VL, Shuck KM, Vickers ML, Zhang J, McCollum WH, Timoney PJ, Balasuriya UB.The development and validation of a microsphere immunoassay (MIA) to detect equine antibodies to the major structural proteins of equine arteritis virus (EAV) are described. The assay development process was based on the cloning and expression of genes for full-length individual major structural proteins (GP5 amino acids 1 to 255 [GP5(1-255)], M(1-162), and N(1-110)), as well as partial sequences of these structural proteins (GP5(1-116), GP5(75-112), GP5(55-98), M(88-162), and N(1-69)) that constituted putative antigenic regions. Purified recombinant viral proteins expressed in Escherichia col...
Gehlen H, Oey L, Rohn K, Bilzer T, Stadler P.Chronic pulmonary diseases (recurrent airway obstruction [RAO]) have been reported to alter skeletal muscle cells in humans. The purpose of this study was to evaluate a potential relationship between pulmonary and muscle variables in horses with a clinical diagnosis of RAO. Muscle biopsies from healthy horses and from horses with RAO were investigated and the relationship between the severity of lung disease and the degree of muscular changes was determined. Objective: We hypothesized that chronic pulmonary disease can lead to changes of the skeletal muscle in horses. Methods: Fifteen healthy ...
Kjaer LN, Lungholt MM, Nielsen MK, Olsen SN, Maddox-Hyttel C.Increased knowledge is needed to assist in the interpretation of presently available diagnostic techniques for infection by the tapeworm Anoplocephala perfoliata in horses. Objective: The suggested cut-off level of an A. perfoliata specific ELISA may not adequately reflect the actual infection level. Hence, faecal egg counts may be a more useful diagnostic test for individual horses than previously reported. Methods: Eighty-four horses admitted for slaughter at a Danish abattoir were examined for the presence of A. perfoliata. The number of tapeworms, their stage of development and gross patho...
Cain JL, Slusarewicz P, Rutledge MH, McVey MR, Wielgus KM, Zynda HM, Wehling LM, Scare JA, Steuer AE, Nielsen MK.Fecal egg counts are the cornerstone of equine parasite control programs. Previous work led to the development of an automated, image-analysis-based parasite egg counting system. The system has been further developed to include an automated reagent dispenser unit and a custom camera (CC) unit that generates higher resolution images, as well as a particle shape analysis (PSA) algorithm and machine learning (ML) algorithm. The first aim of this study was to conduct a comprehensive comparison of method precision between the original smartphone (SP) unit with the PSA algorithm, CC/PSA, CC/ML, and ...
Baccarin RY, Rasera L, Machado TS, Michelacci YM.Osteoarthritis (OA) of the metacarpophalangeal joint is the most common articular disease in polo ponies leading to early retirement. A biomarker that would discriminate between pathological and physiological changes secondary to exercise could be helpful in OA prevention. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of polo training on synovial fluid biomarkers of inflammation and cartilage turnover in polo ponies of different skill levels. Synovial fluid samples were collected from metacarpophalangeal joints of polo ponies before and during the polo season (320 d). Nucleated cells, s...
Aurich C, Müller-Herbst S, Reineking W, Müller E, Wohlsein P, Gunreben B, Aurich J.Warmblood fragile foal syndrome (WFFS) is a monogenetic defect with autosomal recessive inheritance. The WFFS homozygosity is non-compatible with extra-uterine life. Although as many as 15% of Warmblood horses are WFFS carriers, there has been little veterinary focus on this condition. The aim of this study was to determine outcomes and symptoms of clinical signs and pathological abnormalities during pregnancies when there were WFFS homozygous foetuses. Diagnostic material of 15 abortion or stillbirth cases with suspected diagnosis of WFFS was available for this study. Additionally, there were...
Stadler P, Deegen E.Dynamic compliance, airway resistance, viscous work and respiratory frequency were measured at intervals in horses over 12 h periods. Variation, daily averages and circadian patterns were recorded. Examinations were performed on 24 horses. They were divided into three groups: Normal horses, horses with chronic latent bronchitis and horses with manifest chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Significant differences were found between the daily averages and the fluctuations when the normal group and the COPD group were compared. In most cases differences between all three groups were sign...
Chiavaccini L, Hassel DM.Esophageal obstruction is common in horses and can result in life-threatening complications. Previous studies have described clinical findings in horses with esophageal obstruction, but there are no reports that attempt to make correlations of clinical findings with outcome. Objective: Specific clinical features of horses with esophageal obstruction are associated with increased likelihood of complications. Methods: One hundred and nine horses with esophageal obstruction. Methods: Retrospective cross-sectional study. All clinical records of horses admitted between April 1992 and February 2009 ...
Yasui M, Suzuki N, Liu X, Okamoto Y, Kim SY, Laxmi YR, Shibutani S.4-Hydroxyequilenin (4-OHEN)-dC is a major, potentially mutagenic DNA adduct induced by equine estrogens used for hormone replacement therapy. To study the miscoding property of 4-OHEN-dC and the involvement of Y-family human DNA polymerases (pols) eta, kappa and iota in that process, we incorporated 4-OHEN-dC into oligodeoxynucleotides and used them as templates in primer extension reactions catalyzed by pol eta, kappa and iota. Pol eta inserted dAMP opposite 4-OHEN-dC, accompanied by lesser amounts of dCMP and dTMP incorporation and base deletion. Pol kappa promoted base deletions as well as ...
Smith RK, Heinegård D.Cartilage oligomeric matrix protein (COMP) is a noncollagenous extracellular matrix protein found predominantly in cartilage, but also in tendon, ligament and meniscus. Studies in man have demonstrated that it may be used as a prognostic marker in rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis. The present study investigated whether tendon injury contributes to serum and tendon sheath synovial fluid levels of COMP in horses. COMP levels, analysed by competitive ELISA, in the digital sheath synovial fluid were more than 10-fold higher than in the serum. Levels were significantly raised when tendon dam...
Raphel CF, Beech J.Of 122 horses with pleural effusion, 90 (73.8%) had pleuritis secondary to pneumonia or lung abscessation. Fifty-one horses died or were euthanatized. The highest prevalence was in Thoroughbred and Standardbred racehorses. Eleven (12.2%) horses were postsurgical patients and 22 (24.4%) horses had been transported over 500 miles. There was no relationship between final outcome and the age, sex, breed, hematologic values, or laboratory findings pertaining to pleural fluid except for the bacterial isolation of Escherichia coli from the pleural fluid, as this was more frequently associated with de...
Dixon PM, Parkin TD, Collins N, Hawkes C, Townsend N, Tremaine WH, Fisher G, Ealey R, Barakzai SZ.There is limited objective information available on the treatment and the long-term response to treatment of the different types of equine sinus disease. Objective: To document the treatments and long-term response to these treatments in 200 cases of equine sinus disease (1997-2009). Methods: The treatments of horses affected with subacute primary sinusitis (n = 52); chronic primary sinusitis (n = 37); dental sinusitis (n = 40); sinus cyst (n = 26); traumatic (n = 13); dental-related oromaxillary fistula (n = 8); sinus neoplasia (n = 10); mycotic sinus disease (n = 7); and intrasinus progressi...
Peiffer RL, Wilcock BP, Yin H.Histologic examination was made of 1,419 globes from domestic animals (964 dogs, 374 cats, 41 horses, and 40 cattle) with ocular disease; pre-iridal membranes (rubeosis iridis) were found in 98. The membranes originated as endothelial budding from the anterior iridal stroma and seemed to mature into fibrous or fibrovascular membranes that were often followed by hyphema or, occasionally, glaucoma. Pre-existent disease in the 98 affected globes included chronic endophthalmitis (27/98), chronic glaucoma (24/98), anterior uveal melanoma (15/98), ciliary body adenoma (14/98), neoplasms metastatic t...
Ozubek S, Aktas M.Equine piroplasmosis (EP) is a protozoon disease caused by Babesia caballi and Theileria equi transmitted by ticks from the Ixodidae family. This study investigated the genetic heterogeneity and diversity of piroplasm genotypes using the Reverse Line Blotting (RLB) technique for piroplasm species in equids in Turkey. A total of 233 blood samples from 142 horses and 91 donkeys were collected in Şanlıurfa, Tunceli, and Iğdır. The RLB assay was performed for simultaneous detection of piroplasm species. The prevalence of piroplasm infection was 33.5% (95% CI; 27.4-39.9). T. equi was the most c...
Marenzoni ML, Bietta A, Lepri E, Casagrande Proietti P, Cordioli P, Canelli E, Stefanetti V, Coletti M, Timoney PJ, Passamonti F.Herpesviral infections frequently occur in horses. The objective of this study was to investigate the possible association of equine herpesviruses (EHV-1, EHV-2, EHV-3, EHV-4, EHV-5) with other causes of abortion, neonatal mortality or placental disorder. Sixty-seven abortions, 22 stillbirths, 14 cases of neonatal foal mortality and 3 cases of placental disease were investigated for infectious and non-infectious causes. Type-specific nested PCR assays and virus isolation were performed to detect EHV infections. A cause of fetal loss or placental disease was reached in 68 out 116 (58.7%) cases....
LaFrentz S, Abarca E, Mohammed HH, Cuming R, Arias CR.The equine conjunctival microbiota has often been reported to be dominated by Gram-positive species such as Staphylococcus sp., Bacillus sp., and Corynebacterium sp. However, traditional culture-based methods can only recover a fraction of the bacterial species present in the sample. Objective: This pilot study aimed at exploring the diversity of the equine conjunctival microbiota using culture-independent methods. Methods: Eight horses were included in this study, and only eyes with normal ophthalmic examination (n = 15 eyes) were sampled. Methods: Conjunctival biopsies (culture-independent...
Busoni V, Heimann M, Trenteseaux J, Snaps F, Dondelinger RF.We describe the abnormal magnetic resonance (MR) imaging findings in the deep digital flexor tendon (DDFT) and distal sesamoid bone in horses with radiographic changes compatible with navicular syndrome. Thirteen postmortem specimens were examined using a 1.5-T magnetic field, with spin echo (SE) T1-weighted, turbo SE (TSE) proton density-weighted (with and without fat saturation), and fat saturation TSE T2-weighted sequences. The limbs were then dissected to compare the MR findings with the gross assessment and histologic examination of the DDFT and distal sesamoid bones. Tendonous abnormalit...
Furr M, Cohen ND, Axon JE, Sanchez LC, Pantaleon L, Haggett E, Campbell R, Tennent-Brown B.The use of anti-ulcer medication in the neonatal intensive care unit (ICU) is common due to the concern for development of catastrophic gastric ulcerdisease. In man, however, the use of acid-suppressive medication has been shown in some studies to be a substantial riskfactorfor the development of Clostridium difficile-associated diarrhoea (CDAD), bacteraemia and neonatal sepsis. Objective: The purpose of the study reported herein is to evaluate the influence of anti-ulcer medications on the development of diarrhoea in the neonatalfoal. Objective: The use of anti-ulcer medication does not alter...
Art T, Kirschvink N, Smith N, Lekeux P.To test the hypothesis that reactive oxygen species could be associated to the lower airway disorders occurring in horses suffering from recurrent airway obstruction (RAO), indices of oxidative stress were studied in blood and pulmonary epithelium lining fluid in 5 RAO horses either in clinical remission or 24 h after the onset of a crisis of bronchospasm and in 5 healthy horses. Venous blood and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) samples were collected and analysed for reduced glutathione (GSH), oxidised glutathione (GSSG), total glutathione (TGSH), glutathione redox ratio (GRR) in blood hae...
Vinther AM, Heegaard PM, Skovgaard K, Buhl R, Andreassen SM, Andersen PH.Local inflammation may progress into systemic inflammation. To increase our understanding of the basic immunological processes during transition of equine local inflammation into a systemic state, investigation into the equine systemic immune response to local inflammation is warranted. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the innate peripheral blood leukocyte (PBL) immune response to local inflammation in horses, and to compare this response with the PBL immune response during the early phase of acute systemic inflammation. Expression of 22 selected inflammation-related genes w...
Powell SE, Ramzan PH, Head MJ, Shepherd MC, Baldwin GI, Steven WN.The proximal metacarpal region is a common site of origin of lameness in the performance horse. A number of disease entities are recognised as causes of proximal metacarpal lameness but a definitive diagnosis is often elusive. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is hypothesised to offer advantages over traditional imaging modalities in the investigation of proximal metacarpal pain. Objective: To describe clinical and imaging features of cases of lameness in racehorses arising from the proximal metacarpal region in which standing MRI identified 'bone marrow oedema-type' (BMO-type) signal patterns....
Fessler JF, Bottoms GD, Coppoc GL, Gimarc S, Latshaw HS, Noble JK.Endotoxin (LPS) was quantitated in experimental subjects and in horses with naturally occurring gastrointestinal strangulation obstruction and/or septicaemic diseases to establish the fate of LPS and the clinical usefulness of the Limulus amoebocyte lysate (LAL) assay. The assay was validated for sensitivity (10 pg/ml), recovery (90 to 106 per cent), intra-assay precision (CV = 5.5 per cent) inter-assay precision (CV = 11 per cent), and stability of diluted, heat treated, frozen samples (at least 90 days). Plasma concentrations of LPS after sublethal (3 micrograms/kg) jugular or portal vein bo...
Brosnahan MM, Brooks SA, Antczak DF.The objective of this review is to introduce equine clinicians to the rapidly evolving field of clinical genomics with a vision of improving the health and welfare of the domestic horse. For 15 years a consortium of veterinary geneticists and clinicians has worked together under the umbrella of The Horse Genome Project. This group, encompassing 22 laboratories in 12 countries, has made rapid progress, developing several iterations of linkage, physical and comparative gene maps of the horse with increasing levels of detail. In early 2006, the research was greatly facilitated when the US Nationa...
Berthoud H, Frey J, Kuhnert P.Actinobacillus equuli, a member of the family Pasteurellaceae is the etiologic agent of a frequently lethal septicemia in neonatal foals as well as other more chronic diseases like arthritis, pleuritis, pneumonia or peritonitis. It may also be isolated from the oral cavity of healthy horses. Hemolytic isolates of A. equuli are known but so far no virulence determinants have been described for this bacterial species. By screening hemolytic A. equuli strains with specific gene probes, a hemolysin, designated Aqx (A. equuli RTX (repeats in the structural toxin)) was identified. This hemolysin was...
McDowell KJ, Moore ES, Parks AG, Bush LP, Horohov DW, Lawrence LM.The hypotheses that endophyte (Neotyphodium coenophialum)-infected tall fescue (TF) seed causes vasoconstriction in horses in vivo and that ground seed would cause more pronounced vasoconstriction than whole seed were tested. Ten horses each received 1 of 3 treatments: endophyte-free ground (E-G; n = 4 horses) seed, endophyte-positive whole (E+W; n = 3) seed, or endophyte-positive ground (E+G; n = 3) seed. There were two 14-d periods, P1 and P2. During P1, animals were adapted to a concentrate (0.2% BW, as fed, twice daily) and alfalfa cubes. During P2, the seed was mixed into the concentrate ...
Duggan JM, Coates DM, Ulaeto DO.Venezuelan equine encephalomyelitis (VEE) virus is an important human and veterinary pathogen of Central and South America. The virus can cause widespread epidemics, affecting hundreds of thousands of horses, and thousands of humans. Detection of the virus early in infection and in mosquito populations may allow epidemics to be predicted such that suitable prophylaxis, such as vaccination, can be used to reduce disease severity and transmission. The sensitivity and specificity of current immunoassays, based on conventional monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies, needs to be improved for the diag...
Dixon PM, Parkin TD, Collins N, Hawkes C, Townsend N, Tremaine WH, Fisher G, Ealey R, Barakzai SZ.There is a lack of objective information on the value of ancillary diagnostic techniques used to investigate equine sinus disease, and also on which sinus compartments are commonly affected in this disorder. Objective: To record the ancillary diagnostic findings used to investigate equine sinus disease and to document which compartments are affected. Methods: The clinical case records of 200 consecutive cases of sinus disease, including subacute (2 months' duration) primary (n = 37); dental (n = 40); traumatic (n = 13); sinus cyst (n = 26); sinus neoplasia (n = 10); dental related oromaxillary...
Aktan I, Dunkel B, Cunningham FM.Activated platelets can contribute to host defense through release of products with bactericidal actions such as antimicrobial peptides and reactive oxygen species (ROS), as well as by forming heterotypic aggregates with neutrophils and enhancing their antimicrobial properties. Whilst release of vasoactive mediators from equine platelets in response to stimuli including bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) has been documented, neither ROS production, nor the effects of activated platelets on equine neutrophil ROS production, have been reported. This study first sought evidence that activated equ...
van de Lest CH, Brama PA, van El B, DeGroot J, van Weeren PR.Osteochondrosis (OC) is the most important developmental orthopaedic disease in the horse. Despite some decades of research, much of the pathogenesis of the disorder remains obscure. Increasing knowledge of articular cartilage development in juvenile animals led to the presumption that the role of collagen in OC might be more important than previously thought. To study collagen characteristics of both cartilage and subchondral bone in young (5 and 11 months of age) horses, samples were taken of subchondral bone and articular cartilage from a group of 43 Dutch Warmblood foals and yearlings that...
Parma AE, Santisteban CG, Villalba JS, Bowden RA.Horses inoculated with either equine cornea or killed Leptospira interrogans serovars pomona, tarassovi, icterohaemorrhagiae, wolffi and hardjo, developed corneal opacity and produced antibodies which made it possible to demonstrate partial antigenic identity between equine cornea and four of those serovars employed. These antibodies were isolated by means of immunoadsorptions, purified by ion-exchange chromatography (DEAE-Sephadex A-50) and run by immuno-electrophoresis in agar gel. Both antibodies, anti-equine cornea and anti-leptospira, showed that they corresponded to the IgGb subclass. Th...
