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.
Ricard RM, Wobeser B. is a reported cause of infertility and endometritis in sheep, cattle, and pigs; however, the association between uterine disease and is poorly understood in horses. Recently, a high prevalence of in equine aborted chorioallantoises was reported in horses in western Canada. Based on this high prevalence, investigation into the effects of on infertility and endometritis in western Canadian mares is prudent. We examined 98 formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded endometrial biopsies from western Canada submitted between 2014 and 2022 using a -specific 16S rRNA PCR test; 40 samples tested positive f...
Shoraba M, Shoulah SA, Arnaout F, Selim A.Surra caused by () is widely distributed and has significant impact on equine sector and international trades. However, there are no available data about the genetic characterization of this parasite in horses in Egypt. So, the goal of this study was to study the molecular characterization of in horses and determine the changes in hematological parameters and oxidative stress associated with infection. A total of 12 horses were examined using PCR targeting RoTat 1.2 VSG gene, and we evaluated the changes in hematological and oxidative stress between infected and healthy animals. The results...
Šenica P, Žele Vengušt D, Vengušt G, Kuhar U.Rotaviruses A (RVA) are a major cause of acute viral gastroenteritis in humans worldwide and are responsible for about two million hospitalizations per year. They can also infect other mammals such as pigs, calves, goats, lambs, and horses, in which they are also considered a major cause of viral diarrhea. While RVA is well studied in humans and domestic animals, its occurrence in wild ruminants is not well known. The RVA genome is a double-stranded RNA consisting of 11 segments, and genotyping is based on the VP7 (G) and VP4 (P) segments. Currently, there are 42G genotypes and 58P genotypes. ...
Mendoza FJ, Pérez-Écija A, Kappmeyer LS, Suarez CE, Bastos RG.Equine piroplasmosis (EP) is a global tick-borne disease of equids caused by the intraerythrocytic apicomplexan parasites and , and the more recently discovered . These parasites can be transmitted by several tick species, including , , and , but iatrogenic and vertical transmission are also common. Clinical signs of EP include poor performance, fever, icterus, abortions, among others, and peracute or acute forms of infection are associated with high mortality in non-endemic areas. EP is a reportable disease and represents an important barrier for the international trade of horses and other e...
Zhong D, Zheng J, Ma Z, Wang Y, Wei J.The prevalence and impact of Getah virus (GETV) are significant concerns in China. GETV can infect a wide range of animals, including horses, pigs, sheep, cattle, birds, and humans, resulting in substantial losses in the livestock and agricultural industries. GETV infection can cause the development of ulcers and inflammation in the mouth and gums of horses, which result in pain and discomfort and lead to symptoms such as reduced appetite, drooling, and difficulty chewing. As a result, there is a pressing need for efficient and rapid disease diagnosis methods. However, the currently available ...
Tan Yi Shean L, Milne EM, Shaw DJ, Maxwell S, Del-Pozo J.Lipofuscin is a complex mixture of highly oxidized, cross-linked macromolecules that accumulates in neurons with age and some neurodegenerative diseases. Equine dysautonomia (ED) is a polyneuropathy that mainly affects autonomic and enteric nervous systems, resulting in alimentary tract dysfunction. Our main aim was to determine whether neuronal lipofuscin increased with increasing duration of ED. We investigated the prevalence of lipofuscin in cranial cervical ganglia of horses with acute (AED), subacute (SED), and chronic ED (CED), young controls (of similar age to ED cases), and aged contro...
Bermukhametov Z, Suleimanova K, Tomaruk O, Baimenov B, Shevchenko P, Batyrbekov A, Mikniene Z, Onur Girişgin A, Rychshanova R.A total of 396 samples were taken from the hearts, oesophagi, and diaphragms of 132 horses slaughtered at slaughterhouses in 2023 for subsequent examination. Methods: The histological method revealed pathomorphological changes in the muscle tissue. The molecular method identified the pathogen species. Results: Histological examination revealed thick-walled cysts with internal septa and numerous bradyzoites, and mononuclear inflammatory cells with pericyst infiltrates. Microcyst samples were amplified by polymerase chain reaction. Molecular genetic analysis allowed for the identification of 18 ...
Leite RO, Albertino LG, Sperandio LMS, Campos F, Campos R, Borges AS, Oliveira-Filho JP.Exercise-induced pulmonary haemorrhage (EIPH) in athletic horses is characterized by the presence of blood from the lungs in the tracheobronchial tree after intense exercise. Despite the high prevalence of EIPH in horses, the primary aetiology remains unknown. Variants in the genes encoding CD39 and CD39L1 (ENTPD1 and ENTPD2, respectively) were previously reported as potential genetic causes involved in EIPH pathogenesis. However, the role of these variants in haemostatic functions is unknown. Results: To investigate the association between EIPH and missense variants in the ENTPD1 (rs115229627...
Woo PCY, Mheiri FA, Cavalleri J, Joseph S, Tang JYM, Joseph M, Tsang CC, Lau SKP, Wernery U.Epizootic lymphangitis (EL) is a highly prevalent and contagious infectious disease affecting horses in many parts of Ethiopia caused by Histoplasma capsulatum sensu lato ('var. farciminosum'). In this study, 12 suspected isolates of H. capsulatum sensu lato or yeasts unidentified by conventional biochemical tests isolated from Ethiopian horses with EL were characterised by ITS sequencing. Six of the 12 isolates were identified to be members of H. capsulatum sensu lato and the other six were Pichia kudriavzevii (synonym: Candida krusei) (n = 3), Trichosporon asahii (n = 1), Geotrichum silv...
Hobbs KJ, Cooper BL, Dembek K, Sheats MK.Cell-free DNA (cfDNA) is fragmented extracellular DNA that is released from cells into various body fluids. Previously published data from adult horses supports cfDNA as a potential disease biomarker, but also shows that direct measurement in plasma is inaccurate due to matrix effect. It is currently unknown whether a similar matrix effect exists in foal plasma. Given this, the objectives of the current study were to investigate foal plasma for potential matrix effect during fluorescence measurement of cfDNA using a Qubit fluorometer, and to determine whether neat and/or extracted plasma cfDNA...
Korim F, Revajová V, Koľvek F, Bujňák L, Hreus S, Všianský D.The parotid duct has been reported to be the most common site of sialoliths in horses. In this case report, we described the first confirmed case of the equine sialolithiasis in Slovakia. The work was aimed to describe the transcutaneous approach to removing the sialolith, which manifested as a hard painless mass in the area of the maxillary cheek teeth, in a 14-year-old Slovakian warmblood mare. Pathological-anatomical and histological examination after extirpation confirmed the presence of parotid duct ectasia resulting from calculus. The mineral composition of the sialolith was determined w...
Lacante SA, Jiang C, Mustamir AA, Mizuno T, Bi X, Syafruddin D, Tokoro M., a human intestinal protozoan parasite of the diplomonad group, has been overlooked because of its commensal features; therefore, molecular studies on this parasite are limited. To address this gap, we designed a molecular screening protocol using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and DNA sequencing targeting the 18S small subunit ribosomal RNA gene and applied this screening method to the molecular epidemiological analysis of spp. in humans and various livestock. We validated our methodology using stool samples collected from 215 humans and 270 animal hosts (buffaloes, pigs, dogs, goats, hors...
Peat FJ, Kawcak CE, McIlwraith CW, Berk JT, Keenan DP.Changes in the proximal sesamoid bones (sesamoids) and the insertional region of the adjacent suspensory ligament branch (branch) are of particular importance in young Thoroughbreds sold at public auction. Little is known about the prevalence of concurrent ultrasonographical branch change, relative to the various grades of radiological sesamoid appearance. Objective: To examine the existence of concurrent radiological and ultrasonographical findings in individual sesamoid-branch units in sales horses; to determine whether there are any radiological findings that are consistently accompanied by...
Winther MF, Johnsson J, Madsen PK, Pihl TH, Paltrinieri S, Cerón JJ, Scavone D, Pardo-Marin L, Jacobsen S.Paraoxonase-1 (PON-1) has been suggested as a marker of inflammation and oxidative stress in horses and could potentially be used for prognostication in horses with colitis. Objective: Assessment of PON-1 in horses with colitis and comparison of two methods. Methods: Serum PON-1 was measured by two methods (paraoxon and p-nitrophenyl acetate) in 161 horses with colitis and 57 controls. Follow-up samples obtained during hospitalization were available from 106 horses with colitis. The two methods were compared. Results: Serum PON-1 was significantly lower in horses with colitis than in healthy h...
Marques CDP, da Silva BWS, Nogueira YVS, Bezerra TL, Borges-Silva W, Soares RM, Gondim LFP.Sarcocystis bertrami (synonym: Sarcocystis fayeri) is a coccidian parasite that infects horses and donkeys in several countries. Dogs are known as definitive hosts of the parasite, however, the patent period is not well defined, and S. bertrami shed by dogs has never been confirmed by molecular methods. Here we investigated the shedding of S. bertrami by experimentally infected dogs and examined the excreted parasites by morphological and molecular tools. Three dogs of small breeds (one Yorkshire terrier and two miniature Pinschers) were acquired with ages of 30 and 60 days and were exclusivel...
Tau RL, Marandino AE, Panzera Y, Alamos F, Vissani MA, Romera SA, Pérez R, Maidana SS.The Equid alphaherpesvirus type 1 (EHV-1) infection can have devastating economic consequences in the horse industry due to large-scale outbreaks of abortions, perinatal foal mortality, and myeloencephalopathy. The present study analyzed the genome of two isolates obtained from aborted fetuses in Argentina, E/745/99 and E/1297/07. The E745/99 genome shares 98.2% sequence identity with Ab4, a reference EHV-1 strain. The E/1297/07 genome shares 99.8% identity with NY03, a recombinant strain containing part of ORF64 and part of the intergenic region from Equid alphaherpesvirus-4 (EHV-4). The E/12...
Pickles KJ, Marlin DJ, Williams JM, Roberts VLH.Equine trigeminal-mediated (TGM) headshaking (HS) is a neuropathic facial pain syndrome characterised by varying intensity and frequencies of head movements and signs of nasal irritation. An accurate method for quantification and/or characterisation of HS severity is lacking. Objective: To develop and validate an objective measure of TGMHS. Methods: Prospective case control study. Methods: Horses presenting for investigation of HS were recruited alongside those presenting for forelimb lameness (LAME) and pre-purchase examination as well as healthy controls (CONTROL). Head movement data were co...
Cho PW, Park SA, Sledge D, Gruenwald R, Townsend WM.The aim of this report was to provide a clinical description and clinical, ultrasonographic, and histologic images of a foal with microphthalmia and multiple ocular abnormalities. Methods: A 12-h old Friesian-American Paint Horse crossbred filly presented for blindness, microphthalmia and marked ventral strabismus in both eyes. Methods: A complete ophthalmic examination was performed. Ultrasound biomicroscopy and B-mode ultrasonography were performed. The globes were submitted for histopathology. Results: Ultrasound biomicroscopy demonstrated a hyperechoic cornea void of the typical epithelium...
Hallowell KL, Hepworth-Warren KL, Dembek K.Available descriptive studies on equine pneumonia are outdated or focus on specific horse or bacterial populations. Objective: To describe the clinical presentation and bacterial isolates of adult horses with bacterial pneumonia and identify factors associated with death. Methods: One hundred sixteen horses >2 years old with bacterial pneumonia. Methods: Retrospective case series. Data regarding history, physical examination, clinicopathologic features, treatment, bacterial culture and sensitivity, and outcome were collected and analyzed retrospectively. Results: Historical risk factors w...
Kuwano A, Ueno T, Katsurashima Y, Tateno O, Saitoh S.From summer 2018 to summer 2019, several Thoroughbred racehorses held at the Miho Training Centre of the Japan Racing Association inadvertently ingested excessive amounts of sodium selenite, resulting in typical chronic selenium (Se) poisoning - the so-called alkali disease. The typical abnormality was a hoof wall disorder with a circumferentially deep ring and/or transverse hoof wall cracks parallel to the coronet on all feet and appearing after excessive ingestion. One affected Thoroughbred male was unique in that all the hooves had a rough surface with a very fragile hoof wall, but no wall ...
Jebbawi F, Chemnitzer A, Dietrich M, Pantelyushin S, Lam J, Rhiner T, Keller G, Waldern N, Canonica F, Fettelschoss-Gabriel A.Insect bite hypersensitivity (IBH) is the most frequent skin allergy of horses and is highly debilitating, especially in the chronic phase. IBH is caused by IgE-mediated hypersensitivity reactions to culicoides midge bites and an imbalanced immune response that reduces the welfare of affected horses. Unassigned: In the present study, we investigated the pathological mechanisms of IBH, aiming to understand the immune cell modulation in acute allergic skin lesions of IBH horses with the goal of finding possible biomarkers for a diagnostic approach to monitor treatment success. Unassigned: By qPC...
Bernick A, Demattio LS, Wehrend A.Uroperitoneum is a typical disease of the newborn foal, which occurs rarely but regularly. Ultrasonography is considered the most important imaging method for diagnosing this disease. Thus far, only one older case series comprising 31 foals suffering from uroperitoneum has systematically listed results of ultrasound examinations. Objective: This paper presents the findings of an ultrasonographic examination of 34 foals with uroperitoneum in order to inform future interpretation of ultrasonographic data in suspected uroperitoneum cases. Methods: Ultrasonographic data of 34 neonatal foals up to ...
Schramm A, Ackermann M, Eichwald C, Aguilar C, Fraefel C, Lechmann J.Equid alphaherpesviruses 1 (EHV-1) and 4 (EHV-4) are closely related and both endemic in horses worldwide. Both viruses replicate in the upper respiratory tract, but EHV-1 may additionally lead to abortion and equine herpesvirus myeloencephalopathy (EHM). We focused on antibody responses in horses against the receptor-binding glycoprotein D of EHV-1 (gD1), which shares a 77% amino acid identity with its counterpart in EHV-4 (gD4). Both antigens give rise to cross-reacting antibodies, including neutralizing antibodies. However, immunity against EHV-4 is not considered protective against EHM. Wh...
Ewelina SG, Anna Z, Rafał P, Maciej W.Sarcoids are the most frequently diagnosed dermatological tumour in horses. It is a disease that can affect various species of equids, such as donkeys, mules and zebras. This type of tumour can develop in all horse breeds, regardless of age and gender. Treatment options depend on many factors, such as the type of lesion, location, extent, owner preference and financial considerations. In the present study, we investigated the TRIM29 expression, the methylation status of its first exon and its involvement in the formation of equine sarcoids. Bisulfite sequencing PCR (BSP) was used to determine ...
Bishop RC, Graham SM, Connolly SL, Wilkins PA, McCoy AM.To optimize and evaluate methods for the detection of the inflammatory biomarkers myeloperoxidase (MPO) and calprotectin (CP) in equine feces by ELISA. Methods: Healthy horses (n = 28) and horses with intestinal inflammation (n = 10). Methods: Feces were suspended in buffer to create fecal supernatant. Serum and fecal supernatant were analyzed using ELISA kits validated for the detection of MPO and CP in equine serum. Assay validation steps included intra- and interassay variability (coefficient of variation [CV]), dilution linearity, spike recovery, and sample type correlation. Variations in ...
Kuhlmann C, Scheidemann W, Bachmann M, Schusser GF.The brainstem auditory evoked response (BAER) is a diagnostic approach to examine the hearing system of horses objectively. The aim of this BAER examination was the diagnosis of conductive or sensorineural hearing loss or deafness in horses with external otitis, head trauma, headshaking, tinnitus or skittish horses with eye disease. Brainstem dysfunction is induced by intracranial hypotension. BAER was used in horses with colic surgery which had a low arterial blood pressure during general anesthesia. The endoscopic finding of the guttural pouch was the ipsilateral mild to severe hypertrophy o...
Khan A, Olajide E, Friedrich M, Holt A, Goehring LS.Equid alphaherpesvirus 1 (EHV-1) is a highly contagious respiratory tract pathogen of horses, and infection may be followed by myeloencephalopathy or abortion. Surveillance and early detection have focused on PCR assays using less tolerated nasal swabs. Here, we assess non-invasive non-contact sampling techniques as surveillance tools in naturally equid gammaherpesvirus 2-shedding horses as surrogates for EHV-1. Horses were individually housed for 10 h periods on 2 consecutive days. Sampling included nasal swabs, nostril wipes, environmental swabs, droplet-catching devices, and air sampling. T...
Lindsay-McGee V, Massey C, Li YT, Clark EL, Psifidi A, Piercy RJ.Equine exercise-associated myopathies are prevalent, clinically heterogeneous, generally idiopathic disorders characterised by episodes of myofibre damage that occur in association with exercise. Episodes are intermittent and vary within and between affected horses and across breeds. The aetiopathogenesis is often unclear; there might be multiple causes. Poor phenotypic characterisation hinders genetic and other disease analyses. Objective: The aim of this study was to characterise phenotypic patterns across exercise-associated myopathies in horses. Methods: Historical cross-sectional study, w...
Ramadan RM, Taha NM, Auda HM, Elsamman EM, El-Bahy MM, Salem MA.Equine piroplasmosis is not fully understood regarding pathogenicity, prophylaxis, host immune response expression, and specific vectors. Accurately identifying the parasite vector is crucial for developing an effective control plan for a particular infection. This study focused on morphologically identifying two Hyalomma species (H. anatolicum and H. marginatum) and one Rhipicephalus annulatus (R. annulatus) at the species level. The identification process was followed by phylogenetic analysis using the neighbor-joining method based on the cytochrome oxidase subunit 1 (COXI) gene as a specifi...
Pereira LO, DE Souza AF, Spagnolo JD, Yamada ALM, Salgado DMRA, DE Zoppa ALDV.Osteoarthritis (OA) is a prevalent condition in horses, leading to changes in trabecular bone structure and radiographic texture. Although fractal dimension (FD) and lacunarity have been applied to quantify these changes in humans, their application in horses remains nascent. This study evaluated the use of FD, bone area fraction (BA/TA), and lacunarity in quantifying trabecular bone differences in the proximal phalanx (P1) in 50 radiographic examinations of equine metacarpophalangeal joints with varying OA degrees. In the dorsopalmar view, regions of interest were defined in the trabecular bo...
Weishaupt MA, Wiestner T, Hogg HP, Jordan P, Auer JA.The study was performed to obtain a detailed insight into the load and time shifting mechanisms of horses with unilateral weight-bearing forelimb lameness. Reversible lameness was induced in 11 clinically sound horses by applying a solar pressure model. Three degrees of lameness (subtle, mild and moderate) were induced and compared with sound control measurements. Vertical ground reaction force-time histories of all four limbs were recorded simultaneously on an instrumented treadmill. Four compensatory mechanisms could be identified that served to reduce structural stress, i.e. peak vertical f...
Laus F, Veronesi F, Passamonti F, Paggi E, Cerquetella M, Hyatt D, Tesei B, Fioretti DP.In order to investigate the prevalence of tick-borne diseases, equine piroplasmosis, equine granulocytic anaplasmosis and Lyme borreliosis in Central Italy, blood samples from 300 horses were analyzed for the presence of antibodies against Babesia caballi, Theileria equi, Anaplasma phagocytophilum and Borrelia burgdorferi using the IFAT. The blood samples were also subjected to PCR assays in order to detect pathogen DNA. A total of 78 (26.0%) and 123 (41.0%) horses were found to be seropositive for B. caballi and T. equi, respectively, while 41 (13. 4%) and 21 (7.0%) horses were, respectively,...
Fettelschoss-Gabriel A, Fettelschoss V, Thoms F, Giese C, Daniel M, Olomski F, Kamarachev J, Birkmann K, Bühler M, Kummer M, Zeltins A, Marti E....Insect-bite hypersensitivity is the most common allergic dermatitis in horses. Excoriated skin lesions are typical symptoms of this seasonal and refractory chronic disease. On a cellular level, the skin lesions are characterized by massive eosinophil infiltration caused by an underlying allergic response. To target these cells and treat disease, we developed a therapeutic vaccine against equine IL-5 (eIL-5), the master regulator of eosinophils. The vaccine consisted of eIL-5 covalently linked to a virus-like particle derived from cucumber mosaic virus containing the tetanus toxoid universal T-...
Bogaert L, Van Poucke M, De Baere C, Peelman L, Gasthuys F, Martens A.Real-time quantitative PCR can be a very powerful and accurate technique to examine gene transcription patterns in different biological conditions. One of the critical steps in comparing transcription profiles is accurate normalisation. In most of the studies published on real-time PCR in horses, normalisation occurred against only one reference gene, usually GAPDH or ACTB, without validation of its expression stability. This might result in unreliable conclusions, because it has been demonstrated that the expression levels of so called "housekeeping genes" may vary considerably in different t...
Hammarberg M, Egenvall A, Pfau T, Rhodin M.Lungeing is an important part of lameness examinations as the circular path may accentuate low-grade lameness. Movement asymmetries related to the circular path, to compensatory movements and to pain make the lameness evaluation complex. Scientific studies have shown high inter-rater variation when assessing lameness during straight line movement. Objective: The aim was to estimate inter- and intra-rater agreement of equine veterinarians evaluating lameness from videos of sound and lame horses during lungeing and to investigate the influence of veterinarians' experience and the objective degre...
Greay TL, Zahedi A, Krige AS, Owens JM, Rees RL, Ryan UM, Oskam CL, Irwin PJ.Apicomplexan tick-borne pathogens that cause disease in companion animals include species of Babesia Starcovici, 1893, Cytauxzoon Neitz & Thomas, 1948, Hepatozoon Miller, 1908 and Theileria Bettencourt, Franca & Borges, 1907. The only apicomplexan tick-borne disease of companion animals that is known to occur in Australia is babesiosis, caused by Babesia canis vogeli Reichenow, 1937 and Babesia gibsoni Patton, 1910. However, no molecular investigations have widely investigated members of Apicomplexa Levine, 1980 in Australian ticks that parasitise dogs, cats or horses, until this present inves...
Ireland JL, Clegg PD, McGowan CM, McKane SA, Chandler KJ, Pinchbeck GL.Previous studies suggest that owners underestimate or incorrectly recognise or report health problems in geriatric horses. However, few studies have directly compared owner-reported and veterinary assessed disease. Objective: To compare the findings of veterinary clinical examination of geriatric horses with owner-reported clinical signs and disease. Methods: A total of 200 horses aged ≥ 15 years were randomly selected to receive a veterinary examination, from responses to a cross-sectional postal questionnaire survey. Veterinary examinations were performed within 2 months of questionnaire r...
Hardeman AM, Serra Bragança FM, Swagemakers JH, van Weeren PR, Roepstorff L.Objective lameness assessment is gaining more importance in a clinical setting, necessitating availability of reference values. Objective: To investigate the between -path, -trial and -day variation, between and within horses, in the locomotion symmetry of horses in regular use that are perceived sound. Methods: Observational study with replicated measurement sessions. Methods: Twelve owner-sound horses were trotted on the straight line and on the lunge. Kinematic data were collected from these horses using 3D optical motion capture. Examinations were repeated on 12 occasions over the study wh...
Fukunaga Y, Kumanomido T, Kamada M.Getah virus is a member of the genus Alphavirus in the family Togaviridae and has been frequently isolated from mosquitoes. Seroepizootiologic studies indicate that the virus is mosquito-borne and widespread, ranging from Eurasia to southeast and far eastern Asia, the Pacific islands, and Australasia. The natural host animal of the virus was not known until the first recognized occurrence of Getah virus infection among racehorses in two training centers in Japan in 1978. Outbreaks of clinical disease due to Getah virus infection occur infrequently, and only one outbreak has been reported outsi...
Kelly C, Bugg M, Robinson C, Mitchell Z, Davis-Poynter N, Newton JR, Jolley KA, Maiden MC, Waller AS.Improved understanding of the epidemiology of Streptococcus equi transmission requires sensitive and portable subtyping methods that can rationally discriminate between strains. S. equi is highly homogeneous and cannot be distinguished by multilocus enzyme electrophoretic or multilocus sequence-typing methods that utilize housekeeping genes. However, on sequence analysis of the N-terminal region of the SeM genes of 60 S. equi isolates from 27 strangles outbreaks, we identified 21 DNA codon changes. These resulted in the nonsynonymous substitution of 18 amino acids and allowed the assignment of...
Morgan R, Keen J, McGowan C.Laminitis is one of the most common and frustrating clinical presentations in equine practice. While the principles of treatment for laminitis have not changed for several decades, there have been some important paradigm shifts in our understanding of laminitis. Most importantly, it is essential to consider laminitis as a clinical sign of disease and not as a disease in its own right. Once this shift in thinking has occurred, it is logical to then question what disease caused the laminitis. More than 90 per cent of horses presented with laminitis as their primary clinical sign will have develo...
Pirie RS, Collie DD, Dixon PM, McGorum BC.Equine heaves is a naturally occurring organic dust-induced asthma characterized by airway neutrophilia, mucus hypersecretion and obstructive lung dysfunction. However, the relative role of different dust components in disease severity remains unclear. Objective: This study investigated the relative contribution of inhaled endotoxin and organic dust particulates (mainly mould spores) in inducing heaves in heaves-susceptible horses. Methods: Control and heaves-susceptible horses received inhalation challenges with hay dust suspension (HDS) before and after lipopolysaccharide (LPS) depletion. He...
Maddox TW, Clegg PD, Diggle PJ, Wedley AL, Dawson S, Pinchbeck GL, Williams NJ.The increasing prevalence of antimicrobial-resistant bacteria such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and antimicrobial-resistant Escherichia coli represents a significant problem. However, the carriage of such bacteria by horses in the UK has not been well characterised. Objective: To estimate the prevalence of nasal carriage of MRSA and faecal carriage of antimicrobial-resistant E. coli amongst horses in the general equine community of the mainland UK. Methods: A cross-sectional study of horses recruited by 65 randomly selected equine veterinary practices was conducted, wi...
Wang LF, Michalski WP, Yu M, Pritchard LI, Crameri G, Shiell B, Eaton BT.In 1994, a new member of the family Paramyxoviridae isolated from fatal cases of respiratory disease in horses and humans was shown to be distantly related to morbilliviruses and provisionally called equine morbillivirus (K. Murray et al., Science 268:94-97, 1995). To facilitate characterization and classification, the virus was purified, viral proteins were identified, and the P/V/C gene was cloned and sequenced. The coding strategy of the gene is similar to that of Sendai and measles viruses, members of the Paramyxovirus and Morbillivirus genera, respectively, in the subfamily Paramyxovirina...
Moretti A, Mangili V, Salvatori R, Maresca C, Scoccia E, Torina A, Moretta I, Gabrielli S, Tampieri MP, Pietrobelli M.Babesia caballi and Theileria equi are the causative agents of equine piroplasmosis. In this preliminary epidemiological study, 412 horses reared in central and northern Italy were sampled and three diagnostic methods compared, namely, the microscopy, the indirect fluorescent antibody test (IFAT) and a PCR. Possible risk factors (such as area, season, breed, activity, sex, age, and grazing) associated with serological positivity were evaluated. A seroprevalence of 68.4% was found: 12.4% of the animals had anti-T. equi antibodies, 17.9% anti-B. caballi antibodies and 38.1% had antibodies agains...
Lyons S, Kapoor A, Schneider BS, Wolfe ND, Culshaw G, Corcoran B, Durham AE, Burden F, McGorum BC, Simmonds P.Non-primate hepacivirus (NPHV), equine pegivirus (EPgV) and Theiler's disease associated virus (TDAV) are newly discovered members of two genera in the Flaviviridae family, Hepacivirus and Pegivirus respectively, that include human hepatitis C virus (HCV) and human pegivirus (HPgV). To investigate their epidemiology, persistence and clinical features of infection, large cohorts of horses and other mammalian species were screened for NPHV, EPgV and TDAV viraemia and for past exposure through serological assays for NPHV and EPgV-specific antibodies. NPHV antibodies were detected in 43% of 328 ho...
Harris SR, Robinson C, Steward KF, Webb KS, Paillot R, Parkhill J, Holden MT, Waller AS.Strangles, the most frequently diagnosed infectious disease of horses worldwide, is caused by Streptococcus equi. Despite its prevalence, the global diversity and mechanisms underlying the evolution of S. equi as a host-restricted pathogen remain poorly understood. Here, we define the global population structure of this important pathogen and reveal a population replacement in the late 19th or early 20th Century. Our data reveal a dynamic genome that continues to mutate and decay, but also to amplify and acquire genes despite the organism having lost its natural competence and become host-rest...
Breton A, Sharma R, Diaz AC, Parham AG, Graham A, Neil C, Whitelaw CB, Milne E, Donadeu FX.Pluripotent stem cells offer unprecedented potential not only for human medicine but also for veterinary medicine, particularly in relation to the horse. Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) are particularly promising, as they are functionally similar to embryonic stem cells and can be generated in vitro in a patient-specific manner. In this study, we report the generation of equine iPSCs from skin fibroblasts obtained from a foal and reprogrammed using viral vectors coding for murine Oct4, Sox2, c-Myc, and Klf4 sequences. The reprogrammed cell lines were morphologically similar to iPSCs rep...
Valberg SJ, Sponseller BT, Hegeman AD, Earing J, Bender JB, Martinson KL, Patterson SE, Sweetman L.We hypothesised that seasonal pasture myopathy (SPM), which closely resembles atypical myopathy (AM), was caused by ingestion of a seed-bearing plant abundant in autumn pastures. Objective: To identify a common seed-bearing plant among autumn pastures of horses with SPM, and to determine whether the toxic amino acid hypoglycin A was present in the seeds and whether hypoglycin metabolites were present in SPM horse serum or urine. Methods: Twelve SPM cases, 11 SPM pastures and 23 control farms were visited to identify a plant common to all SPM farms in autumn. A common seed was analysed for amin...
Rizk MA, El-Sayed SA, Terkawi MA, Youssef MA, El Said el Sel S, Elsayed G, El-Khodery S, El-Ashker M, Elsify A, Omar M, Salama A, Yokoyama N....A rapid and accurate assay for evaluating antibabesial drugs on a large scale is required for the discovery of novel chemotherapeutic agents against Babesia parasites. In the current study, we evaluated the usefulness of a fluorescence-based assay for determining the efficacies of antibabesial compounds against bovine and equine hemoparasites in in vitro cultures. Three different hematocrits (HCTs; 2.5%, 5%, and 10%) were used without daily replacement of the medium. The results of a high-throughput screening assay revealed that the best HCT was 2.5% for bovine Babesia parasites and 5% for equ...
Smith KC, Blunden AS, Whitwell KE, Dunn KA, Wales AD.A detailed review of laboratory records for equine abortion is fundamental in establishing current disease trends and suggesting problems important for further research. Objective: To review the causes of abortion and neonatal death in equine diagnostic submissions to the Animal Health Trust over a 10 year period. Methods: The diagnoses in 1252 equine fetuses and neonatal foals were reviewed and analysed into categories. Results: Problems associated with the umbilical cord, comprising umbilical cord torsion and the long cord/cervical pole ischaemia disorder, were the most common diagnoses (38....
Bagcigil FA, Moodley A, Baptiste KE, Jensen VF, Guardabassi L.beta-Lactams and macrolides are important antibiotics for treatment of staphylococcal infections in both humans and animals. The aim of the study was to investigate the occurrence, species distribution and clonality of methicillin- and erythromycin-resistant staphylococci in the nasal cavity of dogs, horses, pigs, and cattle in Denmark. Nasal swabs were collected from a total of 400 animals, including 100 individuals of each species. Methicillin- and erythromycin-resistant staphylococci were isolated on selective media, identified by 16S rDNA sequencing, and typed by pulsed field gel electroph...
Jacobsen S, Niewold TA, Halling-Thomsen M, Nanni S, Olsen E, Lindegaard C, Andersen PH.The aim of the study was to determine the intraarticular serum amyloid A (SAA) response pattern in horses with inflammatory arthritis. Inflammatory arthritis was induced by injection of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) into the radiocarpal joint of four horses. Serum and synovial fluid (SF) samples were collected before and at 4, 8, 12, 24, 48, 72, 96, and 144 h after injection. Concentrations of SAA were measured by immunoturbidometry, and expression of SAA isoforms was visualized by denaturing isoelectric focusing and Western blotting. The LPS injection caused systemic and local clinical signs of in...
Bell RP, Reed SK, Schoonover MJ, Whitfield CT, Yonezawa Y, Maki H, Pai PF, Keegan KG.To investigate associations between inertial sensor and stationary force plate measurements of hind limb lameness in horses. Methods: 21 adult horses with no lameness or with mild hind limb lameness. Methods: Horses were instrumented with inertial sensors and evaluated for lameness with a stationary force plate while trotting in a straight line. Inertial sensor-derived measurements of maximum and minimum pelvic height differences between right and left halves of the stride were compared with vertical and horizontal ground reaction forces (GRFs). Stepwise linear regression was performed to inve...
Young SS, Taylor PM.Patient data, physiological variables and recovery quality were extracted from 1,314 records of equine anaesthetics covering a 7-year period and analysed retrospectively. Better recovery quality was significantly associated with shorter duration of anaesthesia, longer recovery times, less invasive surgery, a lower pulse rate at induction and higher pulse and respiratory rates during anaesthesia. Nineteen animals suffered serious anaesthetic-related problems (1.4% incidence) and 9 died (0.68% incidence). Clinical treatment of hypotension during anaesthesia significantly reduced the hypotensive ...
Knowles DP, Kappmeyer LS, Stiller D, Hennager SG, Perryman LE.Horses infected with Babesia equi were previously identified by the presence of antibodies reactive with a merozoite surface protein epitope (D. P. Knowles, Jr., L. E. Perryman, L. S. Kappmeyer, and S. G. Hennager. J. Clin. Microbiol. 29:2056-2058, 1991). The antibodies were detected in a competitive inhibition enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (CI ELISA) by using monoclonal antibody 36/133.97, which defines a protein epitope on the merozoite surface. The gene encoding this B. equi merozoite epitope was cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli. The recombinant merozoite protein, designated equ...
Reed SM, Toribio RE.Equine herpesvirus infections in horses remain a significant cause of abortion and neurologic disease. These viruses are also responsible for mild signs of respiratory disease. The ability to establish latent infections with periodic reactivation or transmission to other horses is an important feature of these herpesviruses. One of the most unique aspects of this report is the description of horses demonstrating neurologic signs serving as the source of infection for other horses. Accurate diagnosis and better means of protection for horses remain problems facing veterinarians and horse owners...
Amtmann E, Müller H, Sauer G.Bovine papilloma virus (BPV) appears to be the etiological agent of common equine connective tissue tumors. We investigated the physical state of the viral DNA within such tumors and found no indication for integration into the host genome. The BPV genomes were present as free circular episomes. Two equine sarcoids were shown to contain multiple copies of free circular BPV type 1 (BPV-1) DNA. When the tumors were digested with several single-cut restriction enzymes, there were only form III BPV-1 DNA sequences could be revealed. One of the sarcoids contained, apart from wild-type BPV-1 DNA, a ...
Keegan KG.Kinematic and kinetic gait analysis potentially offers veterinarians an objective method of determining equine limb lameness. Subjective analyses have been shown to be somewhat flawed, and there does not seem to be a high degree of intraobserver agreement when evaluating individual horses. In addition, recognition of the compensatory effects of primary lameness may be helpful for the practicing equine veterinarian.
