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.
Nemoto M, Oue Y, Morita Y, Kanno T, Kinoshita Y, Niwa H, Ueno T, Katayama Y, Bannai H, Tsujimura K, Yamanaka T, Kondo T.Recently, outbreaks associated with equine coronavirus (ECoV) have occurred in Japan and the United States. While ECoV is likely to be pathogenic to horses, it has not been shown that experimental inoculation of horses with ECoV produces clinical signs of disease. In this study, we inoculated three Japanese draft horses with an ECoV-positive diarrheic fecal sample to confirm infection after inoculation and to investigate the clinical course and virus shedding patterns of ECoV. Virus neutralization tests showed that all three horses became infected with ECoV. Two of the three horses developed c...
Leise BS, Watts MR, Roy S, Yilmaz AS, Alder H, Belknap JK.Dysadhesion of laminar basal epithelial cells (LBECs) from the underlying dermis is the central event leading to structural failure in equine laminitis. Although many studies of sepsis-related laminitis have reported multiple events occurring throughout the lamellar tissue, there is minimal information regarding signalling events occurring specifically in LBECs. Objective: To determine signalling events in the LBECs during the early stages of carbohydrate-induced laminitis. Methods: Experimental study. Methods: Eight horses were given an overload of carbohydrate (CHO) consisting of corn starch...
Manso-Díaz G, Dyson SJ, Dennis R, García-López JM, Biggi M, García-Real MI, San Román F, Taeymans O.The equine head is an anatomically complex area, therefore advanced tomographic imaging techniques, such as computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), are often required for diagnosis and treatment planning. The purpose of this multicenter retrospective study was to describe MRI characteristics for a large sample of horses with head disorders. Horses imaged over a period of 13 years were recruited. Eighty-four horses met the inclusion criteria, having neurological (n = 65), sinonasal (n = 14), and soft tissue (n = 5) disorders. Magnetic resonance imaging accurately depicted the a...
Shinwari MW, Annand EJ, Driver L, Warrilow D, Harrower B, Allcock RJ, Pukallus D, Harper J, Bingham J, Kung N, Diallo IS.In May 2013, the first cases of Australian bat lyssavirus infections in domestic animals were identified in Australia. Two horses (filly-H1 and gelding-H2) were infected with the Yellow-bellied sheathtail bat (YBST) variant of Australian bat lyssavirus (ABLV). The horses presented with neurological signs, pyrexia and progressing ataxia. Intra-cytoplasmic inclusion bodies (Negri bodies) were detected in some Purkinje neurons in haematoxylin and eosin (H&E) stained sections from the brain of one of the two infected horses (H2) by histological examination. A morphological diagnosis of sub-acute m...
Hempstead JE, Clode AB, Borst LB, Gilger BC.To evaluate corneal changes associated with chronic, nonhealing, superficial, corneal ulcers in horses via common histopathological stains. Methods: Retrospective study. Methods: Twenty-four horses diagnosed with chronic, nonhealing, superficial, corneal ulceration. Methods: The medical records of horses evaluated at North Carolina State University's Veterinary Teaching Hospital (NCSU-VTH) from 2005 to 2011, diagnosed with a chronic, nonhealing, superficial, corneal ulcer and treated with superficial keratectomy (SK) were reviewed. Inclusion criteria were superficial corneal ulceration, no cel...
Greve L, Dyson S.No previous studies have investigated interrelationships between saddle fit/management, equine thoracolumbar asymmetries, rider and horse health. Objective: To assess associations between data obtained by clinical assessment and those provided by riders via a questionnaire. Methods: Clinical assessment of a convenience sample of horses and riders compared with a Web-based questionnaire survey (n = 205). Methods: Horse thoracolumbar asymmetries at predetermined sites, the presence of lameness (in hand and/or ridden), saddle slip, saddle fit/management and rider straightness were assessed. Kappa...
Kelly PG, Pollock PJ.To describe (1) diagnosis of dynamic collapse of the cricotracheal ligament in a group of horses and (2) treatment and outcome of affected horses. Methods: Retrospective case series. Methods: Thoroughbred horses (n = 8). Methods: Of 600 over ground dynamic endoscopic examinations performed, 8 Thoroughbred horses had cricotracheal ligament collapse (CTLC); 5 were 2 years old and in early training and 2 were mature horses in full work. CTLC was diagnosed if circumferential collapse of the cricotracheal ligament was identified during exercise. Seven horses had repeat endoscopic examination. T...
Liu C, Cook SJ, Craigo JK, Cook FR, Issel CJ, Montelaro RC, Horohov DW.Unlike other lentiviruses, EIAV replication can be controlled in most infected horses leading to an inapparent carrier state free of overt clinical signs which lasts for many years. While the resolution of the initial infection is correlated with the appearance of virus specific cellular immune responses, the precise immune mechanisms responsible for control of the infection are not yet identified. Since the virus undergoes rapid mutation following infection, the immune response must also adapt to meet this challenge. We hypothesize that this adaptation involves peptide-specific recognition sh...
Bullone M, Chevigny M, Allano M, Martin JG, Lavoie JP.Morphometric analyses of endobronchial biopsies are commonly performed in asthma research but little is known about the technical and physiological parameters contributing to measurement variability. We investigated factors potentially affecting biopsy size, quality, and airway smooth muscle (ASM) content in heaves, an asthma-like disease of horses. Horses with heaves in clinical exacerbation (n = 6) or remission (n = 6) from the disease and six controls were studied using a crossover design. The effect of disease status, age, bronchodilation, biopsy forceps type, and carina size on total biop...
Abraham M, Reef VB, Sweeney RW, Navas de Solís C.Ultrasonographic appearance of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract of equine neonates has not been completely described. Objective: To describe (1) sonographic characteristics of the GI segments in normal nonsedated equine neonates, (2) intra- and interobserver variation in wall thickness, and (3) the sonographic appearance of asymptomatic intussusceptions, and (4) to compare age and sonographic findings of foals with and without asymptomatic intussusceptions. Methods: Eighteen healthy Standardbred foals ≤5 days of age. Methods: Prospective, cross-sectional blinded study. Gastrointestinal sonogr...
Di Gennaro A, Lorusso A, Casaccia C, Conte A, Monaco F, Savini G.A serum neutralization assay (SN) was compared with the official plaque reduction neutralization test for the quantitation of West Nile virus antibodies. A total of 1,348 samples from equid sera and 38 from human sera were tested by these two methods. Statistically significant differences were not observed, thus supporting the use of SN for routine purposes.
Walker WT, Callan RJ, Hill AE, Tisher KB.This study evaluated the effects of administering oral powder electrolytes on packed cell volume (PCV), plasma chemistry parameters, and incidence of colic in horses participating on a 6-day 162-km trail ride in which water was not offered ad libitum. Twenty-three horses received grain with powder electrolytes daily while 19 control horses received grain only. Horses were ridden approximately 32 km a day at a walk or trot. Packed cell volume and plasma chemistry parameters were analyzed daily. Episodes of colic were diagnosed and treated by a veterinarian unaware of treatment group allocation....
Brown JA, Holcombe SJ, Southwood LL, Byron CR, Embertson RM, Hauptmann JG.To determine factors associated with postoperative reflux, postoperative colic, repeat celiotomy, and survival in horses after end-to-side (E2S) or side-to-side (S2S) jejunocecostomy. Methods: Retrospective, multicenter study. Methods: Horses (n = 150). Methods: Admissions, intra- and postoperative data were collected from medical records of horses that had E2S or S2S jejunocecostomy. Descriptive statistics were calculated and data were analyzed using parametric and nonparametric tests, linear and multivariate logistic regression with significance set at P < .05. Kaplan-Meier estimate ...
Bianco C, Pirrone A, Boldini S, Sarli G, Castagnetti C.Computer-based digital image analysis of tissue samples shows promise both to reduce the subjectivity of traditional manual tissue assessments and potentially to shorten the time required to analyze each sample. The present study used digital image analysis to investigate the histomorphometric parameters and fractal complexity of the equine placenta from healthy and sick foals. We hypothesized that the placentas of sick foals could have a different growth pattern and complexity that could be objectively estimated by their fractal dimension (FD). Fourteen placentas from 30 mares were selected i...
Biedrzycki A, Markel MD, Brounts SH.To compare the in vitro biomechanical properties of a novel subcuticular stapling device to current methods of abdominal skin closure for equine abdominal surgery. Methods: In vitro randomized, matched design. Methods: Equine ventral median abdominal skin specimens (n = 24 horses). Methods: Subcuticular absorbable staples (SAS), metallic staples (MS), polyglyconate suture (PG), and nylon monofilament (NYL) were applied to longitudinally transected portions of equine ventral midline skin. Loads that resulted in an initial failure point and the ultimate failure load and mechanism were record...
Gleerup KB, Forkman B, Lindegaard C, Andersen PH.The objective of this study was to investigate the existence of an equine pain face and to describe this in detail. Methods: Semi-randomized, controlled, crossover trial. Methods: Six adult horses. Methods: Pain was induced with two noxious stimuli, a tourniquet on the antebrachium and topical application of capsaicin. All horses participated in two control trials and received both noxious stimuli twice, once with and once without an observer present. During all sessions their pain state was scored. The horses were filmed and the close-up video recordings of the faces were analysed for alterat...
Hatz LA, Hartnack S, Kümmerle J, Hässig M, Bettschart-Wolfensberger R.To assess accuracy of noninvasive blood pressure (NIBP) measured by oscillometric device Sentinel compared to invasive blood pressure (IBP) in anaesthetized horses undergoing surgery. To assess if differences between the NIBP measured by the Sentinel and IBP are associated with recumbency, cuff placement, weight of the horse or acepromazine premedication and to describe usefulness of the Sentinel. Methods: Prospective study examining replicates of simultaneous NIBP and IBP measurements. Methods: Twenty-nine horses. Methods: Invasive blood pressure was measured via a catheter in the facial arte...
Carmichael RC, Duell JR, Holbrook TC, Herrin BH, Leutenegger CM, O'Connor TP, Little SE.Abstract Tick infestations and infection with tick-borne agents are commonly recognized in horses in North America, but equine infection with true Ehrlichia spp. has not been described. To determine the degree to which horses in the south-central United States are naturally exposed to and infected with tick-borne disease agents, serum samples were collected at random (n=240) or from horses with active tick infestations (n=73) and tested by immunofluorescence antibody assay (IFA) and/or enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for evidence of antibodies reactive to Ehrlichia spp., Anaplasma sp...
Wooldridge AA, Waguespack RW, Schwartz DD, Venugopal CS, Eades SC, Beadle RE.Hyperinsulinemia causes laminitis experimentally and is a risk factor for naturally occurring laminitis. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of insulin on laminar vascular relaxation and to induce insulin-associated vascular dysfunction in vitro. Relaxation responses of isolated laminar arterial and venous rings to acetylcholine and insulin were evaluated. To alter vascular function in response to insulin, all vessel rings were incubated with insulin or vehicle, submaximally contracted, administered insulin again and relaxation responses recorded. Laminar arteries were also in...
Pedersen PJ, Moeller SB, Flethøj M, Kanters JK, Buhl R, Klaerke DA.Irregularities in cardiac repolarization are known to predispose for arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death in humans. The QT interval is a quantitative measurement of repolarization, and clinically, the QTc (QT interval corrected for heart rate) and Tpeak to Tend intervals (TpTe) are used as repolarization markers. To support the use of these markers in horses, we sought to describe the possible influence of the environment, time of day, day-to-day effects, T wave conformation, age, body weight (BW), and horse-to-horse variation on repolarization measurements. Methods: 12 Warmblood geldings, ag...
Prescott JF, Fernandez AS, Nicholson VM, Patterson MC, Yager JA, Viel L, Perkins G.An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was developed against Rhodococcus equi using Triton X-114 detergent extracted whole cell material, in which the virulence associated protein (VapA) predominated. Enzymelinked immunosorbent assay titres corresponded to antibody reacting with VapA on Western blots. There was considerable variation in antibody titres of nonimmunised mares and in the time when the colostrally derived antibody of their foals had declined to low or undetectable titres. In general, antibodies in foals declined to their lowest levels at age 4-8 weeks. Seroconversion occurre...
Quinlivan M, Maxwell G, Lyons P, Arkins S, Cullinane A.Equine rhinitis viruses (ERV) cause respiratory disease and loss of performance in horses. It has been suggested that the economic significance of these viruses may have been underestimated due to insensitive methods of detection. Objective: To develop a sensitive, rapid, real-time RT-PCR (rRT-PCR) assay suitable for the routine diagnosis and epidemiological surveillance of the A and B variants of ERV. Methods: TaqMan primer probe sets for ERAV and ERBV were designed from conserved regions of the 5' UTR of the ERV genome. Over 400 samples from both clinically affected and asymptomatic horses w...
Monk CS, Craft WF, Abbott JR, Farina LL, Reuss SM, Czerwinski SL, Brooks DE, Plummer CE.The objective of this paper is to describe clinical behavior, histopathologic features, and immunohistochemical staining of two-related horses with intraocular teratoid medulloepithelioma. Two-related Quarter Horses with similar intraocular masses presented to the UF-CVM Comparative Ophthalmology Service for evaluation and treatment. The first horse, a 3-year-old gelding, had glaucoma and a cyst-like mass in the anterior chamber. Enucleation was performed. Histopathology revealed a teratoid medulloepithelioma. The tumor was considered to be completely excised. Fifteen months later, the gelding...
Cawley A, Keen B, Tou K, Elbourne M, Keledjian J.The concept of biomarker measurements in the form of a ratio has not been explored in detail. This is surprising considering the current and future potential for biomarkers incorporating endogenous reference compounds (ERCs) in a range of fields. A selection of these relating to clinical and forensic applications, human antidoping, equine antidoping and veterinary residues are discussed.
Wobeser BK, Godson DL, Rejmanek D, Dowling P.A protozoal parasite identified as Neospora hughesi was found in inflammatory lesions in the central nervous system of a Canadian-born adult horse presented with neurological signs. This is believed to be the first case of equine protozoal myeloencephalitis (EPM) caused by Neospora hughesi in a horse outside of the United States. Un parasite protozoaire identifié comme a été trouvé dans les lésions inflammatoires du système nerveux central d’un cheval adulte né au Canada présentant des signes neurologiques. On croit qu’il s’agit du premier cas d’encéphalomyélite protozoai...
Eggleston RB.Distal limb wounds in horses heal substantially different than trunk wounds, commonly resulting in exuberant granulation tissue and exposed and sequestered bone. Surgical intervention of severe rectovaginal lacerations in the mare should be delayed until the tissues have heeled and scar tissue has remodeled. Wounds resulting in severe hemorrhage require appropriate emergent fluid therapy and potentially transfusion therapy.
Holmes JR, Henigan M, Williams RB, Witherington DH.The paper describes five cases of atrial fibrillation detected after racing. In four of them, the arrhythmia disappeared spontaneously within 24 h and they were regarded as paroxysmal in type. In the fifth case, which won its race, the arrhythmia persisted for at least 45 h after racing. It was therefore regarded as an example of persistent atrial fibrillation. It was then treated with quinidine sulphate which restored sinus rhythm. It would seem that paroxysmal atrial fibrillation may be a cause of sudden decrease in racing performance.
Murgiano L, Waluk DP, Towers R, Wiedemar N, Dietrich J, Jagannathan V, Drögemüller M, Balmer P, Druet T, Galichet A, Penedo MC, Müller EJ....We investigated a family of horses exhibiting irregular vertical stripes in their hair coat texture along the neck, back, hindquarters, and upper legs. This phenotype is termed "brindle" by horse breeders. We propose the term "brindle 1 (BR1)" for this specific form of brindle. In some BR1 horses, the stripes were also differentially pigmented. Pedigree analyses were suggestive of a monogenic X-chromosomal semidominant mode of inheritance. Haplotype analyses identified a 5 Mb candidate region on chromosome X. Whole genome sequencing of four BR1 and 60 nonbrindle horses identified 61 private v...
Macdonald SL, Abbas G, Ghafar A, Gauci CG, Bauquier J, El-Hage C, Tennent-Brown B, Wilkes EJA, Beasley A, Jacobson C, Cudmore L, Carrigan P, Hurley J....Cyathostomins are the most common and highly prevalent parasites of horses worldwide. Historically, the control of cyathostomins has mainly relied on the routine use of anthelmintic products. Increasing reports on anthelmintic resistance (AR) in cyathostomins are concerning. A potential method proposed for detecting emerging AR in cyathostomins has been estimating the egg reappearance period (ERP). This paper reviews the data available for the ERP of cyathostomins against the three major classes of anthelmintics, macrocyclic lactones, tetrahydropyrimidines, and benzimidazoles. Published peer-r...
Kinoshita Y, Niwa H, Katayama Y.Streptococcus equi subsp. zooepidemicus (S. zooepidemicus) is a dominant pathogenic bacterium in equine pneumonia. We developed a specific loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) method, which targets the gene encoding sorbitol-6-phosphate 2-dehydrogenase (sorD), for detecting S. zooepidemicus and examined the clinical efficacies of its use in combination with each of 3 DNA extraction methods easily used by veterinary practitioners, namely the Loopamp PURE DNA Extraction Kit, InstaGene Matrix and a conventional boiling method. The LAMP method plus the Loopamp PURE DNA Extraction Kit gave...
Braun JP, Benard P, Burgat V, Rico AG.In domestic animals, Gamma Glutamyl Transferase is mainly in the kidneys, the pancreas and the intestine; its liver activity is relatively high in cows, horses, sheep and goats and very low in dogs, cats and birds. The use of plasma reference values can help to interpret the variations of serum GGT mainly in hepatobiliary diseases of cattle, sheep, goats and cholestatic disorders of dogs. Urinary GGT is a good test of kidney toxic damage.
Eysker M, Jansen J, Mirck MH.Alternate grazing of horses and sheep as a control measure for gastrointestinal helminthiasis was studied in three grazing experiments in 1981, 1982 and 1983. Each year a group of three mare yearling Shetland ponies, which were kept on a small pasture from spring to autumn, were compared with a similar group which grazed a similar or the same pasture until July and were subsequently removed to a similar pasture which had been grazed by sheep from April to July. In addition both groups were treated with an anthelmintic when the latter group was removed to the sheep pasture. Pasture larval count...
Noordwijk KJ, Qin R, Diaz-Rubio ME, Zhang S, Su J, Mahal LK, Reesink HL.Carpal osteochondral fragmentation and subsequent post-traumatic osteoarthritis (PTOA) are leading causes of wastage in the equine athlete. Identification of synovial fluid biomarkers could contribute to the diagnosis and understanding of osteoarthritis (OA) pathophysiology. Objective: The aim of this study was to identify differentially expressed metabolic and glycosylation pathways in synovial fluid from healthy horses and horses with naturally occurring carpal OA. Methods: Cross-sectional, in vivo metabolomics and glycomics study. Methods: In cohort 1, carpal synovial fluid (n = 12 horses...
Piché CA.An outbreak of strangles, which occurred during the spring, summer and fall of 1980 on a Standardbred stud farm in eastern Alberta is described. The infective organism, Streptococcus equi, may have been introduced by an outside mare that was brought to the stud for breeding. All of the groups of horses on the farm were affected. For the most part, the disease was allowed to run its natural course. Only severely affected individuals were treated. During the outbreak, the foals were prophylactically treated with penicillin to prevent them from contracting the disease. Ten horses died of complica...
Cirak VY, Güleğen E, Bauer C.A cross-sectional survey was performed on ten stud farms in western Anatolia, Turkey, in order to provide the first information on the problem of anthelmintic resistance in equine strongyles in this country. Benzimidazole (BZ) resistant cyathostomin populations were detected on seven farms if pre- and post-treatment egg counts are compared in treated animals and the resistance is defined as a mean faecal egg count reduction (FECR) of <95% with a lower 95% confidence limit of <90%. Egg hatch tests using an ED(50) of 0.1 microg/ml thiabendazole as the cut-off value confirmed BZ resistance on fou...
Bousfield GR, Butnev VY, Butnev VY.The O-glycosylation sites for equine LHss (eLHss) and eCGss were identified by solid-phase Edman degradation of four glycopeptides derived from the C-terminal region. Both subunits were O-glycosylated at the same 12 positions, rather than the 4-6 sites anticipated. These sites were partially glycosylated, with carbohydrate attachment ranging from 20% to 100% for eCGss and from 10% to 100% for eLHss. When the C-terminal peptide containing all but one of the O-linked oligosaccharides was removed by mild acid hydrolysis of either eLHss or eCGss, hybrid hormones could be obtained by reassociating ...
Nelson BB, Lordan EE, Hassel DM.Gastrointestinal dysfunction occurs commonly following elective anaesthesia. Identification of risk factors may allow implementation of preventative measures to reduce the prevalence of colic following elective anaesthetic procedures. Objective: To examine risk factors associated with gastrointestinal dysfunction or post anaesthetic colic for horses undergoing elective surgical or diagnostic procedures under general anaesthesia. Methods: Retrospective case series. Methods: Medical records were collected from adult horses undergoing general anaesthesia from 1 January 2008 to 31 December 2010 us...
Pownder S, Scrivani PV, Bezuidenhout A, Divers TJ, Ducharme NG.In people, specific classifications of temporal bone fractures are associated with clinical signs and prognosis. In horses, similar classifications have not been evaluated and might be useful establishing prognosis or understanding pathogenesis of certain types of trauma. Objective: We hypothesized associations between temporal bone fracture location and orientation in horses detected during computed tomography (CT) and frequency of facial nerve (CN7) deficit, vestibulocochlear nerve (CN8) deficit, or temporohyoid osteoarthropathy (THO). Complex temporal region anatomy may confound fracture id...
Pinto NI, McMullen RJ, Linder KE, Cullen JM, Gilger BC.To describe the clinical, histopathologic and immunohistochemical characteristics of an equine ocular inflammatory disease resulting in anterior uveitis and corneal endothelial inflammation associated with iris pigment dispersion and retrocorneal fibrous membrane (RFM) formation. Methods: Retrospective study. Methods: Sixteen horses with evidence of pigmented keratic precipitates (KPs), corneal edema, and/or iris depigmentation. Information collected from the medical records included signalment, clinical signs, prereferral treatment duration and response to therapy, ophthalmic examination find...
Marshall AE, Byars TD, Whitlock RH, George LW.Brainstem auditory evoked response (BAER) testing was done to evaluate inner ear/VIIIth cranial nerve (CN8) function in the horse. The BAER test consisted of stimulating the auditory system with clicks and recording far-field responses of the brainstem auditory components via cutaneous electrodes and a signal averaging system. The normal response was shown to be a series of waves occurring within the first 10 msec after the stimulus click. Functional loss of the auditory receptor organ (cochlea) or CN8 results in loss of the entire response on the side of the injury. Because of the anatomic re...
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 ...
Willette JA, Pitta D, Indugu N, Vecchiarelli B, Hennessy ML, Dobbie T, Southwood LL.An association between equine gastrointestinal disease causing colic signs and changes in faecal bacterial microbiota has been identified. The reasons for these changes and their clinical relevance has not been investigated. Withholding feed, which is an integral part of managing horses with colic, may contribute to the observed changes in the microbiota and impact interpretation of findings in horses with colic. Study objectives were, therefore, to determine the effect of withholding feed for 24 h on equine faecal bacterial microbiota in healthy mares to differentiate the effects of withhol...
Awosile BB, Heider LC, Saab ME, McClure JT.This study determined the antimicrobial susceptibility patterns and trends for selected bacteria isolated from horses using diagnostic data from the Atlantic Veterinary College Diagnostic Services Bacteriology Laboratory, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island over a 20-year period. subsp. and were the most commonly isolated bacteria over the study period. Clinical samples were most frequently submitted from respiratory and reproductive systems. Most bacterial isolates were susceptible to ceftiofur. Resistance was most common in Gram-negative enteric bacteria, while streptococci were frequentl...
Decloedt A, de Clercq D, van der Vekens N, Verheyen T, van Loon G.Atrial fibrillation cycle length (AFCL) is an indicator of atrial electrical remodelling during atrial fibrillation (AF). Objective: To compare AFCL measured invasively from an intra-atrial electrogram (AFCLEGM ) with AFCL measured noninvasively by atrial colour tissue Doppler imaging (AFCLTDI ). Methods: Prospective descriptive clinical study. Methods: Measurements were performed in 31 episodes of AF or flutter in 29 horses (588 ± 61 kg bwt, 9 ± 3 years old) admitted for transvenous electrical cardioversion. The AFCLEGM was measured from an intracardiac electrogram using a bipolar sensi...
Kopper JJ, Willette JA, Kogan CJ, Seguin A, Bolin SR, Schott HC.Rates of detecting ≥1 potential enteric pathogens (PEP) or toxins (PEP-T) in feces, blood, or both of horses ≥6 months of age with enteric disease and impact of multiple detections on outcome of horses with colitis has not been reported. Objective: To determine detection rates of PEP/PEP-T in feces, blood, or both of horses with enteric disease and effect of detecting multiple agents on outcome of horses with colitis. Methods: Thirty-seven hundred fifty-three fecal samples submitted to IDEXX Laboratories and 239 fecal and blood samples submitted to Michigan State University's Veterinary D...
Charan S, Palmer K, Chester P, Mire-Sluis AR, Meager A, Edington N.Up to 21 days after exposure to live or ultraviolet-inactivated equid herpesvirus type-1 (EHV-1) autologous serum from ponies caused an immunosuppressive effect if incorporated into T-cell proliferation assays to EHV-1. The suppressive factor in the sera of ponies also inhibited T-cell response to phytohaemagglutinin. Increased levels of circulating activated transforming growth factor-beta 1 (TGF-beta 1) were detected, and the suppressive activity of the serum could be reversed by antibody to TGF-beta 1. In a challenge experiment the ponies which exhibited circulating TGF-beta 1 activity succ...
Gordon AN, Marbach CR, Oakey J, Edmunds G, Condon K, Diviney SM, Williams DT, Bingham J.A 5-year-old Australian stock horse in Monto, Queensland, Australia, developed neurological signs and was euthanized after a 6-day course of illness. Histological examination of the brain and spinal cord revealed moderate to severe subacute, nonsuppurative encephalomyelitis. Sections of spinal cord stained positively in immunohistochemistry with a flavivirus-specific monoclonal antibody. Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction assay targeting the envelope gene of flavivirus yielded positive results from brain, spinal cord, cerebrospinal fluid, and facial nerve. A flavivirus was isolate...
Morris DD, Meirs DA, Merryman GS.A prospective study was performed to determine the incidence and associated maternal and managemental factors of failure of passive transfer (FPT) in foals on a breeding farm. The zinc sulfate turbidity test (ZSTT) and latex agglutination test (LAT) were compared for accuracy in estimating serum immunoglobulin (Ig)G of foals, as determined by single radial immunodiffusion (SRID). Complete past and present foaling histories of 136 Standardbred mares were obtained. All foalings were witnessed by farm attendants, and colostral samples were collected from mares within 2 hours after parturition. Fo...
Nielsen MK, Vidyashankar AN, Gravatte HS, Bellaw J, Lyons ET, Andersen UV.Strongylus vulgaris is regarded as the most pathogenic helminth parasite infecting horses. Migrating larvae cause pronounced endarteritis and thrombosis in the cranial mesenteric artery and adjacent branches, and thromboembolism can lead to ischemia and infarction of large intestinal segments. A recently developed serum ELISA allows detection of S. vulgaris-specific antibodies during the six-month-long prepatent period. A population of horses has been maintained at the University of Kentucky without anthelmintic intervention since 1979, and S. vulgaris has been documented to be highly prevalen...
Toombs-Ruane LJ, Riley CB, Kendall AT, Bolwell CF, Benschop J, Rosanowski SM.Decreased efficacy of antimicrobials and increased prevalence of multidrug resistance (MDR) is of concern worldwide. Objective: To describe and analyze bacterial culture and antimicrobial susceptibilities from respiratory samples submitted from young horses (4 weeks to 3 years old). Methods: Samples from 289 horses were submitted to a commercial laboratory. Methods: A retrospective database search of submissions made to a New Zealand veterinary laboratory between April 2004 and July 2014. The results of in vitro susceptibility testing by Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion were described and tabulat...
