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Topic:Disease Diagnosis
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.
[Maduromycotic mycetoma in a horse]. A case of maduromycotic mycetoma (eumycetoma) in seven years old draught horse is described. The disease was localized in anal region and healed after surgical treatment. Attention is drawn to the necessity of distinguishing three types of mycosis in horses, characterized by the origin of tumor lesions - mycetomas, hyphomycosis and entomophthoromycosis - and information was gathered on their etiology and geographical occurrence. On the basis of the morphology of fungal elements traced in inflammated changed tissues and with regard to the existing findings on the origin of eumycetoma in animals...
Dehydroepiandrosterone synthesis by the fetal foal and its importance as an oestrogen precursor. The gonads of the fetal horse were found to be relatively devoid of 3 beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase and other enzymes which metabolize dehydroepiandrosterone (DHA). In short-term in-vitro incubation experiments fetal liver converted DHA to the potential equilin precursor, 7 alpha-hydroxy DHA. DHA was converted to oestrone when incubated with extracts of horse placenta but 7 alpha-hydroxy DHA was not converted to equilin. Levels of DHA measured in peripheral blood of mares throughout pregnancy paralleled those of equilin and oestrone, and DHA concentrations fell rapidly after fetal gonadect...
Immunity to and immunotherapy for Rhodococcus equi. Immune responses to Rhodococcus equi were assayed in mares and foals on 7 studs in south-eastern Australia using skin test reactivity to the intradermal injection of culture filtrate and an indirect fluorescent antibody test. The prevalence of positive skin-test reactions did not differ between studs with a history of R. equi disease and those without but there were more mares with high antibody titres on studs with a disease history. A leucocyte extract prepared from mares that were skin-test positive was evaluated for its ability to protect foals exposed to experimental or natural challenge:...
Prevalence of antibodies to Legionella pneumophila in animal populations. We examined more than 2,800 human and animal sera for antibodies to four serogroups of Legionella pneumophila by using the microagglutination test. Antibody titers of greater than or equal to 1:64 were considered positive. The occurrence of positive equine sera (31.4%) was significantly higher than the occurrence of positive sera in cattle (5.1%), swine (2.9%), sheep (1.9%), dogs (1.9%), goats (0.5%), wildlife (0%), and humans (0.4%). The highest titer measured in horses was 1:512. The occurrence of positive sera in horses was related directly to age. In horses less than or equal to 1, 2 to 3,...
Equine onchocerciasis: lesions in the nuchal ligament of midwestern U.S. horses. Nuchal ligaments from midwestern U.S. horses infected with adult Onchocerca sp. were studied. The prevalence of Onchocerca sp. infection in horses increased with age. Ten percent of horses less than one year old were infected, 28% of horses one to five years old, 48% of horses six to 15 years old, and 90% of horses over 16 years old. Lesions in Onchocerca sp.-infected nuchal ligaments varied with age of the horse. Horses less than five years old had few or no lesions, whereas most horses six to 15 years old had focal mineralization and granuloma formation around adult worms. In infected nuchal...
Indirect hemagglutination test in equine infectious anemia. An indirect hemagglutination was developed for the diagnosis of equine infectious anemia using sheep red blood cells coated with group specific virus antigen which had been highly purified by affinity chromatography. The presence of indirect hemagglutination antibodies was demonstrated in horses with equine infectious anemia since the cells were specifically agglutinated by all the serum samples obtained from experimentally infected horses. Antibodies appeared within 35 days after inoculation, and development of which coincided well with that of precipitating and complement fixing antibodies. ...
Glucocorticoid-induced inhibition of osteolysis and the development of osteopetrosis, osteonecrosis and osteoporosis. Changes in the developing femoral epiphysis, especially those concerning the osteocytes, were examined in pony foals systemically treated with daily intramuscular injections of either 0.5 or 5.0 mg of dexamethasone per 100 kg bodyweight for either 3, 8 or 11 months. Midsagittal sections of proximal femur from animals treated for 3 months contained significantly more bone tissue subchondrally and epiphyseally than did sections from untreated ponies. Large portions of the bone tissue appeared necrotic, although osteoblasts and patent capillaries were abundant. After 8 months the bone sections re...
Endometrial change in the annual reproductive cycle of the mare. Cervical and endometrial swabs were taken from 7 mares at various stages of the oestrous cycle. There was no consistent pattern of cell change throughout the cycle. The dominant cell in smears from normal mares was the columnar epithelial cell, especially in smears obtained during oestrus. A ciliated columnar epithelial cell was found much less frequently but appeared more often in smears before oestrus. Endometrial biopsies were also collected from 7 mares at intervals 2-3 weeks over an 8-month period from the beginning of spring to the end of autumn. There was no obvious change in the endome...
Influence of bacterial products on the motility of stallion spermatozoa. Sterile filtrates were prepared from equine isolates of Klebsiella pneumoniae (genitalium), Proteus mirabilis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, Streptococcus zooepidemicus, Streptococcus equisimilis, Actinobacillus equuli, and Corynebacterium equi and mixed individually with extended stallion semen. When diluted in the extended semen the filtrates represented bacterial populations of 0.5 x 10(6), 1 x 10(6), 2 x 10(6) and 4 x 10(6) cells/ml. pH values were recorded for each filtrate. Specimens were monitored for percentage motile spermatozoa at 30-min intervals until they reached 10% o...
Ovarian response, pregnancy rate, and incidence of multiple fetuses in mares treated with an equine pituitary extract. The ability of a pituitary extract to induce ovulation and the effect of multiple ovulations on pregnancy rate and incidence of multiple fetuses were studied in seasonally anovulatory mares. The extract induced ovulation in 95% of mares having a greater than or equal to 25 mm follicle at the onset of treatment and in 64% the ovulations were multiple. The extract was less effective when the largest initial follicle was less than 25 mm. Approximately 50% of the treated mares that ovulated did not become pregnant or enter prolonged dioestrus before returning to an anovulatory condition. In treate...
Ovarian disorders: clinical and morphological observations in 30 mares. A five year prospective study of equine ovarian problems requiring surgical correction was undertaken at the Ontario Veterinary College. Thirty mares were studied, of which 14 had granulosa cell tumors, six were with anovulatory persistent follicular "structures", five had ovarian hemotoma, two presented ovarian hypoplasia and one each of ovarian dysgerminoma, teratoma and abscessation. The clinical signs manifested by the affected animals were varied. The affected ovaries were removed via flank or midline laparotomy or through colpotomy. Their morphology was studied and representative portion...
The interaction of Corynebacterium equi and equine alveolar macrophages in vitro. The in-vitro interaction of Corynebacterium equi and foal alveolar macrophages was examined qualitatively and quantitatively using cells collected by sequential bronchoalveolar lavage at 2-week intervals from birth until 14 weeks of age. Total and differential counts were performed on the recovered cells. Macrophages were identified using the non-specific esterase strain. Cultures of the alveolar macrophages were challenged with C. equi suspensions and the process and extent of ingestion was examined by light and electron microscopy. Few macrophages were recovered from the lungs of foals less ...
Effects of pituitary stalk transection on endocrine function in Pony mares. The pituitary stalk was transected in 10 Pony mares by a surgical approach that involved dorsal reflection of the brain and micro-dissection from the ventro-lateral aspect of the pituitary. Diabetes insipidus was the most immediate and marked result, requiring extensive electrolyte and antidiuretic therapy for approximately 48 h after operation. Fluid stasis then developed and no further supportive measures were necessary. Endocrine challenge tests with GnRH and TRH before and after stalk transection indicated a loss of responsiveness (GnRH) or suppressed responsiveness (TRH) after the operati...
[Effect of low pH values on the infectivity and neuraminidase activity of human and animal strains of influenza virus type A]. The influence of acidic pH on the infectivity and neuraminidase activity of human, equine and avian type A influenza virus strains has been studied. Following exposure to pH 3 human and equine strains lost their infectivity completely, whereas all investigated strains of the subtypes Hav6N2 and Hav7Neq2 retained a certain amount of infectivity. In contrast to human and equine strains the avian strains retained also 38% of their original neuraminidase activity after acidic treatment. Partial retention of infectivity and the relative stability of the neuraminidase following exposure to acidic pH...
Immunodeficiency disease in animals. Significant contributions to understanding the role of lymphocyte subpopulations in the immune response and to the characterization of immunodeficiencies in children have been achieved through study of animal models of immunodeficiency. Additional contributions can be made in two important areas. One is through identification of relevant, naturally-occurring models of adenosine deaminase deficiency and purine nucleoside phosphorylase deficiency. The second, and potentially more important contribution, would be the identification of the metabolic basis for existing immune deficiencies. The nece...
Indirect haemagglutination reaction with Sarcocystis dispersa antigen. A description is given of the preparation of antigen from Sarcocystis dispersa cystozoites and the procedure of the indirect haemagglutination test (IHA). The antibodies against this antigen were detected in experimentally infected mice from day 20 p.i. (1: 640). In the following weeks the antibody titres reached the value of 1: 40,960. The sera of pigs, sheep and horses spontaneously infected with other Sarcocystis species reacted with this antigen in low titres only. The bovine sera gave negative reactions even in cases when Sarcocystis cysts were present in the muscles of the examined anima...
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease anatomical cardiac studies. An abattoir survey on horses diagnosed as suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) on clinical grounds showed that the right ventricular wall thickness was not significantly different from that of normal horses. However, the weight ratio between the left and right ventricles was found to be significantly (P less than 0.001) different in COPD affected, compared with control, horses in a study of 17 physiologically and pathologically confirmed COPD cases, using ventricular weight measurements. No clinical evidence of right heart failure nor post mortem evidence of right heart ...
Cytogenetic and DNA analyses of equine abortion. Although no major structural or numerical abnormalities were found in the karyotypes of 12 aborted equine fetuses, two unrelated abortuses each carried a large polymorphism for the amount of heterochromatin in chromosome 1. In both karyotypes this chromosome was shown to be larger than its homolog. To determine the nature of the extra DNA in these chromosomes, equine DNA was isolated and characterized by buoyant density analysis. Equine mainband DNA had a buoyant density in neutral CsCl of 1.699 g/cm3, while the highly repetitive (dG+dC)-rich fraction had a buoyant density of 1.715 g/cm3. A ra...
[Sensitivity and fidelity of the rabies laboratory diagnosis]. The author describes a method for evaluating the minimal number of diagnosis failures for each animal species (this diagnosis uses the Fluorescent Rabies Antibodies Test and mouse inoculation simultaneously). The percentage of well diagnosed rabid animals on total rabid ones is called sensibility of the diagnosis: it varies according to the species of animal examined: from 99.98% for the fox, to 98.61% for the horse. The percentage of errored negative diagnosis on total negative diagnosis is called infidelity of negative responses: it varies for each species according to the sensibility of the...
An outbreak of paresis in mares and geldings associated with equid herpesvirus 1. An outbreak of paresis occurred on a small isolated stud farm in July 1980. Of the 42 horses on the stud, infection was confined to a group of nine in-foal mares and their foals and eight other horses which were either housed together at night or grazed adjacent pastures. Eight mares and two geldings developed ataxia or paresis and one mare died. Equid herpesvirus 1 was isolated from 17 animals and serological studies confirmed that 24 of 26 animals sampled had experienced infection.
Toxicity of Cassia occidentalis in the horse. Three Shetland ponies were given a single oral dose of ground Cassia occidentalis seeds in aqueous suspension. The clinical signs observed resembled those seen in naturally occurring and experimental cases in cattle. The syndrome was characterized by an afebrile course, incoordination, recumbency and death. Elevations of blood alkaline phosphatase, CPK, LDH, and SGOT were observed. Although muscle lesions were not seen grossly, microscopic lesions included segmental necrosis of skeletal muscle fibers. The findings were regarded as sufficiently characteristic of C. occidentalis poisoning to be ...
Bacteriologic examination of equine fecal flora as a diagnostic tool for equine intestinal clostridiosis. The fecal flora of 56 clinically healthy and 23 sick horses were examined bacteriologically for counts of Clostridium perfringens, molds, coliforms, alpha- and beta-hemolytic streptococci, and microbes belonging to genus Bacillus, as well as for the presence of Salmonella spp. Of the healthy horses, 85.7% had a C perfringens count less than 10(1) colony-forming units/g of feces. Of the healthy horses, lowest counts were found in race-horses. Of the sick horses, equine intestinal clostridiosis was diagnosed in 2 horses with large C perfringens counts (10(4) to 10(7) colony-forming units/g) and ...
Mechanisms of infection in the respiratory tract. Related to its potential vulnerability the respiratory tract has a very complex and effective defence apparatus. The interaction between these defence mechanisms and certain characteristics of aetiological agents results in a pattern in which initial infections by these agents tend to occur at specific sites in the tract. Infections in which the primary portal of entry is in the upper respiratory tract include Bordetella bronchiseptica and Haemophilus spp in pigs; Pasteurella spp in cattle, sheep, pigs; Mycoplasma spp in cattle, sheep, pigs and poultry; equine herpesvirus 1 in horses; infectio...
Salivary syndrome in horses: identification of slaframine in red clover hay. An outbreak of salivary syndrome in horses in North Carolina was investigated. Rhizoctonia leguminicola was the predominant fungus isolated from toxic red clover hay. The fungus was less prevalent in the hay after 10 months of storage, and the hay had also decreased in biological activity after 10 months. Toxic hay caused extreme salivation, piloerection, respiratory distress, and increased frequency of defecation when fed to guinea pigs, and purified extracts of toxic hay and pure slaframine elicited these same responses when injected intraperitoneally into guinea pigs. The freshly acquired h...
Babesia equi (Laveran 1901) 1. Development in horses and in lymphocyte culture. The vertebrate development of Babesia equi from infected Hyalomma marginatum in Morocco was investigated in vitro and in vivo. It was demonstrated that the sporozoites of B. equi initiate a phase of exo-erythrocytic schizogony in lymphocytes both in vitro and in vivo. On the other hand, sporozoites did not invade erythrocytes in vitro. The complete vertebrate life cycle of B. equi was simulated in vitro, from the invasion of lymphocytes by sporozoites, to the development of macro- and microschizonts, the invasion of erythrocytes by merozoites, and the subsequent intra-erythrocytic schizogony. ...
Diagnostic methods in infectious respiratory disease. For laboratory diagnosis of respiratory disease it is of overwhelming importance that the specimens taken are adequate, taken from the correct site and at the correct time. The lower regions of the respiratory tract are particularly difficult to sample but are more likely to yield the causative agent of a pneumonia. Infections involving the upper respiratory tract are much easier to sample and appropriate aspiration apparatus can be used. Consideration must be given to the timing of sample collection in relation to the life cycle of the causative micro-organism. Sampling of several animals is ...
