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.
Lab on a chipApril 26, 2020
Volume 20, Issue 9 1621-1627 doi: 10.1039/d0lc00304b
Sun F, Ganguli A, Nguyen J, Brisbin R, Shanmugam K, Hirschberg DL, Wheeler MB, Bashir R, Nash DM, Cunningham BT.Rapid, sensitive and specific detection and reporting of infectious pathogens is important for patient management and epidemic surveillance. We demonstrated a point-of-care system integrated with a smartphone for detecting live virus from nasal swab media, using a panel of equine respiratory infectious diseases as a model system for corresponding human diseases such as COVID-19. Specific nucleic acid sequences of five pathogens were amplified by loop-mediated isothermal amplification on a microfluidic chip and detected at the end of reactions by the smartphone. Pathogen-spiked horse nasal swab...
Data in briefApril 25, 2020
Volume 30 105616 doi: 10.1016/j.dib.2020.105616
Nieto-Olmedo P, Gaitskell-Phillips G, Martín-Cano FE, Ortiz-Rodríguez JM, Peña FJ, Ortega-Ferrusola C.This article provides the dataset for the use of power Doppler ultrasound to assess the equine uterus from the recent research article titled "Power Doppler can detect the presence of 7-8 days conceptuses prior to flushing in an equine embryo transfer program"(1). The vascularization of the endometrium was objectively assessed in mares by quantification of pixels in bitmap format (BMP) using computer assisted analysis of images. Fifty-two mares were examined on days 7 (26 mares) and 8 (26 mares) post-ovulation prior to performing flushing procedures for embryo recovery. Receiver operating char...
Lopez-Rodriguez MF, Cymbaluk N, Epp T, Laarveld B, Serrano Recalde EC, Simko E, Card C.Exposure to plants containing glucosinolates (GSLs) affects thyroid function in many species, in horses is implicated in the birth of foals with congenital hypothyroidism. The present study was performed to determine the effect of feeding a GSL (sinigrin) in combination with a low-iodine diet for 12 weeks on thyroid hormones and serum iodine concentrations in nonpregnant mares. Nineteen mares aged 2-14 years were divided into control (n = 6), low (20 mmol/day) (n = 7) and high GSL (35 mmol/day) (n = 6) groups. Thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH) stimulation tests and serum iodine measur...
Nieth J, Krohn J.Aim of the study was to describe the echotexture and dimensions of the kidneys including the renal pelvis in neonatal foals using transabdominal sonography. Methods: In the course of a preliminary examination, sonographic examinations of the kidneys of 10 dead newborn foals were performed in order to determine their localization, measurement parameters, and echotexture. In subsequent necropsies, the kidneys were measured and the obtained values were compared with the sonographic measurements. A high level of agreement between the both measurement values could be demonstrated. In the main exami...
Prucha VJS, Tichy A, Nell B.Non-healing corneal ulcers (NHCU) are a common problem in equine practice and several treatment options are available with different success and healing times. The aim of this retrospective study was to evaluate and to compare treatment protocols, clinical courses, corneal healing time and outcomes of NHCU. Methods: From December 2001 to December 2017, a total of 57 horses with NHCU were presented at the Vetmeduni Vienna. Recorded data included affected eye, signalment, clinical symptoms, season of diagnosis, treatment protocols, complications and corneal healing rate. Results: Sixty-three eye...
Springer A, Ehrmann C, Lembcke M, Roscher K, Strube C.Equine piroplasmosis, caused by the protozoan pathogens or , is endemic in many (sub-)tropical regions worldwide, including Southern Europe. In Germany, it mainly plays a role as an imported parasitosis. Nevetherless, tick species with known vector potential for equine piroplasms occur in Germany. Thus, a long-term establishment of autochthonous cycles after introduction via infected equids or ticks cannot be excluded. In the present case, 2 horses developed clinical infection after returning from a trail riding trip to southern France. During treatment, a feeding tick was discovered on one ...
Jimenez Rihuete P, Villarino N, Pelisiak A, Rubio-Martinez LM.Refractometric determination of total protein (TP) in synovial fluid (SF) is commonly used for diagnosis and monitoring of synovial sepsis in horses. Previous studies have shown that elevated concentrations of certain anticoagulants may overestimate refractometric determination of TP concentration. Objective: The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of different concentrations of dipotassium EDTA (KEDTA) and lithium heparin (LH) on TP determination by using a hand-held refractometer in equine synovial fluid. Methods: Cross-section observational study. Methods: Thirty samples of synovial...
Alexeenko V, Fraser JA, Bowen M, Huang CL, Marr CM, Jeevaratnam K.Equine athletes have a pattern of exercise which is analogous to human athletes and the cardiovascular risks in both species are similar. Both species have a propensity for atrial fibrillation (AF), which is challenging to detect by ECG analysis when in paroxysmal form. We hypothesised that the proarrhythmic background present between fibrillation episodes in paroxysmal AF (PAF) might be detectable by complexity analysis of apparently normal sinus-rhythm ECGs. In this retrospective study ECG recordings were obtained during routine clinical work from 82 healthy horses and from 10 horses with a ...
Cavasin JP, Miller AD, Duhamel GE.An 8-year-old Anglo-European gelding with progressive neurological signs was humanely destroyed and submitted for necropsy examination. The right parietal cortex was disrupted by a well-demarcated, intraparenchymal, 1.5 cm diameter, tan, homogeneous, dense mass. Microscopical examination was consistent with an astrocytoma, which was confirmed on the basis of strong immunohistochemical labelling for glial fibrillary acidic protein. The neoplastic population lacked immunolabelling for oligodendrocyte transcription factor 2. Labelling for ionized calcium binding adaptor molecule 1 highlighted la...
Caston SS, Sponseller BA, Dembek KA, Hostetter JM.A reformulation of Mycobacterium cell wall fraction immunotherapeutic can be used to successfully treat sarcoids in horses. Sarcoids are reported to be the most common equine skin tumors with tumor type and location influencing the choice of treatment. Wide surgical excision is curative for many tumors, but may not always be feasible. Previous studies have reported sarcoid regression after injection with mycobacterial cell wall immunotherapeutics. A new formulation of the Mycobacterium phlei cell wall fraction immunostimulant (Immunocidin Equine) was used to treat cutaneous tumors in horses. E...
Grewar JD, Porphyre T, Sergeant ES, Theresa Weyer C, Thompson PN.An African horse sickness (AHS) outbreak occurred in March and April 2016 in the controlled area of South Africa. This extended an existing trade suspension of live equids from South Africa to the European Union. In the post-outbreak period ongoing passive and active surveillance, the latter in the form of monthly sentinel surveillance and a stand-alone freedom from disease survey in March 2017, took place. We describe a stochastic scenario tree analysis of these surveillance components for 24 months, starting July 2016, in three distinct geographic areas of the controlled area. Given that AH...
Infectious causes of myositis are reported relatively uncommonly in horses. Among them, bacterial causes include subsp. , , spp. spp, and . Infection can be spread to muscles via haematogenous or extension from skin lesions. Parasitic myositis has also been documented. In this report, a 12 year-old Italian Quarter Horse mare presented with diffuse subcutaneous nodules and masses ranging from 2 × 3 to 5 × 20 cm in size, and adherent to subcutis and muscles that were first macroscopically and cytologically diagnosed as pyogranulomas. Subsequently, histological, molecular, bacteriological, a...
Johnson LM, Holcombe SJ, Shearer TR, Watson V, Gandy J, Southwood LL, Lynch TM, Schroeder EL, Fogle CA, Sordillo LM.Identifying therapies that mitigate ischemic colonic injury and improve mucosal healing and intestinal viability are crucial to improving survival in horses with ≥360° large colon volvulus (LCV). Ethyl pyruvate is the ethyl ester of pyruvate with diverse pharmacologic effects that limit ischemic injury and hasten intestinal mucosal repair in preclinical rodents, sheep and swine models. The objective of this study was to determine the effects of ethyl pyruvate on systemic indices of colon viability, expression of inflammatory genes in whole blood, morbidity and survival after surgical correc...
Matheson A, Regmi SC, Martin-Alarcon L, Jay GD, Scott WM, Schmidt TA.: In experimental models of equine joint-injury and osteoarthritis synovial fluid (SF) composition (proteoglycan-4, hyaluronan) can vary, along with changes to SF mechanical function (lubrication, viscosity). The study hypotheses were a) clinical equine joint-injury and disease results in altered SF composition and diminished mechanical function, and b) serum composition (proteoglycan-4 or hyaluronan) changes concurrently. The objectives were to characterize composition (proteoglycan-4, hyaluronan), and function of SF and serum from normal horses compared to clinical groups: osteoarthritis, ac...
Dieckmann HG, Costa LRR, Martínez-López B, Madigan JE.To describe an animal health database used to facilitate effective disaster response and retrospective analysis of data concerning animals other than cats and dogs affected by the 2018 California Camp Fire. Methods: Veterinary medical entries (n = 206) for evacuated or rescued animals (151) of various species, including avian, bovine, camelid, caprine, equine, ovine, and porcine species, temporarily housed at the Butte County fairgrounds in Gridley, Calif. Methods: Case data were collected via a standardized form by volunteers with the University of California-Davis Veterinary Emergency Respon...
Song J, Song R, Wang P, Zhang Y, Yan Y, Zhou J, Chahan B, Liao M.The erythrocytic-stage surface protein equi merozoite antigen 1 (EMA-1) of Theileria equi is a major candidate for the development of a diagnostic antigen for equine piroplasmosis. In this study, BALB/c mice were immunized with purified recombinant EMA-1 to prepare monoclonal antibody (mAb) against T. equi EMA-1, and 1 mAb 5H2 was obtained that showed good reaction with infected red blood cells (RBC) in the indirect immunofluorescence assay (IFA). To develop a rapid serological detection method for T. equi infection in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China, recombinant EMA-1 originating from...
Sanmartí J, Armengou L, Viu J, Alguacil E, Civit S, Ríos J, Jose-Cunilleras E.Sparse information regarding plasma iron concentration in neonatal foals and its utility as an inflammatory marker in this population has been published. Objective: To determine the physiologic plasma iron concentration in neonatal foals. To assess its utility as an inflammatory marker to predict systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) and as a prognostic marker. Methods: Forty-seven ill neonatal foals admitted to a referral equine hospital were divided in 2 groups based on the SIRS criteria (24 SIRS and 23 non-SIRS). Two control groups of 43 hospital and 135 stud farm healthy neonatal ...
Beachler TM, Gracz HS, Morgan DR, Bembenek Bailey SA, Borst L, Ellis KE, Von Dollen KA, Lyle SK, Nebel A, Andrews NC, Koipalli J, Gadsby JE, Bailey CS.Metabolomics may represent an avenue for diagnosis of equine ascending placentitis. Objective: To characterise the plasma metabolomic profile in healthy mares and mares with induced ascending placentitis, with the goal of identifying metabolites with potential clinical value for early diagnosis of placentitis. Methods: Controlled in vivo experiment. Methods: Placentitis was induced in 10 late-term pregnant pony mares via Streptococcal equi subsp. zooepidemicus inoculation in five mares between days 285 and 290 of gestation, while five mares served as healthy controls. Repeated ultrasound exami...
Van Steenkiste G, L V, Decloedt A, Schauvliege S, Boussy T, van Loon G.Understanding the depolarisation pattern of the equine heart under normal physiologic conditions, and its relationship to the surface electrocardiogram (ECG), is of uppermost importance before any further research can be done about the pathophysiology of complex arrhythmias. In the present study, a 3D electro-anatomical mapping system was used to evaluate the qualitative and quantitative depolarisation patterns and correlation to the surface ECG of both the atrial and ventricular endocardium in seven healthy horses in sinus rhythm under general anaesthesia. Bipolar activation maps of the endoc...
Castro ER, Perez R, Rodriguez S, Bassetti L, Negro R, Vidal R.Equine influenza is one of the major respiratory infectious diseases in horses. In 2018, equine influenza virus (EIV) was confirmed as the cause of outbreaks of respiratory disease in horses in Chile and Argentina. In the same year, for the first time in Uruguay, EIV infection was confirmed by isolation and molecular analysis to be the cause of respiratory disease among hundreds of clinically affected thoroughbred horses in training and racing facilities. The virus was detected in nasopharyngeal swabs by a pan-reactive influenza type A realtime reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (...
Camacho-Rozo CA, Santos GO, Wenzen DP, Cousseau SB, Wronski JG, Argenta FF, Winter GHZ, Pavarini SP, Mattos RC.This report describes a case of sudden death of a pregnant miniature mare due to an acute ovarian hemorrhage leading to fatal hemoperitoneum. The miniature horse was a 12-year-old female, 60 days pregnant, with a body condition score of 7 (1-9), with a history of obesity and laminitis. Necropsy revealed hemoperitoneum due to an ovarian capsule rupture and hemorrhage after a physiological supplementary ovulation and luteinization. Ovarian rupture after ovulation is uncommon in mares.
Laroucau K, Saqib M, Martin B, Deshayes T, Bertin C, Wernery U, Joseph S, Singha H, Tripathi BN, Beck C.Burkholderia mallei is the etiologic agent of glanders, an infectious disease of solipeds, with renewed scientific interest due to its increasing incidence in different parts of the world. More rapid, sensitive and specific assays are required by laboratories for confirmatory testing of this disease. A microsphere-based immunoassay consisting of beads coated with B. mallei recombinant proteins (BimA, GroEL, Hcp1, and TssB) has been developed for the serological diagnosis of glanders. The proteins' performance was compared with the OIE reference complement fixation test (CFT) and an indirect en...
Bradley C, Grundon R, Sansom PG.Uveitis is reported to be a leading cause of blindness in horses. Little work has been undertaken to date to investigate whether donkeys are affected by a similar disease prevalence. Objective: To investigate the disease prevalence of uveitis in a population of donkeys in the UK. Methods: Descriptive observational study. Methods: An ophthalmic examination was performed on each donkey, in a darkened stable. Each donkey underwent slit lamp biomicroscopy, and direct and/or indirect ophthalmoscopy. Fluorescein staining, STT1 and IOPs were measured when deemed clinically necessary. Pharmacologica...
Mayaki AM, Abdul Razak IS, Mohd Adzahan N, Mazlan M, Abdullah R.Equine chronic back pain (CBP) has been linked to different pathologic processes, which directly or indirectly involve spinal structures. Thus, making diagnosis and management very challenging with most horses with the condition recommended for early retirement from athletic activity. This study described the spinal cord lesions and the development of reactive microgliosis and astrocytosis in the spinal cords of horse with CBP. Thoracolumbar spinal cord segments from three horses euthanized because of unresolved CBP were dissected and grossly and histopathologically examined. The expression of...
Kennedy R, Reardon RJM, James O, Wilson C, Dixon PM.Complications, especially delayed alveolar healing, are common following equine cheek teeth extraction, however, limited objective information is available on the prevalence and nature of these problems. Objective: To document the type and prevalence of complications that occur following equine cheek tooth extraction and to identify possible risk factors for these complications that could be used to predict their occurrence and hopefully reduce their prevalence. Methods: Retrospective cohort study. Methods: Clinical records of all cheek teeth extractions performed between February 2004 and Sep...
Giraldo A, Pinard CL, Plattner BL, Dubois MS.A periocular nodular sarcoid was diagnosed on the right upper eyelid and medial canthus of a 12-year-old Thoroughbred mare. Enucleation was performed and during the procedure the mass was noted to be firmly adhered to the underlying frontal bone. Partial ostectomy of the dorsal orbital rim was performed. Histopathology revealed invasion of the cortical lamellar bone and the bone marrow by neoplastic spindle cells and extension of these cells to multiple surgical margins. Recurrence at the level of the surgical site and its surroundings occurred 3 months after the procedure. The horse was eutha...
Hu K, Stewart AJ, Yuen KY, Hinrichsen S, Dryburgh EL, Bertin FR.Determination of plasma adrenocotrophic hormone (ACTH) concentration (endogenous or thyrotropin-releasing hormone [TRH] stimulation test) is the most commonly used diagnostic test for pituitary pars intermedia dysfunction (PPID) in horses. Because ACTH is unstable, samples often are frozen to be shipped to laboratories or to allow for batch analysis of research samples. However, the effect of multiple freeze-thaw cycles on equine ACTH is unknown. Objective: To determine the effects of multiple freeze-thaw cycles on immunoreactive ACTH concentration. Methods: Twenty-eight horses ranging from 10...
The study evaluated the intra- and inter-observer measurement variability of an osteophytosis metacarpophalangeal joint scoring system. Ten () dorso/palmar, latero/medial, and oblique views of equine metacarpophalangeal joints affected by osteoarthritis were examined. Nine assessment points were graded (scale: 0-3) twice by five veterinary students (inexperienced group, I) and four equine veterinary surgeons (expert group, E). The grades for each of the nine factors were summed to obtain the osteophytosis score. The variability between the two measurements was -2.04 ± 3.5, 95% CI -3.04 to -1....
Sudia WD, McLean RG, Newhouse VF, Johnston JG, Miller DL, Trevino H, Bowen GS, Sather G.Epidemic Venezuelan equine encephalitis in North America in 1971: vertebrate field studies. Am J Epidemiol 101:36-50, 1975.-In June 1971, epidemic Venezuelan equine encephalitis (VEE) invaded the lower Rio Grande Valley in south Texas. The Boca Chica area of Cameron County was selected as a study site to investigate vertebrate involvement in the natural cycle of epidemic VEE on the basis of considerable evidence of VEE virus activity there in equines, humans, and mosquito vectors. Only one VEE virus isolation was made from 4739 wild and domestic non-equine vertebrates, although numerous equine...
Tyrrell JD, Qurollo BA, Tornquist SJ, Schlaich KG, Kelsey J, Chandrashekar R, Breitschwerdt EB.Certain vector-borne organisms serve as etiological agents of equine disease. After previously identifying a new Ehrlichia species in horses from Mérida, we aimed to determine the infection frequency and screen for a wide range of vector-borne organisms from 93 tick-exposed, Ehrlichia seropositive horses in this region. PCR assays were performed to identify infection by organisms within the following genera: Anaplasma, Babesia, Bartonella, Ehrlichia, Leishmania, Mycoplasma, Neorickettsia, Rickettsia and Theileria. Overall, 90/93 horses (96.8%) were infected with one or more vector-borne organ...
Benfodil K, Büscher P, Abdelli A, Van Reet N, Mohamed-Herif A, Ansel S, Fettata S, Dehou S, Bebronne N, Geerts M, Balharbi F, Ait-Oudhia K.Trypanosoma evansi (T. evansi) is a hemoflagellate parasite that affects a broad range of mammalian hosts and that causes a disease called surra. Diagnosis of surra based on clinical symptoms alone is inaccurate. Therefore, a variety of serological and molecular diagnostic tests are used to assist in the detection of T. evansi infections. The aim of this study was to compare the diagnostic performance of four serological tests (CATT/T.evansi, immune trypanolysis, ELISA with purified variant surface glycoprotein RoTat 1.2 and with whole cell lysate) and two molecular PCR tests targeting sequenc...
Bonhomme D, Werts C.Leptospirosis is a zoonotic infectious disease affecting all vertebrates. It is caused by species of the genus Leptospira, among which are the highly pathogenic L. interrogans. Different mammals can be either resistant or susceptible to the disease which can present a large variety of symptoms. Humans are mostly asymptomatic after infection but can have in some cases symptoms varying from a flu-like syndrome to more severe forms such as Weil's disease, potentially leading to multiorgan failure and death. Similarly, cattle, pigs, and horses can suffer from acute forms of the disease, including ...
Hinton TM, Li F, Crabb BS.Equine rhinitis A virus (ERAV) has recently been classified as an aphthovirus, a genus otherwise comprised of the different serotypes of Foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV). FMDV initiates translation via a type II internal ribosomal entry site (IRES) and utilizes two in-frame AUG codons to produce the leader proteinases Lab and Lb. Here we show that the ERAV 5' nontranslated region also possesses the core structures of a type II IRES. The functional activity of this region was characterized by transfection of bicistronic plasmids into BHK-21 cells. In this system the core type II structures, ...
Bright LA, Dittmar W, Nanduri B, McCarthy FM, Mujahid N, Costa LR, Burgess SC, Swiderski CE. Pasture-associated severe equine asthma is a warm season, environmentally-induced respiratory disease characterized by reversible airway obstruction, persistent and non-specific airway hyper-responsiveness, and chronic neutrophilic airway inflammation. During seasonal exacerbation, signs vary from mild to life-threatening episodes of wheezing, coughing, and chronic debilitating labored breathing. In human asthma, neutrophilic airway inflammation is associated with more severe and steroid-refractory asthma phenotypes, highlighting a need to decipher the mechanistic basis of this disease chara...
Finno CJ, Valberg SJ, Shivers J, D'Almeida E, Armién AG.Equine degenerative myeloencephalopathy (EDM) is characterized by a symmetric general proprioceptive ataxia in young horses, and is likely underdiagnosed for 2 reasons: first, clinical signs overlap those of cervical vertebral compressive myelopathy; second, histologic lesions--including axonal spheroids in specific tracts of the somatosensory and motor systems--may be subtle. The purpose of this study was (1) to utilize immunohistochemical (IHC) markers to trace axons in the spinocuneocerebellar, dorsal column-medial lemniscal, and dorsospinocerebellar tracts in healthy horses and (2) to dete...
Schiltz RL, Shih DS, Rasty S, Montelaro RC, Rushlow KE.The utilization of predicted splice donor and acceptor sites in generating equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV) transcripts in fetal donkey dermal cells (FDD) was examined. A single splice donor site identified immediately upstream of the gag coding region joins the viral leader sequence to all downstream exons of spliced EIAV transcripts. The predominant 3.5-kb transcript synthesized in EIAV-infected FDD cells appears to be generated by a single splicing event which links the leader sequence to the first of two functional splice acceptor sites near the 5' end of the S1 open reading frame (OR...
Oikawa M, Kamada M, Yoshikawa Y, Yoshikawa T.Seven horses that died of pneumonia associated with transport yielded Streptococcus equi subsp. zooepidemicus (S.z.) from their pulmonary lesions. These lesions were divisible roughly into two types, serous haemorrhagic pneumonia and multiple foci of coagulative necrosis, which were considered to reflect a temporal difference in the process of lesion formation. Immunohistologically, S.z. antigen was detected in both types of lesion. Acute necrotic lacunar tonsillitis was considered to play an important role in the onset of the pneumonia.
Waller AS, Robinson C.The host-restricted bacterium Streptococcus equi is the causative agent of equine strangles, the most frequently diagnosed infectious disease of horses worldwide. The disease is characterized by abscessation of the lymph nodes of the head and neck, leading to significant welfare and economic cost. S. equi is believed to have evolved from an ancestral strain of Streptococcus zooepidemicus, an opportunistic pathogen of horses and other animals. Comparison of the genome of S. equi strain 4047 with those of S. zooepidemicus identified examples of gene loss due to mutation and deletion, and gene ga...
Floeck M.Ultrasonography is a helpful diagnostic tool in cattle with urinary tract disorders. It can be used to diagnose pyelonephritis, urolithiasis, hydronephrosis, renal cysts, renal tumors, amyloidosis, cystitis, bladder paralysis, bladder rupture, bladder neoplasms, and, occasionally, nephrosis, glomerulonephritis, and embolic nephritis. This article describes the anatomy, scanning technique, indications, limitations, normal and pathologic sonographic appearance of the bovine urinary tract. References from horses and humans are included, especially when the sonographic findings in these species ma...
Walker AM, Sellon DC, Cornelisse CJ, Hines MT, Ragle CA, Cohen N, Schott HC.A retrospective study of the medical records of 33 horses was performed to determine the clinical and diagnostic abnormalities associated with temporohyoid osteoarthropathy. Data collected from medical records included signalment, presenting complaints, history, physical examination findings, laboratory data, results of diagnostic imaging studies, and treatments. Follow-up information was obtained from a review of case records; by telephone conversation with the owner, veterinarian, or trainer; or by both methods. Of 33 horses with temporohyoid osteoarthropathy, 29 presented with facial nerve ...
Souza CE, Pinter A, Donalisio MR.Brazilian spotted fever (BSF) is a disease transmitted by ticks for which the etiological agent is Rickettsia rickettsii. The present essay evaluates the risk factors associated with the transmission of cases of BSF in the time period between 2003 and 2013 in the Piracicaba river basin, state of São Paulo. Methods: This essay presents a retrospective study to identify the factors associated with the transmission of cases of BSF among all suspected cases identified by the System for Epidemiological Surveillance of São Paulo (CVE). After the description of temporal distribution (onset of sympt...
Pasing SS, Aurich C, von Lewinski M, Wulf M, Krüger M, Aurich JE.An important factor influencing stallion fertility is the microbial contamination of semen. Aims of this study were to investigate changes in the microbiological population of the genital mucosa and semen in artificial insemination stallions (n=16) from before to after one breeding season (February-August). MALDI-TOF-MS (matrix assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry) was used for identification of microbial agents. For bacteriology, swabs from the urethral opening, urethral fossa and penile sheath as well as semen were collected at 4-week-intervals. For semen mot...
Bowden A, Burford JH, Brennan ML, England GCW, Freeman SL.Colic is the most common emergency problem in the horse. An owner's ability to recognise colic and seek assistance is a critical first step in determining case outcome. Objective: The aim of this study was to assess horse owners' knowledge and opinions on recognising colic. Methods: Cross-sectional study. Methods: An online questionnaire was distributed to horse owners with open and closed questions on their knowledge of normal clinical parameters in the horse, confidence and approach to recognising colic (including assessment through case scenarios), and their demographics. Descriptive and ch...
Allen JL, Begg AP, Browning GF.Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an opportunistic pathogen that has been recognized as a cause of endometritis in mares. Pulsed field gel electrophoresis was used to characterize and compare isolates of P. aeruginosa from an outbreak of endometritis and unrelated isolates collected at the same time as the outbreak. The restriction endonuclease digestion patterns and antimicrobial resistance profiles of all outbreak isolates were identical. Therefore, a single strain of P. aeruginosa was responsible for the cases of endometritis. The unrelated isolates could be distinguished from the outbreak strain u...
Sander J, Cavalleri JM, Terhardt M, Bochnia M, Zeyner A, Zuraw A, Sander S, Peter M, Janzen N.Hypoglycin A (2-amino-3-(2-methylidenecyclopropyl)propanoic acid) is the plant toxin shown to cause atypical myopathy in horses. It is converted in vivo to methylenecyclopropyl acetic acid, which is transformed to a coenzyme A ester that subsequently blocks beta oxidation of fatty acids. Methylenecyclopropyl acetic acid is also conjugated with carnitine and glycine. Acute atypical myopathy may be diagnosed by quantifying the conjugates of methylenecyclopropyl acetic acid plus a selection of acyl conjugates in urine and serum. We describe a new mass spectrometric method for sample volumes of <0...
Bogaert L, Willemsen A, Vanderstraeten E, Bracho MA, De Baere C, Bravo IG, Martens A.Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) represents the most common genital malignant tumor in horses. Similar to humans, papillomaviruses (PVs) have been proposed as etiological agents and recently Equine papillomavirus type 2 (EcPV2) has been identified in a subset of genital SCCs. The goals of this study were (1) to determine the prevalence of EcPV2 DNA in tissue samples from equine genital SCCs, penile intraepithelial neoplasia (PIN) and penile papillomas, using EcPV2-specific PCR, (2) to examine the prevalence of latent EcPV2 infection in healthy genital mucosa and (3) to determine genetic variabili...
Ferrari CR, Cooley J, Mujahid N, Costa LR, Wills RW, Johnson ME, Swiderski CE.Severe equine asthma, formerly recurrent airway obstruction (RAO), is the horse counterpart of human asthma, affecting horses maintained indoors in continental climates. Equine pasture asthma, formerly summer pasture RAO, is clinically similar but affects grazing horses during hot, humid conditions in the southeastern United States and United Kingdom. To advance translational relevance of equine pasture asthma to human asthma, histologic features of airway remodeling in human asthma were scored in lung lobes from 15 pasture asthma-affected and 9 control horses of mixed breeds. All noncartilagi...
Kasapi MA, Gosline JM.Morphological and mechanical studies were conducted on samples of equine hoof wall to help elucidate the relationship between form and function of this complex, hierarchically organized structure. Morphological findings indicated a dependence of tubule size, shape and helical alignment of intermediate filaments (IFs) within the lamellae on the position through the wall thickness. The plane of the intertubular IFs changed from perpendicular to the tubule axis in the inner wall to almost parallel to the tubule axis in the outer wall. Morphological data predicted the existence of three crack dive...
Munday JS, Knight CG, Luff JA.Papillomaviruses (PVs) cause disease in humans, dogs, cats, and horses. While there are some differences, many aspects of the pathogenesis, presentation, and treatment of these diseases are similar between the four species. In this review, the PV-induced diseases of humans are compared to the similar diseases that develop in the companion animal species. By comparing with the human diseases, it is possible to make assumptions about some of the less common and less well-studied diseases in the veterinary species. In the first part of this review, the PV lifecycle is discussed along with the cla...
Noiman S, Yaniv A, Sherman L, Tronick SR, Gazit A.The pattern of expression of the equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV) genome in a persistently infected canine cell line was determined. Five EIAV-specific transcripts (8.2, 5.0, 4.0, 2, and 1.8 kilobases [kb]) were detected by using subgenomic restriction enzyme fragments of EIAV DNA and EIAV-specific oligonucleotides as probes. The 8.2-kb mRNA could be shown to represent viral genomic RNA, whereas the smaller transcripts were generated by splicing events. Evidence was obtained that indicated that each subgenomic RNA species shared a common 5'-splice donor. The 5.0-kb mRNA was found to be ex...
Morota G, Peñagaricano F, Petersen JL, Ciobanu DC, Tsuyuzaki K, Nikaido I.An integral part of functional genomics studies is to assess the enrichment of specific biological terms in lists of genes found to be playing an important role in biological phenomena. Contrasting the observed frequency of annotated terms with those of the background is at the core of overrepresentation analysis (ORA). Gene Ontology (GO) is a means to consistently classify and annotate gene products and has become a mainstay in ORA. Alternatively, Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) offers a comprehensive life science vocabulary including additional categories that are not covered by GO. Although...
Bannai H, Nemoto M, Niwa H, Murakami S, Tsujimura K, Yamanaka T, Kondo T.We studied a recent epizootic of Getah virus infection among pigs in the southern part of Ibaraki Prefecture and the northern part of Chiba Prefecture, Japan, focusing on its possible association with outbreaks in racehorses in 2014 and 2015. The genomic sequence of a Getah virus strain from an infected pig was analyzed to evaluate the degree of identity with the strains from horses. Results: Sera were collected from pigs from September to December 2012 to 2015 in south Ibaraki (380 pigs in 29 batches), and from September to December 2010 to 2015 in north Chiba (538 pigs in 104 batches). They ...
Martinez-Torrecuadrada JL, Iwata H, Venteo A, Casal I, Roy P.African horsesickness virus (AHSV) is a gnat-transmitted member of the Orbivirus genus of the Reoviridae family. The virus has a genome of 10 double-stranded RNA species (L1-L3, M4-M6, S7-S10). The L2 and M6 genes of AHSV serotype 4 (AHSV-4) which encode the outer capsid proteins VP2 and VP5, respectively, were inserted into recombinant baculoviruses downstream of the baculovirus polyhedrin, or p10 promoters. Recombinant baculoviruses expressing VP2, VP5, or VP2 and VP5 proteins of AHSV-4 were isolated. The expressed AHSV proteins were similar in size and antigenic properties to those of viral...
Aleman M, Riehl J, Aldridge BM, Lecouteur RA, Stott JL, Pessah IN.Equine malignant hyperthermia MH has been suspected but never genetically confirmed. In this study, we investigated whether mutations in a candidate gene, RyR1, were associated with MH in two clinically affected horses. RyR1 gene sequences revealed polymorphisms in exons 15, 17, and 46 in WTRyR1 and MHRyR1 horses with one derived amino acid change in MHRyR1 exon 46, R2454G. The MHRyR1 horses were genetically heterozygous for this mutation, but presented an MH phenotype with halothane challenge. Skeletal sarcoplasmic reticulum from a R2454G heterozygote collected during a fulminant MH episode s...
Nielsen SS, Bicout DJ, Calistri P, Canali E, Drewe JA, Garin-Bastuji B, Gonzales Rojas JL, Gortázar C, Herskin M, Michel V, Miranda Chueca MÁ.... () was identified among the most relevant antimicrobial-resistant (AMR) bacteria in the EU for dogs and cats, horses, swine, poultry, cattle, sheep and goats in previous scientific opinions. Thus, it has been assessed according to the criteria of the Animal Health Law (AHL), in particular criteria of Article 7 on disease profile and impacts, Article 5 on its eligibility to be listed, Annex IV for its categorisation according to disease prevention and control rules as in Article 9 and Article 8 for listing animal species related to the bacterium. The assessment has been performed following a m...
Oliveira-Neto MP, Pirmez C, Rangel E, Schubach A, Grimaldi Júnior G.From July 1984 to September 1986, 105 cases of American cutaneous leishmaniasis were studied in a locality closely situated to an urbanized area of the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Settlement in this area was established at least 20 years ago but the first cases were noted six months prior to the beginning of this study. Cases were almost exclusively cutaneous and ulcerated, with one to six months of evolution. Montenegro's skin tests were positive in all cases and anti-Leishmania antibodies were detected by indirect immunofluorescence test in 74.3% of the patients. Parasites were demonstra...
Sanders RK, Martyn B, Joseph R, Peacock ML.In a two-year study of 322 conservatively treated, consecutive cases of tetanus in a rural hospital (all over twelve months old), intrathecal administration of 200 units of antitetanus serum (A.T.S.) (horse) reduced the overall mortality of 4-5% (5/110) compared with 14-5% (16/111) in the control series. 200 units intrathecal A.T.S. (horse) gave better results than 1500 units A.T.S. (horse). The results with lumbar and cisternal administration did not differ. It is suggested that tetanus is a polysystemic condition requiring polysystemic therapy. A regimen in which intrathecal A.T.S. is given ...
