Disease management in horses encompasses the strategies and practices employed to prevent, control, and treat diseases affecting equine populations. This field involves understanding the etiology, transmission, and clinical presentation of various equine diseases, as well as implementing biosecurity measures and therapeutic interventions. Common diseases in horses include equine influenza, strangles, and equine herpesvirus. Effective disease management relies on accurate diagnosis, vaccination protocols, and the use of antimicrobials and other treatments. This page compiles peer-reviewed research studies and scholarly articles that explore the methodologies, challenges, and advancements in managing diseases in equine health.
Aziz KJ, Issa NA, Mikaeel FB, Ismael SS.This study investigated the prevalence, intensity, and associated risk factors of Parascaris equorum (P. equorum) infection in equids using both parasitological and molecular methods. Data on age, sex, body condition, and housing conditions were systematically collected to evaluate their influence on infection risk. Fecal samples from 294 equines (148 horses, 47 mules, 63 donkeys, and 36 ponies) were examined microscopically using direct wet-mount and flotation techniques, with infection intensity quantified using the McMaster technique to determine eggs per gram (EPG). Molecular confirmation ...
Kerley BS, Harris P, Jacquay E, Askins M, McClendon M, Adams AA.Feeding small meals (∼1 g/kg BW DM basis) providing >10% nonstructural carbohydrates (NSC; starch + water soluble carbohydrate; WSC) has resulted in an augmented insulin response (AIR) in insulin dysregulated (ID) horses, but it's unclear if AIR reflects NSC content or the g NSC/kg BW/meal. Objective: The insulinemic responses of ID (n = 7) and non-insulin dysregulated (NID; n = 8) horses fed four feeds (A = 6.8% NSC; B = 14.9% NSC; C = 35.5% NSC; D = 44.6% NSC) at three levels of NSC intake (0.06, 0.11-0.12 and 0.17-0.18 g/kg BW) were evaluated in a randomized Latin square design across two...
Irving J, Pineau V, Shultz S, Ter Woort F, Julien F, Lambey S, van Erck-Westergren E.Equine gastric disease (EGD) is a common condition in performance horses (), potentially compromising behaviour, performance, and welfare. EGD is often attributed to high-starch, high-sugar feeds and limited forage. Evidence for diet-induced changes on digestive microbiota is lacking. Nine elite showjumping horses were housed at the same performance yard with standardised diet and management throughout the study. Horses were transitioned from a high-sugar and -starch (31%) feed to a low-starch and -sugar (16.5%) concentrate feed. Gastroscopies, blood, and faecal samples were taken pre- and 12 ...
Kelemen Z, Vogl C, Torres Borda L, Auer U, Jenner F.Clinical care for patients with limited life expectancy often requires adjustments, prioritizing immediate benefits over long-term outcomes, as the relevance of future complications diminishes. This study identifies indicators of mortality risk in horses with chronic orthopaedic conditions to enhance individualized care and welfare. Over 3 years, 123 chronically lame horses and 6 healthy control horses at an animal sanctuary underwent regular (every 3 months) comprehensive health assessments and activity monitoring using wearable sensors. Data collected included body condition scores, muscul...
Rossi HS, Mykkänen AK, Teppo AM, Junnila JJT, Hyytiäinen HK.Pneumonia is a common condition in young, hospitalized foals, causing accumulation of inflammatory secretions to the airways. In humans, respiratory physiotherapy is commonly used as a supplementary treatment for pneumonia with varying results regarding its efficacy, but the efficacy in foals has not been assessed to date. Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of respiratory physiotherapy as a supplementary therapy method for young foals with pneumonia. Methods: A total of 44 foals with pneumonia aged under a month were used. The prospective intervention group receivi...
Boocock H, Flyps J, Escobar A, Redondo JI, Taylor PM, Gozalo-Marcilla M, Johnston GM, Bettschart-Wolfensberger R, Sullivan R.Equid anaesthetic mortality is of interest to practitioners. Data for donkey and hybrid mortality have not been specifically described. The main aim of this worldwide observational, prospective, multicentre cohort study was to report on mortality in the 7 days following a general anaesthetic or standing sedation in donkeys and hybrids. This study hypothesised that donkeys and hybrids would have higher mortalities compared to horses. Data were collected as part of the fourth Confidential Enquiry into Perioperative Equine Fatalities (CEPEF4). A total of 825 cases were included, with 757 donkeys ...
Pimenta J, Cotovio M.This study explores equine veterinarians' clinical practices regarding mucocutaneous tumors, based on a survey conducted among members of the Portuguese Association of Equine Veterinarians, and examines their perceptions of owner and buyer concerns regarding these tumors. Veterinarians expressed significantly greater concern about squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) during routine examinations ( < 0.001) compared to sarcoids and melanomas. Concern over sarcoids was significantly greater during pre-purchase evaluations compared to routine clinical exams ( = 0.03). For melanomas, a trend toward increa...
Herkenhoff ME.MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are molecules that regulate gene expression by targeting the 3' untranslated region (UTR) of mRNAs. They are essential in numerous biological processes like growth, metabolism, and muscle development. miRNA research has become crucial in livestock breeding, offering solutions for improving animal health and productivity. This review focuses on miRNAs' roles in equine performance, reproduction, and disease, highlighting key findings and future applications in these areas. It discusses the use of circulating miRNAs (ci-miRNA) as biomarkers for athletic performance, particularl...
Berni P, Del Bue M, Conti V, Andreoli V, Ramoni R, Angelone M, Squassino GP, Bari E, Torre ML, Rinaldi M, Dotti S, Rossi R, Yusuf I, Mauri P....Most in vivo studies on MSC-secretome for osteoarthritis (OA) have relied on animal models, using products lacking pharmaceutical quality, not formulated for clinical use, and insufficiently characterized, limiting knowledge of its effectiveness. This study reports veterinary clinical trials on dogs and horses with spontaneous OA: in dogs (26 subjects), the trial is randomized, double-blinded, and controlled; in horses, 5 clinical cases were treated for safety assessment. Treatment consisted of hyaluronic acid with either lyosecretome - a freeze-dried, injectable MSC-secretome obtained through...
Slavik K, Whitlock R, Johnson A.Botulism is a severe and often fatal disease in equine patients worldwide. Clostridium botulinum is a ubiquitous soil organism which produces a potent neurotoxin resulting in neuromuscular blockade and flaccid paralysis in affected animals. Definitive diagnosis is often impractical or impossible, leading to diagnosis and treatment based on clinical experience and presenting signs. Delay in case identification and treatment results in rapid deterioration of the patient. Treatment of recumbent equine botulism cases presents challenges due to patient size and requires intensive nursing care. This...
Bauquier J, Takahashi C, Rosales C, Pitt J.There is limited published information on Malva parviflora toxicosis in horses. Four previously reported cases all resulted in death or euthanasia. The aim of this cluster investigation was to describe historical, clinical and clinicopathological findings of four ponies with suspected M. parviflora toxicosis and compare these to previously reported cases. Historical, clinical and clinicopathological findings were collated. Ponies were grazing pasture of approximately >90% M. parviflora. Pony 1 died rapidly without veterinary examination. Pony 2 was examined for prolonged recumbency attribut...
Huang X, Deng R, Huang H, Xie H, Chen A.This case report detailed a rare co-infection of and in a 9-year-old warmblood mare, leading to severe cellulitis and secondary lymphangitis following traditional hoof blood-letting therapy. The mare exhibited acute limb swelling, fever, cutaneous ulceration, lymphatic dysfunction and unknown anemia. Comprehensive diagnostics, including bacterial culture, whole-genome sequencing, anti-elastin antibody (AEAb) ELISA, and diagnostic imaging, confirmed the pathogens causing cellulitis and secondary lymphangitis. AEAb levels were elevated, correlating with lymphatic degradation, while radiography...
Schlote MT, Drozdzewska K, Ehrle A, Lischer C, Gehlen H.This case report describes the use of computed tomography for the diagnosis and surgical planning in a horse with bilateral nephrolithiasis. An adult Warmblood stallion (460 kg) was presented with chronic weight loss, hypercalcemia and azotemia. Ultrasonographic examination identified hyperechoic masses in both kidneys and dilation of the right renal pelvis. A solid mass was evident upon transrectal examination on the left side. Computed tomography (CT) of the caudal abdomen was performed and provided good quality images that facilitated exact determination of the size, position and extent of ...
Harte T, Smith D, Moore J, Wells B.An article published in 1992 by Marion M. Pollin and I.R. Griffiths reviewed the topic of primary dysautonomias of the autonomic nervous system of unidentified origin in multiple domestic species, specifically cats, dogs and horses. Thirty-one years later, we appear no closer to identifying the causal agents of these strikingly similar diseases. This article reviews the similarities and differences in clinical presentation and pathology of dysautonomia in canids, felids, equids, leporids and other less frequently reported species.
Leus EK, Collins N, Gruyaert M, Kennedy RN, McConnell E, McGorum BC, Luethy D, Sanz M, Versporten A, Viljoen A, Lyle CH.Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is increasingly recognised in equine medicine. Antimicrobial use (AMU) is a key driver of AMR. Objective: To pilot a point prevalence survey (PPS), based on the Global-PPS used in human hospitals, to obtain data on antibiotic prescribing and AMR in equine hospitals and to identify targets for improvement in AMU. Methods: Point prevalence survey. Methods: Eight equine hospitals located in Australia, Belgium, South Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States were recruited. Data on AMU were collected from all in-patients on antibiotic treatment at 08h00 on fou...
Donovan K, Torres J, Zhu D, Herrington WG, Staplin N.Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of disease progression are vulnerable to collider bias caused by selection of participants with disease at study entry. This bias introduces spurious associations between disease progression and genetic variants that are truly only associated with disease incidence. Methods of statistical adjustment to reduce this bias have been published, but rely on assumptions regarding the genetic correlation of disease incidence and disease progression which are likely to be violated in many human diseases. MR-Horse is a recently published Bayesian method to estimate...
Nikvand AA, Jalali SM, Bahrami S, Rahij Torfi H.Trypanosoma evansi (T. evansi) is a hemoprotozoan parasite affecting camels and equids, such as horses, mules, and donkeys, and is known to cause surra disease in these animals. Despite the worldwide distribution of T. evansi infections in equids, surra has not been reported in Arabian horses in Khuzestan Province for over 60 years. In September 2018, a 7-year-old Arabian mare was referred from a 10-horse farm in the suburbs of Ahvaz City. The mare presented with a history of weight loss, poor appetite, and proximity to a camel herd. Physical examination revealed a poor body condition score ...
Elte Y, Wolframm I, Vernooij H, Nielen M, van Weeren R.Equine veterinarians play a crucial role in maintaining equine health and ensuring client satisfaction. Understanding their perspectives on key aspects of veterinary care is essential for optimising outcomes for both clients and horses. Objective: To identify and compare the importance equine veterinarians place on seven key aspects of client satisfaction in equine veterinary practice (quality of care, quality of service, horsemanship, interpersonal skills, transfer of knowledge, financial aspects and professionalism) across four different scenarios. Methods: A cross-sectional survey-based stu...
Parra-Moyano LA, Cedeño A, Darby S, Johnson JP, Gomez DE.The effectiveness of the peritoneal fluid L-lactate-to-total solids ratio (PFL:PFTS) as a diagnostic marker for strangulating lesions of the small intestine (SI) and large colon (LC) has not been investigated. Objective: Describe and compare the PFL:PTFS and blood lactate (BL), peritoneal fluid lactate (PFL) and PFL:BL difference and PFL:BL ratio of horses with SI and LC strangulating (SO) and non-strangulating (NSO) obstructions and determine sensitivity and specificity to predict SO. Methods: A total of 282 horses, 117 with SI lesions (59 classified as SINSO and 58 as SISO), and 165 with LC ...
O'Connor A, Totton SC, Hernandez M, Meyers E, Meyers K, Abreu HM, Spofford N, Morrison J.Barriers to accessing veterinary care can be challenging for companion-animal caregivers and may lead to preventable health conditions or even death of pets. Objective: We conducted a scoping review to: 1) catalog the definitions of access to veterinary care (A2VC) used by researchers, 2) identify risk factors for and consequences of A2VC, and 3) map the risk factors onto dimensions of access to care (affordability, availability, accessibility, accommodation, acceptability). Methods: Primary research on companion animals not involved in commercial enterprises (e.g., horse racing) examining con...
Parra MT, Ayala MSF.A retrospective study was conducted at the Foal Care Equine Perinatology Center in Colombia from October 2017 to May 2023. The goal was to analyze the most frequent pathologies, as well as assess the sexes, ages, and breeds of the patients, with an emphasis on the perinatal population. Out of 945 clinical histories, 776 pertained to perinatology. Survival rates were calculated, and a descriptive analysis was performed. The overall survival rate for neonates was 73.6%, with females constituting 57% of the neonatal patients. The most prevalent breed among mares and neonates was the Creole Colomb...
MacNeill AL, Micheloud JF, Parvin R, Gjessing M, Airas NA, Sant'Ana FJF, Adamek M.Zoonotic poxviruses, including monkeypox virus (MPV), the causative agent for Mpox disease, have gained significant media and scientific attention due to recent outbreaks in human populations across the globe. The increase in human cases of poxvirus infection is not unexpected, as routine vaccination against smallpox (a disease caused by the poxvirus variola virus, which cross protects against other orthopoxviruses) was discontinued in the 1980s after its eradication. Large numbers of vertebrate and invertebrate species are susceptible to infection by . Clinical signs and histologic lesions ca...
Quam V.Inflammation plays a role in acute and chronic equine tendon/ligament injury; anti-inflammatories are often indicated. Local corticosteroids provide consistent and profound short-term effects on pain and inflammation across species. However, there is no demonstrated benefit in the long term, and complications can occur. Alternative biologic anti-inflammatory treatments are available and should be used in horses at risk of complications. Nonetheless, corticosteroids remain an affordable and effective anti-inflammatory that, with continued research, may be indicated on a case-by-case basis as pa...
Birkmann K, Waldern N, Jucker S, Balaschitsch K, Zablotski Y, Fettelschoss-Gabriel A.Recurrent urticaria is common in horses. The pathophysiology is poorly understood and treatment options are limited. Often, only glucocorticoids are effective for controlling clinical signs, albeit with potential adverse effects. Studies investigating new treatments need a validated objective scoring system for the grading of skin lesions to assess response. Objective: The aims were to investigate inter- and intraobserver reliability of the Equine Urticaria Activity Score (EqUAS) for the grading of skin lesions in horses with recurrent urticaria, and to examine agreement between experienced an...
Vitale V, Velloso Álvarez A, de la Cuesta-Torrado M, Neira-Egea P, Vandecandelaere M, Tee E, Gimeno M, van Galen G.In human medicine, neurological diseases have been associated with transient cardiac abnormalities. In horses, myocardial disease is rarely diagnosed and has been associated with a wide variety of causes. The aim of this article is to describe three horses with no previous cardiac disease, which all developed severe cardiomyopathy following neurological disease. A 5-year-old Shetland pony stallion was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy with arrhythmias following an episode of seizures caused by an accidental intra-arterial xylazine injection. A 20-year-old crossbred mare was hospitalised for an ope...
Connolly KM, Estell K.Dysphagia describes a clinical sign of pathologies of the oral cavity, pharynx, and oesophagus that carries potentially serious consequences for horses. Given the diversity of differential diagnoses that may cause dysphagia, an understanding of the prevalence of dysphagia in hospitalised patients, the distribution of aetiologies and clinical outcomes could inform diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis. Objective: This study aims to describe the incidence, signalment, history, aetiology, treatment, and outcome of horses presenting to a referral hospital for dysphagia. Methods: Retrospective case s...
Toft K, Mardahl M, Hedberg-Alm Y, Anlén K, Tydén E, Nielsen MK, Honoré ML, Fromm B, Nielsen LN, Nejsum P, Thamsborg SM, Cirera S, Pihl TH.Non-strangulating intestinal infarctions (NSII) associated with Strongylus vulgaris infection and idiopathic peritonitis (IP) share similar clinical presentation but require different treatment approaches. Horses with NSII need surgical intervention, while idiopathic peritonitis cases can be successfully treated with antimicrobials. A correct diagnosis is thus crucial, but because the two diseases overlap in clinicopathological features, differentiation is difficult in clinical practice. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are non-coding RNAs that exhibit measurable changes in abundance in tissues and circulat...
Furtado T, Perkins E, Archer DC.Research on the outcomes of veterinary treatments in dogs, cats and horses has important benefits for these animals and their owners. However, this information is not always available, and the evidence base is often lower-quality than in human medicine. To identify ways to improve the generation of evidence, we investigated the views of veterinary professionals about research involving companion animal patients and their owners. This qualitative study used semi-structured interviews with veterinary surgeons and registered veterinary nurses working in UK companion animal clinical practice. Inte...
Van den Eede A, Martens A, Lipinska U, Struelens M, Deplano A, Denis O, Haesebrouck F, Gasthuys F, Hermans K.Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections do occur in equine patients. Little is known, however, about their origin and the general equine MRSA colonization status. In West European horses in particular, neither the colonization rate nor the present strains or their antimicrobial susceptibility patterns are known. In the present study, a sample of 110 (Belgian, French, Dutch and Luxemburg) horses presented at a Belgian equine clinic was screened for nasal MRSA carriage. An indirect culturing protocol using a 0.001% colistin and nalidixic acid containing broth was compared t...
Brüssow H, Brüssow L.Contemporary medical reports from Britain and Germany on patients suffering from a pandemic infection between 1889 and 1891, which was historically referred to as the Russian flu, share a number of characteristics with COVID-19. Most notable are aspects of multisystem affections comprising respiratory, gastrointestinal and neurological symptoms including loss of taste and smell perception; a protracted recovery resembling long covid and pathology observations of thrombosis in multiple organs, inflammation and rheumatic affections. As in COVID-19 and unlike in influenza, mortality was seen in e...
Shehu-Xhilaga M, Ablan S, Demirov DG, Chen C, Montelaro RC, Freed EO.The Gag proteins of a number of different retroviruses contain late or L domains that promote the release of virions from the plasma membrane. Three types of L domains have been identified to date: Pro-Thr-Ala-Pro (PTAP), Pro-Pro-X-Tyr, and Tyr-Pro-Asp-Leu. It has previously been demonstrated that overexpression of the N-terminal, E2-like domain of the endosomal sorting factor TSG101 (TSG-5') inhibits human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) release but does not affect the release of the PPPY-containing retrovirus murine leukemia virus (MLV), whereas overexpression of the C-terminal portion...
Huang ZY, de Boer WF, van Langevelde F, Olson V, Blackburn TM, Prins HH.Hosts species for multi-host pathogens show considerable variation in the species' reservoir competence, which is usually used to measure species' potential to maintain and transmit these pathogens. Although accumulating research has proposed a trade-off between life-history strategies and immune defences, only a few studies extended this to host species' reservoir competence. Using a phylogenetic comparative approach, we studied the relationships between some species' life-history traits and reservoir competence in three emerging infectious vector-borne disease systems, namely Lyme disease, W...
Payne SL, Fang FD, Liu CP, Dhruva BR, Rwambo P, Issel CJ, Montelaro RC.The extent and nature of genomic variation among nine antigenically distinct EIAV isolates recovered during sequential clinical episodes from two experimentally infected ponies were examined by restriction fragment analysis and nucleotide sequencing. Only minor variations in restriction enzyme patterns were observed among the viral genomes. In contrast, env gene sequences of four isolates from one pony revealed numerous clustered base substitutions. Divergence in env gene nucleotide and deduced amino acid sequences between pairs of virus isolates ranged from 0.62 to 3.4% env gene mutation rate...
Tirosh-Levy S, Gottlieb Y, Fry LM, Knowles DP, Steinman A.Equine piroplasmosis (EP), caused by the hemoparasites , , and , is an important tick-borne disease of equines that is prevalent in most parts of the world. Infection may affect animal welfare and has economic impacts related to limitations in horse transport between endemic and non-endemic regions, reduced performance of sport horses and treatment costs. Here, we analyzed the epidemiological, serological, and molecular diagnostic data published in the last 20 years, and all DNA sequences submitted to GenBank database, to describe the current global prevalence of these parasites. We demonstrat...
Thiel PG, Marasas WF, Sydenham EW, Shephard GS, Gelderblom WC.Contamination of corn with the fungus Fusarium moniliforme and its secondary metabolites, the fumonisins, has been associated with several human and animal diseases. This paper summarizes present knowledge and presents new data on the levels of fumonisins present in foods and feeds associated with these diseases as well as in commercial corn and corn-based products. The doses of fumonisins to which humans and animals consuming these products would be exposed are compared with those doses known to produce LEM in horses and hepatocarcinogenesis in rats. It is concluded that the known naturally o...
Friedhoff KT, Tenter AM, Müller I.The geographical distribution of Babesia equi and Babesia caballi and their tick vectors is discussed. Control of infections with these protozoa is hampered by the lack of a suitable antiprotozoal drug and a reliable serological test. No vaccine is available. Ehrlichia risticii (the causal agent of Potomac horse fever) and E. equi are rickettsial parasites which are difficult to control. Little is known of their geographical distribution and vectors. Early diagnosis is required for tetracycline therapy to be effective and there is a need for a rapid test to provide an early diagnosis.
Pusterla N, Mapes S, Wademan C, White A, Ball R, Sapp K, Burns P, Ormond C, Butterworth K, Bartol J, Magdesian KG.The purpose of this study was to describe clinical, hematological and fecal PCR results from 161 horses involved in outbreaks associated with ECoV. The outbreaks happened at four separate boarding facilities between November 2011 and April 2012 in the States of CA, TX, WI and MA. Following the molecular detection of ECoV in the feces from the initial index cases, the remaining herdmates were closely observed for the development of clinical signs. Fecal samples were collected from sick and healthy horses for the PCR detection of ECoV. All four outbreaks involved primarily adult horses. Fifty-ni...
Giguère S, Prescott JF.Since the 1986 Rhodococcus equi workshop, there have been major breakthroughs in understanding the epidemiology of, the virulence of, and the immune response to, this intriguing pathogen. However, with the exception of the use of hyperimmune plasma for the prevention of the disease (Martens et al., 1989; Madigan et al., 1991) the clinical aspects of R. equi infections have essentially remained unchanged. This article reviews the various clinical manifestations and summarizes recent advances in diagnosis, treatment and prevention of R. equi infections in foals.
Bonnett BN, Egenvall A.From 1995 to the present Agria Animal Insurance, Sweden (Agria Djurförsäkring, Stockholm, Sweden) has provided data on both health care and life insurance claims for descriptive and analytical research. From these data we have published extensively on insured dogs and horses and have recently submitted a study on cat mortality. Over the periods studied most extensively (1995-2002 for dogs, 1997-2004 for horses and 1999-2006 for cats), Agria has insured approximately 200,000 dogs, 100,000 horses and up to 200,000 cats per year. Estimates based on formal research or market surveys suggest that...
Hughes J, Allen RC, Baguelin M, Hampson K, Baillie GJ, Elton D, Newton JR, Kellam P, Wood JL, Holmes EC, Murcia PR.The ability of influenza A viruses (IAVs) to cross species barriers and evade host immunity is a major public health concern. Studies on the phylodynamics of IAVs across different scales - from the individual to the population - are essential for devising effective measures to predict, prevent or contain influenza emergence. Understanding how IAVs spread and evolve during outbreaks is critical for the management of epidemics. Reconstructing the transmission network during a single outbreak by sampling viral genetic data in time and space can generate insights about these processes. Here, we ob...
Hinchcliff KW, Couetil LL, Knight PK, Morley PS, Robinson NE, Sweeney CR, van Erck E.Published studies of exercise-induced pulmonary hemorrhage (EIPH), when assessed individually, often provide equivocal or conflicting results. Systematic reviews aggregate evidence from individual studies to provide a global assessment of the quality of evidence and to inform recommendations. Objective: Evaluate evidence to determine: if EIPH adversely affects the health, welfare or both of horses; if EIPH affects the athletic capacity of horses; the efficacy of prophylactic interventions for EIPH; and if furosemide affects the athletic capacity of horses. Methods: None. Methods: Systematic re...
Dürrwald R, Kolodziejek J, Weissenböck H, Nowotny N.Borna disease (BD) is a sporadic neurologic disease of horses and sheep caused by mammalian Borna disease virus (BDV). Its unique epidemiological features include: limited occurrence in certain endemic regions of central Europe, yearly varying disease peaks, and a seasonal pattern with higher disease frequencies in spring and a disease nadir in autumn. It is most probably not directly transmitted between horses and sheep. All these features led to the assumption that an indigenous virus reservoir of BDV other than horses and sheep may exist. The search for such a reservoir had been unsuccessfu...
Daly JM, MacRae S, Newton JR, Wattrang E, Elton DM.This review discusses some of the challenges still faced in the control of equine influenza virus H3N8 infection. A widespread outbreak of equine influenza in the United Kingdom during 2003 in vaccinated Thoroughbred racehorses challenged the current dogma on vaccine strain selection. Furthermore, several new developments in the first decade of the 21st century, including transmission to and establishment in dogs, a presumed influenza-associated encephalopathy in horses and an outbreak of equine influenza in Australia, serve as a reminder of the unpredictable nature of influenza viruses. The a...
Herrera HM, Dávila AM, Norek A, Abreu UG, Souza SS, D'Andrea PS, Jansen AM.In order to better understand the enzootiology of trypanosomiasis caused by Trypanosoma evansi in the Brazilian Pantanal we examined domestic and wild mammals by microhematocrit centrifuge technique (MHCT), immunofluorescence antibody test (IFAT) and polymerase chain reaction (PCR). T. evansi infection was detected in all species sampled with exception of the sheep and the feral pig. High parasitemias were observed in capybaras (5/24), coatis (18/115), horses (31/321) and dogs (3/112). Among these species, only the capybaras did not develop anemia. Low parasitemias, only detected by PCR, were ...
Cowled B, Ward MP, Hamilton S, Garner G.Australia experienced a large outbreak of equine influenza in August 2007. Nearly 10000 premises were infected during the epidemic. We used spatial and temporal analytical techniques to describe the epidemic, to quantify important descriptors of the epidemic, and to generate hypotheses about how the epidemic progressed and which control tools assisted in eradication. Spatio-temporal epidemic curves revealed three phases in the epidemic: dispersal, local spread and disease fade out. Spatial dispersal of infection rapidly declined immediately after national movement restrictions were introduced....
Brewer BD, Koterba AM.A sepsis scoring system was developed and tested prospectively in a blind study of 190 neonatal foals admitted to the University of Florida Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital's neonatal intensive care unit. The system used 14 readily available historical, clinical or laboratory variables and weighted each item to arrive at a sepsis score. The score was found to have a sensitivity of 93 per cent, a specificity of 86 per cent, positive accuracy rate of 89 per cent and negative accuracy rate of 92 per cent. The sepsis score was far more sensitive and specific for infection, even in very early c...
Rojas G, Jiménez JM, Gutiérrez JM.A simple methodology for hyperimmune horse plasma fractionation, based on caprylic acid precipitation, is described. Optimal conditions for fractionation were studied; the method gives best results when concentrated caprylic acid was added to plasma, whose pH had been adjusted to 5.8, until a final caprylic acid concentration of 5% was reached. The mixture was vigorously stirred during caprylic acid addition and then for 60 min; afterwards the mixture was filtered. Non-immunoglobulin proteins precipitated in these conditions, whereas a highly enriched immunoglobulin preparation was obtained in...
Newton JR, Daly JM, Spencer L, Mumford JA.Between March and May 2003, equine influenza virus infection was confirmed as the cause of clinical respiratory disease among both vaccinated and unvaccinated horses of different breeds and types in at least 12 locations in the UK. In the largest outbreak, 21 thoroughbred training yards in Newmarket, with more than 1300 racehorses, were affected, with the horses showing signs of coughing and nasal discharge during a period of nine weeks. Many of the infected horses had been vaccinated during the previous three months with a vaccine that contained representatives from both the European (A/eq/Ne...
Bruno L, Nappo MA, Ferrari L, Di Lecce R, Guarnieri C, Cantoni AM, Corradi A.Nipah virus (NiV) infection is a viral disease caused by a Henipavirus, belonging to the Paramyxoviridae family, responsible for a zoonosis. The course of the disease can be very serious and lead to death. NiV natural hosts are fruit bats (also known as megabats) belonging to the Pteropodidae family, especially those of the genus. Natural infection in domestic animals has been described in farming pigs, horses, domestic and feral dogs and cats. Natural NiV transmission is possible intra-species (pig-to-pig, human-to-human) and inter-species (flying bat-to-human, pig-to-human, horse-to-human)....
Ostlund EN, Crom RL, Pedersen DD, Johnson DJ, Williams WO, Schmitt BJ.After the 1999 outbreak of West Nile (WN) encephalitis in New York horses, a case definition was developed that specified the clinical signs, coupled with laboratory test results, required to classify cases of WN encephalitis in equines as either probable or confirmed. In 2000, 60 horses from seven states met the criteria for a confirmed case. The cumulative experience from clinical observations and diagnostic testing during the 1999 and 2000 outbreaks of WN encephalitis in horses will contribute to further refinement of diagnostic criteria.
Ueti MW, Palmer GH, Scoles GA, Kappmeyer LS, Knowles DP.Tick-borne pathogens may be transmitted intrastadially and transstadially within a single vector generation as well as vertically between generations. Understanding the mode and relative efficiency of this transmission is required for infection control. In this study, we established that adult male Rhipicephalus microplus ticks efficiently acquire the protozoal pathogen Babesia equi during acute and persistent infections and transmit it intrastadially to naïve horses. Although the level of parasitemia during acquisition feeding affected the efficiency of the initial tick infection, infected t...
