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Topic:Disease Outbreaks
Disease outbreaks in horses refer to the occurrence and spread of infectious diseases within equine populations. These outbreaks can be caused by various pathogens, including bacteria, viruses, and parasites, and can lead to significant health issues in affected horses. Common diseases that may result in outbreaks include equine influenza, equine herpesvirus, strangles, and equine infectious anemia. The transmission of these diseases can occur through direct contact, environmental exposure, or vectors such as insects. Disease outbreaks can have substantial impacts on horse health, welfare, and the equine industry as a whole. This page compiles peer-reviewed research studies and scholarly articles that explore the epidemiology, transmission dynamics, and management strategies associated with disease outbreaks in equine populations.
Investigation of an outbreak of tapeworm-associated colic in a training yard. A novel serological assay which measures IgG(T) specific for a 12/13 kDa protein of the equine tapeworm Anoplocephala perfoliata was used as part of a colic outbreak investigation. A training/rehabilitation yard for Thoroughbreds and Arabs was found to have an increasing incidence of colic over a 5 year period, culminating in a peak incidence of 1.15 episodes/horse year at risk. Four animals suffered from ileal impaction colic which necessitated surgical management. A case-control study design suggested a strong association between tapeworm infection and colic, with evidence of a dose-response...
Animal trypanosomiasis in South America. Current status, partnership, and information technology. Animal trypanosome species of economical importance in South America include T. vivax and T. evansi. Both species are described in Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, French Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela. In Argentina and Guyana, only T. evansi and T. vivax are found, respectively. Our studies on T. vivax indicated that the parasite was spreading around 1.3 km per day in Bolivia. We found severe leukopenia in bovines from Pantanal (Brazil) and the Department of Santa Cruz (Bolivia). Because it can cause immunosuppression, the importance of trypanosomiasis control in ensuring success of vaccinat...
Ehrlichial diseases. Equine granulocytic and monocytic ehrlichiosis caused by Ehrlichia equi and E. risticii, respectively, are seasonal diseases in horses that occur throughout the United States E. equi is transmitted by lxodes ticks and causes high fever, depression, anorexia, limb edema, petechiation, icterus, ataxia, and stiffness in gait. E. risticii, also known as the agent of Potomac horse fever, causes a febrile illness with a colitis of variable severity. Its occurrence is associated with aquatic habitats. The natural route of transmission is oral, through the ingestion of E. risticii infected trematode s...
The significance of surveillance and reporting on the prevention and control of equine diseases. Examples of equine disease surveillance at the local, regional, national and international level are discussed in this article. Reporting systems at each level are also considered, and the increasing importance of laboratory confirmed diagnoses is emphasized. The need to develop national disease reporting systems is addressed, particularly with respect to conforming to international trading standards.
Clostridial enterocolitis. Equine clostridial enterocolitis is being recognized with increasing frequency. It has been identified in foals with diarrhea, antibiotic-associated enterocolitis, or nosocomial enterocolitis. The sporadic occurrence of clostridial enterocolitis, the variety of types of clostridia involved, and the difficulty of experimentally reproducing the disease suggest that it is a poorly defined multifactorial syndrome. The risk factors associated with susceptibility to colonization and progressive infection are largely based on anecdotal observations and extrapolation from human studies. Quantitative s...
Rabies surveillance in the United States during 1999. During 1999, 49 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico reported 7,067 cases of rabies in nonhuman animals to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a decrease of 11.2% from 7,961 cases in nonhuman animals and 1 case in a human being reported in 1998. More than 91% (6,466 cases) were in wild animals, whereas 8.5% (601 cases) were in domestic species (compared with 92.4% in wild animals and 7.6% in domestic species in 1998). No cases of rabies were reported in human beings in 1999. Decreases were evident in all major species groups, with the exception of cattle, sheep/goats, ...
Trichinella in horses: a low frequency infection with high human risk. After the initial report in 1976 of a trichinellosis epidemic caused by the consumption of infected horsemeat, 12 other outbreaks have been described in Europe. Since the first serious human outbreak several experiments have confirmed the susceptibility of horses to Trichinella species and the rapid disappearance of specific antibodies in this host that prevents the use of serological methods for routine screening. A review of the distribution of parasite burdens in muscles of naturally or experimentally infected horses indicates that the tongue is the most likely sample to contain detectable ...
Control of strangles outbreaks by isolation of guttural pouch carriers identified using PCR and culture of Streptococcus equi. Previous use of repeated nasopharyngeal swabbing and culture of Streptococcus equi showed that healthy carriers developed in more than 50% of 'strangles' outbreaks. The guttural pouches were the only detectable site of S. equi colonisation on endoscopic examination of horses during one of these outbreaks and S. equi was sometimes not detected by culture of nasopharyngeal swabs from carriers for up to 2 or 3 months before nasal shedding resumed sporadically. A more sensitive way of detecting S. equi on swabs from established guttural pouch carriers was therefore required. Conveniently selected ...
Internal ribosomal entry site-mediated translation initiation in equine rhinitis A virus: similarities to and differences from that of foot-and-mouth disease virus. 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, ...
Operation-management factors associated with early-postnatal mortality of US foals. Of 7320 equine foals reported born alive during 1997 on 1043 operations that had equids on 1 January 1997, and that participated in the United States National Animal Health Monitoring System (NAHMS) Equine 1998 Study, 120 foals were reported to have died (by either euthanasia or natural causes) within the first 2 days of a live birth. The weighted estimate was 1.7% mortality (standard error=0.5) within the first 2 days of live birth for all foals born on operations in the 28 states included in the study.A multivariable logistic-regression model revealed that foals born in the southern region w...
Hendra (equine morbillivirus). Hendra has been recognized in Australia as a new zoonotic disease of horses since 1994/5 and subsequent work has shown that the viral agent is endemic in certain species of fruit bat. The Hendra virus is the type species of a new genus within the sub-family Paramyxovirinae, which also contains another newly identified zoonotic bat virus, namely Nipah. It is assumed that contact with bats has led to the Hendra virus being transferred to horses on each of the three separate incidents that have been reported in the last five years. No evidence has been found for widespread subclinical infection o...
Acinetobacter baumannii-infected vascular catheters collected from horses in an equine clinic. Acinetobacter baumannii was isolated from tips clipped from seven intravenous jugular catheters collected from horses in the Ghent University equine clinic. They originated from seven different horses. Three of the seven showed evidence of local infection.
Equine proliferative enteropathy: a cause of weight loss, colic, diarrhoea and hypoproteinaemia in foals on three breeding farms in Canada. Proliferative enteropathy (PE) is a transmissible enteric disease caused by Lawsonia intracellularis. An outbreak of equine PE was diagnosed in foals from 3 breeding farms. Most foals had been weaned prior to the appearance of clinical signs, which included depression, rapid and marked weight loss, subcutaneous oedema, diarrhoea and colic. Poor body condition with a rough haircoat and a potbellied appearance were common findings in affected foals. Respiratory tract infection, dermatitis and intestinal parasitism were also found in some foals. Haematological and plasma biochemical abnormalities...
Homogeneity of Trypanosoma evansi isolates from domestic and sylvatic mammals from the Pantanal of Mato Grosso. 'Mal de Cadeiras' is a disease which causes great mortality in horses in the Pantanal Matogrossense region, Brazil. The agent of this disease is Trypanosoma evansi, a kinetoplastid flagellate which belongs to the Trypanosomatidae family, classified into the Salivarian section. Transmission occurs mechanically by haematophagous Diptera, mainly by Stomoxys sp. and Tabanus sp. and vampire bats. Outbreaks of Mal de Cadeiras in horses result in economic losses, thus limiting their use in cattle raising. Ten isolates of T. evansi recently derived from coati (Nasua nasua, Carnivora, Procyonidae), hor...
Modelling the spread of a viral infection in equine populations managed in Thoroughbred racehorse training yards. A Monte Carlo model that simulates the management life cycle of a horse population in training on a Thoroughbred flat racing yard (i.e. stable) was developed for computer implementation. Each horse was characterised by several state variables. Discrete events at the horse level were triggered stochastically to reflect uncertainty about some input assumptions and heterogeneity of the horse population in a particular yard. This mathematical model was subsequently used to mimic the spread of equine influenza (EI) within a typical yard following the introduction of one or several infectious horses...
An outbreak of type C botulism in 12 horses and a mule. A USDA Early Response Team investigated deaths of several horses and a mule in northern Arizona at the request of local animal health officials. Thirteen animals (12 horses and 1 mule) housed at 5 facilities in a 7.4 square mile area died between August 1998 and January 1999. Clinical signs consisted of muscular weakness that rapidly progressed to lateral recumbency. Ten animals had paresis of the tongue, throat, or lips. Affected animals appeared alert and were interested in eating and drinking, even while recumbent. All 13 animals were euthanatized. Clostridium botulinum type C was isolated ...
Recent developments in the epidemiology of virus diseases and BSE. There is a continuous change in viral epidemics with respect to clinical symptoms, their duration or disappearance and the emergence of new diseases. This can be observed both in human and animal diseases. This evolution of virus diseases is mainly related to three factors: etiological agent, host and environment. As far as genetic alterations of the virus are concerned, two major mechanisms are involved: 1) mutations such as recombination and reassortment; 2) selection for resistance or susceptibility. The epidemiology of newly emerged virus diseases in man and animals, such as AIDS and hemor...
Immune responses and viral replication in long-term inapparent carrier ponies inoculated with equine infectious anemia virus. Persistent infection of equids by equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV) is typically characterized by a progression during the first year postinfection from chronic disease with recurring disease cycles to a long-term asymptomatic infection that is maintained indefinitely. The goal of the current study was to perform a comprehensive longitudinal analysis of the course of virus infection and development of host immunity in experimentally infected horses as they progressed from chronic disease to long-term inapparent carriage. We previously described the evolution of EIAV genomic quasispecies (C...
Use of repetitive sequence-based polymerase chain reaction for molecular epidemiologic analysis of Streptococcus equi subspecies equi. To determine whether repetitive sequence-based polymerase chain reaction (rep-PCR) could be used to differentiate Streptococcus equi isolates, to examine S equi isolates from throughout the world, and to determine whether a horse had > 1 subtype of S equi during an outbreak of disease. Methods: An initial group of 32 S equi isolates, 63 S equi isolates from various geographic areas, and 17 S equi isolates obtained during outbreaks of disease. Methods: An aliquot of S equi genomic DNA was amplified, using enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus primers. Gel electrophoresis was perfor...
