Disease prevalence in horses refers to the frequency and distribution of various diseases within equine populations. Understanding disease prevalence is essential for identifying health trends, assessing risk factors, and implementing effective disease management and prevention strategies. Common diseases affecting horses include equine influenza, equine herpesvirus, strangles, and equine infectious anemia. The study of disease prevalence involves collecting and analyzing data from veterinary reports, field studies, and laboratory diagnostics. This page compiles peer-reviewed research studies and scholarly articles that investigate the patterns, causes, and implications of disease prevalence in horses, providing insights into equine health management and epidemiology.
Chhabra MB, Gupta SL, Gautam OP.In a serological survey of latent Toxoplasma prevalence on 3761 animals in northern India by the microtitre indirect haemagglutination test, 23.7 per cent were found to have antibody titres ranging from 1:4 to 1:1024. Seropositivity was recorded in 25.3 per cent of 1227 sheep, 30.3 per cent of 961 goats, 11.8 per cent of 603 horses, 19.3 per cent of 243 cattle, 15.7 per cent of 108 water buffaloes, 31.5 per cent of 178 pigs, 30.9 per cent of 175 dogs, 33.7 per cent of 80 cats and in 9.7 per cent of 186 bandicoot rats. Relevant epidemiological data has been furnished. High seropositivity in foo...
Cummings E, James ER.Of 664 horses reported to have originated in southeastern and midwestern United States, 341 (51.4%) were positive for Onchocerca cervicalis cutaneous microfilariasis. The highest prevalence of 68.8% was recorded for horses from Virginia. Horses with the highest concentrations of microfilariae (as high as 19,770 microfilariae/mg in 1 horse) were from the Southeast (Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, and Alabama). For horses from South Carolina, the prevalence of infection was 57.1%; from the Midwest (Kentucky, Illinois, Ohio, and Indiana), 54.4%; from North Carolina, 45.5%; from Pennsylvania, 7.7%; a...
Dunsmore JD, Jue Sue LP.A survey was conducted on the prevalence of the major gastrointestinal parasites in 140 horses necropsied in Perth, Western Australia, during 1979 to 1982. Adult Strongylus vulgaris were found in 22.5 per cent of horses and verminous arteritis in 62.9 per cent. The peak worm prevalence was in November to January (summer). S edentatus had a similar prevalence and seasonality but S equinus was not found in this survey. Draschia megastoma and Habronema muscae were found in 66.2 per cent and 35.3 per cent of horses respectively. Infection is probably acquired in summer when 8 per cent of the Musca...
Koterba AM, Brewer B, Drummond WH.Foal septicemia is a major cause of neonatal morbidity and mortality. In order to improve success rates, earlier diagnosis and treatment are essential. This article stresses methods to prevent and treat infections in the compromised equine neonate.
Lyons ET, Tolliver SC, Drudge JH, Swerczek TW, Crowe MW.Prevalence of natural infections of parasites from the lungs of 488 dead Thoroughbreds in Kentucky was investigated. The horses varied from 1 to 32 years of age; 419 horses were from 215 farms and 69 horses were from 68 individual sources for which a specific farm was not identified. Examinations of the lungs were made from Mar 1, 1983 through Feb 29, 1984. Dictyocaulus arnfieldi was recovered from 56 (11%) of the horses. Other parasites found were larvae of Parascaris equorum in 37 (8%) and of Habronema/Draschia in 67 (14%) of the horses. The possible effect of ivermectin treatment on the pre...
Lyons ET, Tolliver SC, Drudge JH, Swerczek TW, Crowe MW.Prevalence of natural infections of the lungworm, Dictyocaulus arnfieldi, was investigated in Kentucky in 5,437 live equids (horses, ponies, and asses) on 91 farms by examination of fecal samples over a 15-month-period from January 28, 1983 to April 19, 1984. For the 91 farms investigated, asses only were examined on 1 farm; for the other 90 farms, examinations were made of horses on all of them, of ponies on 4 farms, and of asses on 9 farms. Larvae of D arnfieldi were found in fecal samples of 112 (2%) of 5,379 horses on the 90 farms of which 38% had greater than or equal to 1 infected animal...
Auer DE, Wilson RG, Groenendyk S.The prevalence of pharyngeal lymphoid hyperplasia in Thoroughbred racehorses in training was investigated using a fibre optic endoscope. Of the 70 horses examined, all but 8 showed evidence of pharyngeal lymphoid hyperplasia and the severity of the pharyngeal changes decreased with age. Two-year old horses had greater pharyngeal lymphoid hyperplasia (p less than 0.05) when compared to all other age groups. More horses (p less than 0.05) with Grade 3 or Grade 4 pharyngeal lymphoid hyperplasia experienced recent mild respiratory disease than did horses with Grade 2 or less pharyngeal lymphoid hy...
Mitchell CJ, Darsie RF, Monath TP, Sabattini MS, Daffner J.A large net trap was used to sample mosquito populations attracted to horses at three sites each in Santa Fe and Rio Negro Provinces, Argentina, during the austral summer of 1984. These provinces, as well as others in Argentina, were affected by a severe epizootic of western equine encephalitis (WEE) during 1982-83. Totals of 2,752 and 6,929 mosquitoes were collected in Santa Fe and Rio Negro Provinces during five and three trap nights, respectively. Culex mosquitoes of the subgenus Culex were predominant (45.8% of total) in the Santa Fe collections, although Aedes albifasciatus also was preva...
Boch J.Babesia infections serologically diagnosed in horses, cattle and dogs in Southern Germany during the last few years are described. 321 sera of horses were examined for specific antibodies to Babesia by means of CFT and IIF in 1984; 18 sera reacted to Babesia equi and 4 to Babesia caballi antigen. In a cattle breeding area in the Western Allgäu 13% of 1616 cattle reacted positive to Babesia divergens antigen using IIF and ELISA; during the grazing season 1982 new latent infections were observed in 25 of 266 calves and heifers. Cases of introduced canine babesiosis are more frequent; 10 of 34 s...
Osiyemi TI, Synge EM, Agbonlahor DE, Agbavwe R.Toxoplasma gondii antibodies were found in the sera of 22.86% of people in the Jos area of Plateau State, Nigeria. The incidence of antibodies in Nigerian food animals was 17.40%, the highest being in sheep (21.92%) and lowest in goats (13.88%). Cattle and horses were roughly equally infected--about 17.0%. The zoonotic potential of T. gondii in food animals is stressed and epidemiological factors are reviewed.
Mettler NE, Fernández AS, Di Santo MI, Pardo DA.Sera from 282 equines from Tandil country and surroundings were investigated searching for hemagglutination inhibition (HI), Complement fixation (CF), and Neutralizing (NT) antibodies against three flavivirus:Ilheus, St. Louis Encephalitis, and Yellow Fever from the Togaviridae family. Sera were collected between 3-20-79 and 11-25-80 from 10 different places in Tandil and Ayacucho countries. Animals ranged from 45 days to 27 years old. Forty nine of them reacted with one or more flavivirus by HI and/or CF tes representing a prevalence of 17.4% for this antigenic complex. Twenty four of them ne...
Cho SN, Collins MT, Reif JS.The indirect fluorescent antibody test was used to examine 109 samples of equine sera randomly selected from serum pools. Results were compared with titers obtained by the microagglutination (MA) test. A high correlation (r = 0.89) was found between titers measured by the 2 tests. Blood samples were obtained serially from a total of 156 horses at a research farm and the sera were tested against Legionella pneumophila serogroups 1 through 4 using the MA test; 29 horses (19%) seroconverted to at least 1 serogroup of L pneumophila. The indirect fluorescent antibody test substantiated the results ...
Weiss M, Steck F, Kaderli R, Horzinek MC.After inoculation into 2 foals, Berne virus induced neutralizing antibody, but did not cause clinical symptoms. In a horizontal study of seropositive mares and their offspring, a decline of maternal antibodies and a sudden synchronous seroconversion in all foals were observed, again without clinical symptoms. The virus is widespread in the Swiss horse population and has been so during the last decade; rises in antibody titers were noted in 9% of paired sera sampled at random. Positive reactions were also obtained in serum neutralization tests and ELISA using small numbers of horse sera from Ge...
Edwards GT.Sarcocystis was detected in oesophageal samples from 245 (62 per cent) of 394 horses and ponies killed at a Cheshire abattoir between February and August 1981. Prevalence of infection was closely related to age, increasing from 28.6 per cent of animals up to two years old to 88.9 per cent of those over eight years old. There were no significant regional differences in prevalence between horses from north west England, Yorkshire or South Wales. Significantly more female horses were infected (69.7 per cent) compared with males (56.2 per cent). Gross examination methods detected fewer than 55 per...
Horak IG, Biggs HC, Reinecke RK.Twelve Hartmann's mountain zebra, Equus zebra hartmannae, were shot for arthropod parasite recovery during the period June 1980-June 1981 on a farm in the Khomas Hochland region of South West Africa/Namibia. Four species of Gasterophilus larvae, 1 species of Rhinoestrus larvae and 3 ixodid tick species were recovered. The seasonal prevalence of the Gasterophilus species larvae and of Rhipicephalus evertsi mimeticus was determined. Three horses examined on the same farm were infested with larvae of 2 Gasterophilus species and with the same ixodid tick species as the zebras.
Klei TR, Torbert B, Chapman MR, Foil L.Microfilariae of Onchocerca cervicalis were detected in midventral skin biopsy samples in 64 of 84 (76%) mixed-breed ponies greater than 2 years old from the Gulf Coast area and in 42 of 51 (82.4%) horses from Louisiana breeding herds. The number of microfilariae per 8 mm of biopsied skin (ponies) ranged from 1 to 21,570. The number of microfilariae per 6 mm of biopsied skin (horses) ranged from 8 to 55,600.
Reinemeyer CR, Smith SA, Gabel AA, Herd RP.Fifty-five adult horses were necropsied over a 15-month period, and their worm burdens counted and speciated. Twenty-one species of Cyathostominae were recovered. Ten species: Cyathostomum catinatum, Cylicocyclus nassatus, Cylicostephanus longibursatus, Cyathostomum coronatum, Cylicostephanus goldi, C. calicatus, C. minutus, Cylicocyclus leptostomus, C. insigne and Cyathostomum pateratum, comprised 98.9% of the total cyathostome burdens. These same 10 species also demonstrated high prevalences in 4 previous surveys. Eight of these 10 species have been shown to be resistant to benzimidazole ant...
Lyons ET, Drudge JH, Tolliver SC, Swerczek TW, Crowe MW.A total of 396 Thoroughbreds (86 males, 293 females, and 17 geldings) in Kentucky, 1 to 30 years of age, were examined at necropsy for presence of Anoplocephala perfoliata (2 female horses were not examined) in the cecum for lesions of Draschia megastoma in the stomach, during the 1-year period of Mar 1, 1982 through Feb 28, 1983. Prevalence of A perfoliata was 53% and of lesions of D megastoma was 63%. All lesions of D megastoma were partially or entirely in the glandular region of the stomach. Distances of the midpoint of these lesions from the margo plicatus varied from 0 to 290 mm. The cen...
Polley L.In an abattoir survey of 383 horses from the four western provinces of Canada and 240 horses from Washington, Montana and North Dakota prevalences of Onchocerca sp of 11.8% and 25.8% respectively have been demonstrated by umbilical skin specimen examinations. The results of this survey are discussed in relation to the parasite's natural history and its clinical significance in western Canada.
Conner M, Kalica A, Kita J, Quick S, Schiff E, Joubert J, Gillespie J.Reoviruses have been isolated from a number of species including human, bovine, feline, canine and equine. In most species they seem to produce mild to inapparent disease. We have isolated a reovirus type 3 from a foal with diarrhea. The virus designated the Ralph strain has been propagated in both the MA-104 and A-72 cell lines. The strain produced cytoplasmic inclusion bodies in these cell cultures. Tissue-cultured virus fixed complement in the presence of reovirus antibodies, but failed to do so in the presence of rotavirus antiserum. By electron microscopy the viral particle measured +/- 6...
of surveillance testing, April to June 2017International disease occurrence in the second quarter of 2017These are among matters discussed in the most recent quarterly equine disease surveillance report, prepared by Defra, the Animal Health Trust and the British Equine Veterinary Association.
al-Afaleq AI, Abu Elzein EM, Hassanein MM.The present epidemiological status of African horse sickness in Saudi Arabia, as shown by seroconversion, virus isolation and clinical observation of sentinel horses is described. No African horse sickness virus activity was detected throughout the duration of the study (from November 1992 to March 1995). These findings support previous reports that African horse sickness is not endemic in Saudi Arabia.
Smith RD.In this article, I have discussed the principles and methods of outbreak investigation, reinforcing important concepts with examples from the veterinary literature. The approach presented is applicable to outbreaks caused by any agent whether it is infectious versus noninfectious or contagious versus noncontagious. The solutions vary. The experience of others presented with similar situations may be especially helpful. Because of their nature, outbreaks are difficult to prepare for. When faced with a potential outbreak, the best strategy is to approach it scientifically, systematically, and wi...