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.
Jones MB, Gonzalez-Ochoa A, Marx MB, Furcolow ML.In a 3-month period, 2,221 Mexican horses were skin tested for sensitivity to Histoplasma capsulatum antigen. The prevalence of reactivity was 7.9%. There was little evidence of a difference in geographic distribution of sensitivity. The prevalence of reactivity increased with age of the horse. This increment with age is thought to be a function of time exposure to the organism and possibly of selective survival of the horses.
Bonaduce A, Martone F, Bonaduce D, Vaccaro A.The six strains were not antigenically different from strains isolated in Naples in 1967 and Andria in 1968.
Scott GR.Twelve DNA viruses and forty‐three RNA viruses are known to infect horses. In addition, there are three unclassified viruses and, at least, three alleged viruses infecting horses. Differential diagnosis is difficult. At least twenty‐eight of the fifty‐eight viruses induce clinical disease but the range of syndromes is limited; eleven provoke respiratory symptoms and eleven cause encephalitis. Thirty‐four equine viruses with a limited geographical distribution are transmitted by arthropod vectors. Twenty viruses are spread by contact and their distribution, in general, is global. The ve...
Simms JG, Rosser WW.A case of Farmer's Lung in a city dweller who rides horses for recreation is reported. A survey of the members of an urban riding club found that 13% of the persons surveyed had antibodies to T. polyspora in their circulation.Comparing the average rainfall in the area of the riding club to average rainfall throughout regions across the country, it is likely that Farmer's Lung is more prevalent than previously thought.More information about the incidence of this preventable respiratory disease in Canada is needed.
Farrar WP, Bech-Nielsen S, Gordon JC, Reed SM, Pretzman CI, Kohn CW.The purpose of this work was to study the association of positive serological titers to Ehrlichia risticii, the causative agent of equine monocytic ehrlichiosis (EME) with gastro-intestinal disorders in hospitalized horses referred to The Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine Teaching Hospital (OSU VMTH). In addition, serological titers for E. risticii were monitored in two horse populations with endemic EME for one season to monitor temporal changes in titers. A statistically significant difference was found between the proportion of the total hospitalized horse population pres...
Martins AV, Coelho AL, Corrêa LL, Ribeiro MS, Lobão LF, Palmer JPS, Moura LC, Molento MB, Barbosa ADS.The frequency of gastrointestinal parasites with an emphasis on Strongylus vulgaris was investigated among the Brazilian Pony breed kept on farms in the municipality of Teresópolis, state of Rio de Janeiro. Fecal samples were collected in three stud farms: A (n= 22 animals), B (n= 3), and C (n= 2). Fecal samples were subjected to the quantitative Mini-FLOTAC technique, using three different solutions, and to qualitative techniques. The parasite prevalence was found to be 81.4%. Eggs from strongylids were identified in 74% of the ponies. Eggs of Parascaris spp. were detected in 22.7% of the an...
Gordon S, Bolwell C, Rogers C, Guthrie A, Magunda F, Hove P.A study of the prevalence of African horse sickness in horses was conducted, using records from two private equine practices in Harare for the period 1998-2004. Results indicated a higher prevalence of the disease in horses in Zimbabwe in the late rainy season (March - May). Age of the horse was found to be a significant risk factor, with foals or yearlings appearing to be 1.80 times more likely to contract the disease compared with horses older than two years. The case fatality rate in foals or yearlings was also higher than in older age groups, but this difference was not significant. The va...
Ryder S, Bracho D.Antibodies against Venezuelan Equine Encephalitis Virus (VEEV) were studied in the human population of Mara District, Zulia State, Venezuela. Two hundred thirty nine blood samples were taken from the towns of San Rafael de Mara, Santa Cruz de Mara, La Sierrita-4 Bocas, Carrasquero, Isla de San Carlos e Isla de Toas, during june, july and september, 1988. Donors samples were classified by age, sex and serological titres. Eighty nine were less than 15 years old (37.2%) and 150, over 15 years old (62.7%). From the 239 samples, 224 were negative (93.7%) and 15 positive (6.3%). Our results indicate...
Bublot M.Until recently, Influenza was considered as a veterinary problem in avian, swine and horse only. New influenza strains able to infect and cause a disease in dogs and cats emerged these last six years. The most widely used influenza veterinary vaccines are the inactivated adjuvanted vaccines which are based on whole or split virus. New technologies have allowed the development of new generation vaccines including modified-live and vector vaccines. Modified-live influenza vaccines are available for horses only but they are in development in other species. Vector vaccines are already in use in ch...
Kent RJ, Lacer LD, Meisch MV.Migratory birds could introduce West Nile (WN) virus to Arkansas. The purpose of this study was to establish a cooperative arbovirus surveillance program to monitor mosquitoes and birds in Arkansas for arboviruses. Our objectives were to: 1) perform routine, multicounty collections of mosquitoes and test them for eastern equine encephalitis, St. Louis encephalitis, and WN viruses; and 2) conduct passive surveillance by testing dead wild birds for WN virus. Arbovirus surveillance was organized by the Arkansas Department of Health, University of Arkansas, and Vector Disease Control Incorporated....
Nts'aoana ME, Molapo S, Kompi P, Phalatsi M.Parasitic infection is one of the major problems in equines which negatively influence their health. It hinders working performance of equines. This study was conducted to evaluate donkey owners' knowledge and control measures on prevalence of gastrointestinal parasites (GIPs) in three agro-ecological zones (AEZs) of Maseru district. A total of 144 donkey owners were selected for individual interviews through a stratified random sampling. Descriptive statistics and chi-square tests were used to analyze data. The significance (p <0.05) of different AEZs was tested using a post-hoc cell-wise ad...
Ryder S, Núñez-Camargo J, Rangel P, Añez F.With the purpose of determining antibodies prevalence against Venezuelan Equine Encephalitis Virus in the population of Puertos de Altagracia and Sabaneta de Palmas of Miranda county, Zulia State, Venezuela, 199 subjects were studied: 57 from Puertos de Altagracia and 142 from Sabaneta de Palmas. They were classified in older (42.78%) and younger (57.2%) than 15 years. The blood specimens were processed for Hemagglutination Inhibition Test using EEV antigen Goajira strain at pH 6.5. We found that all 57 specimens from Puertos de Altagracia were negative, whereas of 142 specimens from Sabaneta ...
Kraouchi DE, Meradi S, Bentounsi B.The composition, prevalence, and seasonal dynamic of species were studied at the slaughterhouse of Constantine region (East Algeria) in 128 horses over an 18 months period. Our survey revealed that 124 (96.9%) horses were infected with a mean intensity of 161 larvae of spp. Four species of were identified; and were by far the predominant species with 95.3% and 77.3% respectively, followed by (14.0%) and (10.1%). The age, sex, and breed of horses did not affect the distribution of the infection. Second-stage larvae (L2) of were absent between April and July and present in higher numbers...
Touratier L.There is increasing interest in many parts of the world in trypanosomoses other than those transmitted by tsetse flies, as shown by numerous research projects and field studies. The refinement of techniques for studying the behaviour of trypanosomes (techniques of molecular biology) in axenic culture or in the parasitised host has led to progress in diagnosis and immunology, and a rational approach to chemotherapy and chemoprophylaxis of these infections. Field trials of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays in Africa, Asia and South America have shown that these tests may now be regarded as reli...
Gislason D, Asmundsson T, Gislason T.Diseases connected with work in hay have been known in Iceland for a long time. In 1981 scientific studies of these diseases were started in Iceland at the request of the Farmers Union. The results of these studies are summarized in this article. In studies of hay a great amount of storage mites, moulds and thermophilic actinomycetes (microlyspora faeni) were found in addition to allergens from mice and pollen. Symptoms caused by hay dust were mainly from nose and eyes in people with positive skin tests, but cough, dyspnea and fever were equally common in those with negative skin tests. The mo...
Satorov SS, Orzuev MI.Staphylococci occur in donkeys more frequently than in other animals, and only from donkeys coagulase-negative staphylococci, characteristic of humans (S. hominis, S. capitis, S. cohnii), were isolated. Least frequently staphylococcal carrier state was registered in cats; in these animals only coagulase-negative strains were found to occur. From 30 donkeys coagulase-positive staphylococci belonging to 47 S. aureus strains were isolated. These strains differed from known ecological variants in their biological properties, thus suggesting the existence of S. aureus ecovar specific for donkeys. T...
Leite RO, Ferreira JF, Araújo CET, Delfiol DJZ, Takahira RK, Borges AS, Oliveira-Filho JP.Glanzmann's thrombasthenia (GT) is an autosomal recessive inherited disorder characterized by changes in platelet aggregation, leading to hemorrhage and epistaxis. To date, two independent mutations have been described in horses and associated with this disorder, a point mutation (c.122G > C) and a 10-base-pair deletion (g.1456_1466del) in the Integrin subunit alpha2β gene (ITGA2B) of horses of different breeds (Quarter Horse, Thoroughbred, Oldenburg, and Peruvian Paso). ITGA2B codifies the αIIb subunit of the αIIbβ3 integrin, also termed platelet fibrinogen receptor. Horses with GT have b...
Petrucciani A, Yu G, Ventresca M.Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE) is an arbovirus that, while it has been known to exist since the 1930's, recently had a spike in cases. This increased prevalence is particularly concerning due to the severity of the disease with 1 in 3 symptomatic patients dying. The cause of this peak is currently unknown but could be due to changes in climate, the virus itself, or host behavior. In this paper we propose a novel multi-season deterministic model of EEE spread and its stochastic counterpart. Models were parameterized using a dataset from the Florida Department of Health with sixteen years of ...
Elcombe ME, Bellone RR, Magdesian KG, Finno CJ.Equine familial isolated hypoparathyroidism (EFIH) and fragile foal syndrome (FFS) are both fatal recessive conditions reported in Thoroughbred foals. The causal variants for EFIH (RAPGEF5 c.2624C>A; EquCab3.0. chr4: g.54108297G>T) and FFS (PLOD1 c.2032G>A; EquCab3.0, chr2: g.39927817) were recently reported. Prevalence assessment for these variants in a large cohort of samples is needed to provide evidence-based recommendations for genetic testing. Objective: To estimate the frequency of the EFIH and FFS variant alleles in the United States Thoroughbred population between 1988 and 20...
Boussetta M, Chabchoub A, Ghram A, Jomaa I, Ghorbel A, Aouina T, Ben Amor H.Using the haemagglutination inhibition and immunodiffusion tests, a national serological survey was carried out to detect antibodies to equine influenza (EI) (A/equi/1/Prague 56 and A/equi/2/Miami 63) and equine infectious anaemia (EIA) in horse sera collected in northeastern Tunisia. 533 samples were analysed for EIA antibodies. All were negative. 13.6% of 433 equine sera tested for EI antibodies were positive. These results are discussed and compared with others obtained in Tunisia and bordering countries.
Esterl-Byrne LL, Huseman CJ, Haynes C, Kinman LA, Jones TN.The welfare of unwanted horses presents a significant concern for the equine industry. However, there is a lack of research on how unwanted horses are affected by major crises. The drastic changes that resulted from the COVID-19 pandemic presented ample opportunity to investigate how unwanted horses are impacted by challenging circumstances. Study objectives were to evaluate the COVID-19 pandemic's impact on the unwanted horse population and determine the current perceptions of horses in-transition. A 23-question online survey designed using Qualtrics was administered electronically to adults ...
Medina B AL, Faleiros RR, Martínez A JR.Equine Gastric Ulcer Syndrome (EGUS) occurs with variable prevalence in horses, donkeys, and mules. Due to the particularities of the mucous membranes, the syndrome is made up of Squamous Gastric Disease (ESGD) and Glandular Gastric Disease (EGGD). Given the multifactorial nature and multiple classification systems of the syndrome, significant differences have been reported between prevalence studies performed ante mortem, which are even more remarkable when compared with postmortem evaluations. This study aimed to determine the presence and grade of squamous gastric disease in horses, donkeys...
Kapusniak A, Nath L, Hebart M, Franklin S.Sudden cardiac death (SCD) is an important cause of exercise-associated fatalities in Thoroughbred racehorses. Equine deaths share similarities with fatalities in human athletes that result from inherited cardiac disease. Whilst genetic causes have been postulated in horses, these have not been confirmed and heritability of SCD has not previously been estimated in Thoroughbred racehorses. Objective: To determine the heritability of SCD in a sample population of Thoroughbred racehorses. Methods: Retrospective case-control study. Methods: Steward and post-mortem reports of Thoroughbred racehorse...
Shams F, Jokar M, Abdous A, Mohammadi P, Abbassioun A, Seuberlich T, Rahmanian V.Neospora spp. and Toxoplasma gondii are two closely related protozoan parasites that are widely distributed throughout the world. Horses can act as intermediate hosts for both parasites and can acquire disease. Blood samples were taken from 487 clinically healthy horses from 17 different mechanized stables in Tehran, the capital of Iran, during September and November of 2022. IFAT and ELISA were employed to detect antibodies directed against Neospora spp. and T. gondii. The anti-N. caninum antibodies were detected in 52 of the horses (10.67%) based on IFAT and in 86 of the 487 horses (17.65%) ...
Heaton CP, Cavinder CA, McClure EN, Smith T, Smith WB, Liburt N, Krotky A, Harris P.Insulin dysregulation (ID), core to equine metabolic syndrome, may present without obesity. Testing for ID risk is commonly based on breed and obese phenotype but might be valuable for non-obese stock-type horses. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of ID in non-obese stock-type horses and evaluate if morphometric neck measurements (MNM) correlate with ID. Sixty-two, non-obese (BCS 5, range 2.5-6/9) stock-type horses were assessed for MNM: neck circumference at 25%, 50% (NC50), and 75% (NC75) length, and crest height. An oral sugar test (OST; 0.15 mL/kg BW corn syrup) was performed wi...
Ricard RM, Wobeser B. is a reported cause of infertility and endometritis in sheep, cattle, and pigs; however, the association between uterine disease and is poorly understood in horses. Recently, a high prevalence of in equine aborted chorioallantoises was reported in horses in western Canada. Based on this high prevalence, investigation into the effects of on infertility and endometritis in western Canadian mares is prudent. We examined 98 formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded endometrial biopsies from western Canada submitted between 2014 and 2022 using a -specific 16S rRNA PCR test; 40 samples tested positive f...
Anandu S, Tanuj GN, Vijayasarathi MK, Manjusha KM, Samanta S, Bandyopadhyay S, Sankar M.Ocular setariasis is an ectopic infection caused by a parasite under the genus Setaria. Adult worms belong to the Setariidae family and typically reside in the peritoneal cavity of ungulates. However, immature forms of these species may aberrantly migrate to the eyes of cattle, buffalo, goats, horses and several other hosts, leading to corneal opacity and blindness. Here, we have distinguished the Setaria digitata collected from both equine and buffalo hosts based on the morphology, molecular profiling of mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (Cox1), cytochrome c oxidase subunit 3 (Cox3...
Medina-Bolívar AL, Faleiros RR, Martínez-Aranzales JR.Limited information is available on gastric diseases in neonatal foals as compared with extensive studies in young, adult, and geriatric horses. Reports on fetuses are scarce. Objective: Assess at necropsy stomachs of horse, donkey and mule fetuses in the third trimester of gestation to characterize lesions present during intrauterine life. Methods: Forty-six fetal stomachs from both sexes (21 horses, 21 donkeys, and 4 mules) in the third trimester of gestation were collected from a processing plant immediately after slaughter. Methods: Measurements of longitudinal and transverse axes, weight ...
Cornell TR, Fye BL, Nyassi E, Ceesay F, Jallow M, Langendonk RF, Wootton DG, Pinchbeck G, Scantlebury CE.Exposure rates to species, the causative agent of equine epizootic lymphangitis (EL), are unknown amongst working equids in The Gambia. The primary aims of this study were to estimate anti- antibody seroprevalence in the equid population in rural The Gambia and to explore risk factors for seropositivity. Unassigned: A nationwide cross-sectional study was conducted (February-July 2022), representing baseline measurements of a longitudinal cohort study. Horses ( 463) and donkeys ( = 92) without EL signs were recruited in 18 study sites. Following informed owner consent, equid clinical and m...
Loomes K, de Grauw J, Gozalo-Marcilla M, Redondo JI, Bettschart-Wolfensberger R.Equine post-operative morbidity represents a significant concern for both veterinary surgeons and horse owners. Objective: To estimate the prevalence of post-operative complications in horses after elective/non-abdominal surgery or colic surgery. Methods: Systematic review. Methods: A database search identified eligible studies which reported the prevalence of equine post-operative complications published as a full paper in English in a peer-reviewed journal between 2000 and 2023. Studies were evaluated using the JBI Critical Appraisal Checklist for Prevalence Studies and GRADE (Grading of Rec...
Rodrigues GG, Alves DS, Bromberger CR, Nomelini QSS, Borges AS, de Oliveira-Filho JP, Delfiol DJZ.The association between aural plaques, Equus caballus papillomavirus (EcPV), and the different breeds of horses and risk factors is poorly described. The objective of this study was to determine the clinical prevalence of aural plaques in Mangalarga Marchador (MM) and Quarter Horse (QH) horses in Brazil, to evaluate the association of this prevalence with some risk factors, and to detect the presence of EcPV DNA (types 1-10) in aural plaques biopsies. A total of 400 MM and 425 QH horses, were clinically evaluated. For each horse, an identification form was completed, containing information on ...
Allen R, Goodhead AD.Warmblood horses are a popular breed around the world for equestrian sports. Previous studies have investigated ocular findings in other breeds of horses; however, no studies exist for the Warmblood breed. Objective: To determine the prevalence of ocular abnormalities in a convenience sample of Warmblood horses in South Africa and to determine if the prevalence of lens and chorioretinal lesions increase with age. Methods: Descriptive, observational study. Methods: Warmblood horses underwent a full ophthalmic examination which included a Schirmer tear test (STT), tonometry, fluorescein dye test...
Alayil AL, Horwood PF, Gummow B, Picard JA, Joone CJ.Leptospira species are found worldwide, favouring tropical regions, and infect a wide range of animal species. Although renal persistence in infected individuals and excretion in urine is thought to be the primary mechanism of disease transmission, recent reports have suggested that persistence in the reproductive tract may be a feature in certain species, including the horse. The aim of this study was to investigate leptospiral infection, particularly within the reproductive tract, in healthy, non-breeding mares. Serum and endometrial swab samples were collected from 50 mares from the James C...
