Disease prevention in horses encompasses strategies and practices aimed at minimizing the occurrence and spread of infectious and non-infectious diseases within equine populations. These practices include vaccination programs, biosecurity measures, and regular health monitoring. Vaccination helps to stimulate the horse's immune system to protect against specific pathogens, while biosecurity measures, such as quarantine and sanitation, reduce the risk of disease transmission. Regular health monitoring, including physical examinations and diagnostic testing, aids in early detection and management of potential health issues. This page compiles peer-reviewed research studies and scholarly articles that explore various methods and their effectiveness in preventing diseases in horses, as well as the development and implementation of prevention programs in different equine settings.
Smith T.The foregoing and earlier data taken together demonstrate that an active immunity lasting several years can be produced in guinea-pigs, by the injection of toxin-antitoxin mixtures which have no recognizable harmful effect either immediate or remote. They also show, what might have been anticipated, that under the same conditions mixtures which produce local lesions and which, therefore, contain an excess of toxin produce a much higher degree of immunity than the neutral mixtures, and that an excess of antitoxin reduces the possibility of producing an active immunity, and may extinguish it alt...
Equine rabies is a sporadic but highly fatal zoonotic disease. The disease persists in wildlife populations throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, and other parts of the world. It remains a threat to all domestic species, including the horse. This article reports recent advances in the molecular virology of the rabies virus and its pathogenesis, and it also reviews the history, clinical signs, diagnostic tests, vaccination protocols, and postexposure management recommendations for the equine species.
A clinical evaluation of a new, purified, heat-treated equine rabies immunoglobulin (PHT-Erig), F(ab')2 preparation, was carried out in Thailand and in the Philippines-two countries where rabies is endemic. An initial prospective, randomised, controlled trial (Study 1), compared the safety and pharmacokinetics (serum concentrations of rabies antibodies) after administration either of PHT-Erig or of a commercially-available, equine rabies immune globulin (Erig PMC). A second trial (Study 2) simulated post-exposure rabies prophylaxis by using a reference cell culture vaccine, the purified Vero-c...
West Nile virus (WNV) circulates endemically in Romania, yet prevention of WNV infection in horses largely depends on owner-driven decisions that require accurate risk perception and veterinary guidance. A cross-sectional online survey was carried out between May and November 2025 to evaluate the knowledge, attitudes, and preventive practices (KAP) regarding WNV among 227 horse owners from various Romanian regions. In total, 67.4% of respondents had previously heard of WNV. The main transmission route was correctly identified as mosquito bites by 49.8% of participants, while 32.2% answered "do...
Brown NL, Irandoust S, Thom EJ, Whitton RC, Henak CR, Muir P.Condylar stress fracture of the third metacarpal bone (MC3) is a common catastrophic injury in Thoroughbred racehorses and is associated with parasagittal groove (PSG) subchondral osteolysis. Standing computed tomography (sCT) imaging enables sensitive identification of this fatigue-induced early subchondral bone injury (SBI), but there is no objective method for identifying racehorses at heightened risk of condylar stress fracture. Objective: To estimate PSG first principal strain in elite Thoroughbred racehorses that have undergone subjective risk assessment using sCT fetlock screening. Meth...
Naveed A, Eertink LG, Soni S, Kennedy MA, Adam E, Wang D, Li F.Equine rotavirus A (ERVA) poses a significant threat to foal health, necessitating reliable serological tools for assessing protective immune responses. This study focused on the development of an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for the measurement of antibodies against the VP8∗ receptor binding core domain of ERVA. Following the expression and purification of VP8∗ receptor binding domain from the bacterial expression system, the ELISA for detecting anti-ERVA VP8∗ antibodies with VP8∗ as a coating antigen was developed and its performance was validated by the comparative anal...
Jiang Z, Merits A, Qin Y, Xing G, Zhang L, Chen J, Wang N, Varjak M, Zhai X, Li D, Song W, Su S.Alphaviruses are important arthropod-transmitted pathogens of humans and livestock. Getah virus (GETV) is an arthritogenic alphavirus that causes disease in horses and piglets; it also poses a potential threat to humans. A live attenuated vaccine candidate named GETV-3ΔS2-CM1, harbouring a deletion in nonstructural protein 3 and substitutions in the capsid protein, is genetically stable and exhibits robust immunogenicity. It was shown to confer passive protection to piglets born to immunized sows. In mice, a single dose of GETV-3ΔS2-CM1 protected against infection with different strains of G...
Noh H, Cho HU, Kim SH.The genus is widely distributed and includes species with ecological and biotechnological importance. In this study, morphological and phylogenetic analyses of the ITS and LSU rDNA sequences revealed two novel species, sp. nov. and sp. nov., as well as one previously unrecorded species in Korea, , from horse dung collected in Seopjikoji, Jeju Island, Republic of Korea. sp. nov. is unique in producing conidia from conidiomata instead of teleomorphic structures, a feature not observed in any other known species of the genus. sp. nov. is morphologically distinguished by the absence of a nec...
Faghihzadeh Gorji F, Sadr S, Borji H.Understanding the epidemiology of gastrointestinal (GI) helminth infections in equines is critical for investigating drug resistance patterns and developing effective strategies to control and prevent these infections. There is a lack of data regarding horse GI helminths and risk factors in the north and northeast of Iran. Hence, the present study aimed to identify GI helminths in horses in these regions and determine their risk factors. A total of 340 fecal specimens from horses of north ( = 141) and northeast ( = 199) Iran were coprologically examined for GI helminth infections. The poly...
Schmidt J, Wartenberg-Demand A, Forstmeier S.Preventive approaches for depression in adults aged 50 years and older have received little attention, despite increasing needs arising from demographic changes. In particular, subclinical depression is often underdiagnosed and associated with anxiety, a poorer quality of life, and greater need for assistance from the healthcare system. This multicentre, randomised, controlled phase III trial investigated if Equine-Assisted Biographical Work (EABW) is effective to improve subclinical depression. Qualified sites in Germany enrolled 52 participants ≥ 50 years (Full Analysis Set (FAS),...
Riet-Correa F, Micheloud JF, Machado M, Mendonça FS, Schild AL, Uzal FA, Lemos RAA.The objective of this paper is to review the information on toxic plants for ruminants and horses in South America, a continent in which there are 237 plants known to be toxic for livestock. Predisposing factors for plant toxicity include parts or vegetative state of the plants consumed, sprouting after rains, toxic dose, social facilitation, palatability, hunger, thirst, naivete, ingestion period, susceptibility/resistance, transportation, climatic alterations, and environmental degradation. Toxic plants can be forage or non-forage species. The latter can be invasive plants from other regions...
Stokes JE, Labuschagne K, Fèvre EM, Baylis M.In recent decades there has been a huge increase in the export of cut flowers from countries in Africa and elsewhere to European flower markets, with the vast majority first entering the Netherlands for local use or for export. Coincidentally, three significant livestock disease outbreaks caused by viruses associated with Africa or other tropical regions were first detected in the Netherlands (bluetongue virus serotype 8 (BTV-8), 2006, and BTV-3, 2023) and in western Germany about 200 km from the Netherlands border (Schmallenberg virus, SBV, 2011). This study aimed to determine whether Culic...
Siddoway AC, Van Zanten A, Verhoeven D, Wannemuehler MJ, Mallapragada SK, Narasimhan B.Influenza virus is a common source of respiratory illness and poses a major public health burden globally. Significant efforts have been dedicated towards developing and deploying effective vaccines. However, since being licensed in 1945, influenza vaccines have made limited progress and still suffer from several limitations, including suboptimal efficacy against variants. In this work, we report on two influenza A polyanhydride particle- and pentablock copolymer-based vaccine formulations intended for intranasal or subcutaneous administration. These nanovaccines are based on a newly discovere...
Zahradnik E, Nöllenheidt C, Sander I, Beine A, Lehnert M, Hoffmeyer F, Raulf M.The AllergoVet study longitudinally examines the influence of animal exposure on the development of sensitization and allergic diseases among veterinary medicine students. In this group, contact to animals usually existed long before the study began. Therefore, the aim of this analysis was to investigate lifelong animal species-specific exposure and the prevalence of sensitizations and allergic symptoms already existing before the start of the study. Questionnaire data, including exposure history, were summarized to determine the duration and intensity of animal-related exposure as well as the...
Yang HW, Hu T, Ait-Ali T.Lawsonia intracellularis is the etiological agent of proliferative enteropathy (PE) in pigs, horses and wide range of mammals. Little is known about the role of innate immune response during L. intracellularis infection. In this study, we investigated the nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB)-regulated immune response against infection of a clinical strain Dkp23 and a live-attenuated Enterisol vaccine strain in PK-15 cells. We found that expression of NF-κB target genes TNF-α, IFN-γ, IL-6 and IL-8 were modulated during the course of infection. At 5 dpi, there was a significant increase in p65 NF-κB ...
Sánchez A, Durán G, Cerdas M, Gutiérrez J, Segura Á, Herrera M, Vargas M, Sánchez A, Sánchez P, Solano G, Villalta M, Moscoso E, Umaña D....Recent research suggests that a polygeneric immunogen made from the venoms of the most medically important viperid and elapid snakes in sub-Saharan Africa could elicit a broader antibody response in horses compared to the current EchiTAb-plus-ICP antivenom, especially against neurotoxic elapid venoms. To test this, 25 horses that have been regularly immunized to produce this antivenom were reimmunized with an immunogen containing 22 venoms from various snake species from the genera , , , and both spitting and non-spitting . The plasma collected from these horses was processed using the capryli...
Amaral Júnior FP, Souza de Sousa CE, Rafael de Almeida Moreira B, Rodrigues Alves BJ, Longhini VZ, da Silva Cardoso A, Ruggieri AC.There is an important gap in how variations in herbivore dung composition affect GHG emissions on pastures, especially due to differences in dry matter (DM) and nitrogen contents. Oversimplifications can compromise the accuracy of mitigation strategies. This study aims to address this gap by investigating how the chemical composition of dung from different species influences GHG emissions in pasture systems. The results showed that drier dung led to higher cumulative N₂O emissions. The highest emissions were observed from goat at 9.47 mg N-N₂O g⁻ dry soil, followed by sheep at 5.95 mg ...
Hakeem A, Kumar H, Anwer M, Khan AV, Kumar D, Sridhar R, Kumar A, Kumar A.Farm-related head injuries are a significant cause of death and disability in rural households. Traumatic brain injury can result in long-term disability. The use of modern farming equipment has increased in the Indian agricultural sector over the last few decades. Machines such as threshers and winnowing devices can cause open skull fractures or scalp avulsions, while the fall of heavy tools may lead to severe head trauma. Farm animals such as bullocks and horses can also inflict traumatic brain injuries with their pointed horns, through trampling, kicking, or rarely biting. We present a case...
Oshida J, Ito H, Ubukata K, Takata M, Ohkusu K, Ohba S, Saida A, Nakamura S, Kobayashi D.Streptococcus suis is a Gram-positive zoonotic pathogen primarily associated with pigs, but its potential transmission from other animals remains unclear. We report a case of S. suis serotype 2 meningitis in a 56-year-old Filipino stable worker with no known contact with pigs but a history of direct exposure to horses. He presented with fever and persistent headache following a head injury sustained one month prior. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) analysis revealed bacterial meningitis, and blood and CSF cultures identified S. suis serotype 2. Despite appropriate antibiotic therapy, the patient deve...
Zu H, Sun R, Li J, Guo X, Wang M, Guo W, Wang X.Strangles, a highly contagious disease caused by subspecies (), significantly impacts horse populations worldwide, with Iceland as the only exception. This disease poses serious threats to equine health and results in considerable economic losses. Consequently, the accurate, sensitive, and rapid detection of from clinical samples is essential for early warning and effective disease management. This study introduces a novel detection method that integrates recombinase-aided amplification (RAA) with CRISPR/Cas12a technologies. We specifically designed RAA primers and CRISPR RNA to target the ...
Yuan Y, Hao Y, Peng C, Zhang D, Ma W, Xiao P, Li N.Getah virus (GETV) is a member of the of the . It is a single-stranded positive-RNA virus that is mainly transmitted by mosquitoes. In recent years, the spread of GETV has become increasingly serious, causing serious losses to the animal economy and posing a potential threat to public health. GETV infected animals extend from traditional domestic animals such as horses and pigs to cattle, foxes and other animals. Especially in China, the virus has been detected in many provinces in recent years. In addition, GETV-specific antibodies were detected in healthy humans. However, the threat posed b...
Stahl LT, Wehrend A.This article provides an overview of the clinically relevant functions and metabolic processes of selenium. Especially equine and bovine neonates are affected by selenium deficiency leading to serious consequences. Severe selenium deficiency may especially result in skeletal and/or heart muscles damage, which can result in serious illness and death of the animal. The typical clinical picture is known under various names and is often referred to as rhabdomyolysis, or more precisely as nutritional muscular dystrophy (NMD) and in the past usually as white muscle disease. Early recognition of nutr...
Songsungthong W, Pornthanakasem W, Leartsakulpanich U, Srijuntongsiri G.The ability to accurately and rapidly identify causative agents of infectious diseases facilitates precise treatment, improves clinical outcomes, and augments epidemiology studies. For many veterinary and zoonotic pathogens, however, simple molecular tests for species identification are not available. causes severe diseases, such as sleepy foal disease, septicemia, and meningitis in horses and pigs. can also cause severe diseases in humans bitten by infected animals. Existing identification methods are biochemical tests, 16S rRNA gene amplification followed by DNA sequencing, and MALDI-TOF ...
Langlands Z, Gubbins S, Carpenter S, England M.African horse sickness virus (AHSV: Sedoreoviridae; Orbivirus) causes a severe and often fatal disease in horses (African horse sickness: AHS) and is transmitted almost exclusively by Culicoides biting midges (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae). In recent years, unprecedented outbreaks of AHSV have occurred in new geographical foci in Thailand and other related Culicoides-borne viruses continue to emerge unexpectedly, causing disease outbreaks in northern Europe. This study investigated Culicoides abundance and diversity at a donkey (Equus asinus) sanctuary in southern England. The incidence and severi...
Cameron A, Freeman SL, Wild I, Burridge J, Burrell K.Working equids support millions of people globally, especially in low-income, lower-middle-income, and upper-middle-income countries. However, they commonly suffer from poor welfare and are typically overlooked in policy and funding decisions. This scoping review aimed to collate evidence on two topics related to working equid use in low- and middle-income countries: their socioeconomic value to their owners and the impact of educational interventions for owners/handlers aiming to improve equid welfare. Original research published from 2014 onwards was eligible for inclusion. This scoping revi...
