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.
McCollum WH.Nineteen horses with no prior experience with equine arteritis virus (EAV) were inoculated IM with an avirulent live-virus vaccine against equine viral arteritis; the vaccinal virus had been passaged serially 131 times in primary cell cultures of equine kidney, 111 times in primary cell cultures of rabbit kidney, and 16 times in an equine dermis cell line (EAV HK-131/RK-111/ED-16). Three or 4 of the vaccinated horses each, along with appropriate nonvaccinated controls, were inoculated nasally with virulent EAV at each of months 3, 6, 9, 12, 18, and 24 after they were vaccinated. The following ...
Craig TM, Courtney CH.The kind of parasites a horse acquires depends upon its environment. Because patterns of transmission vary greatly with climate and management, no one worming program has universal applications. This article discusses epidemiology and control of equine parasites in the southern United States, where climates vary from warm temperate to subtropical and from humid in the southeast to arid in the southwest.
Klei TR.This article will focus on current information available on the equine immune response to helminth parasites as it relates to acquired resistance, hypersensitivity reactions, and vaccine development.
Herd RP.The serious and widespread problem of drug resistance has forced a re-thinking of basic philosophy regarding control of equine parasites. It has illustrated the dangers of total reliance on chemical control and stimulated the use of alternate strategies. Two new approaches are described. Prophylactic treatments in the spring and summer provide effective strongyle and colic control with less selection pressure for drug resistance. A nonchemical approach of pasture cleaning twice a week offers the same advantages with the added bonus of a 50 per cent increase in grazing area.
Wescott RB.Equine anthelmintics and the resistance of nematode parasites to anthelmintics are reviewed. Recommendations are made for effective treatment of these parasites and for procedures that can be performed to minimize the problem in the future.
Foil L, Foil C.In this discussion of parasitic skin diseases of horses, details on life cycles are given to aid the understanding and development of control strategies.
Clayton HM.P. equorum is a common and ubiquitous parasite that persists for many years in stables and on pasture in spite of good hygiene and anthelmintic control programs. Foals are usually infected early in life. During the migratory phase of the infection, clinical signs include coughing and a nasal discharge followed by depression and unthriftiness as the worms mature in the gut. Some foals die as a result of intestinal impaction or rupture. Patency is established around 3 months of age, and fecal egg counts may rise to very high levels. From 6 months of age onwards, the ascarid burden diminishes as ...
Puotunen-Reinert A.In a retrospective study, the prognostic value and individual merit of seven variables, used in routine examination of colic cases, were tested. The following variables proved to be significant in discriminating between horses which survived and those which died: heart rate (P less than 0.00005), packed cell volume (P less than 0.00005) and intensity of colic signs (P less than 0.0001).
LeBlanc MM, McLaurin BI, Boswell R.Postpartum, presuckle, colostrum samples were collected from 100 mares. Colostral specific gravities significantly correlated (r = 0.9) with colostral immunoglobulin (Ig)G concentrations. Foal serum IgG concentrations highly correlated (r = 0.82) with specific gravities of the colostrum each foal ingested. Eight of 48 foals (17%) had serum IgG concentrations less than 400 mg/dl. The dams of these 8 foals had colostral sp gr less than 1.06 and colostral IgG concentrations less than 3,000 mg/dl. Foals had serum IgG concentrations greater than 520 mg/dl 24 hours after parturition, when the colost...
Mathisen SR, Wu HD, Sauvage LR, Walker MW.Because repeat sternotomies are becoming much more prevalent with repeat coronary bypass operations, prevention of direct adhesions of the heart and grafts to the back of the sternum by use of synthetic or xenograft material to close the pericardiotomy has become a matter for investigation. In this study bovine and equine glutaraldehyde-processed xenografts were implanted bilaterally in dogs for implant intervals of 6 weeks and 3, 6, 9, and 12 months. The bovine and equine xenografts both performed well in resisting the adhesion of the heart to their inner surfaces and less well in resisting a...
Ahmed H, Chatterjee BP, Kelm S, Schauer R.A sialic acid-specific lectin, scorpin, has been purified to apparent homogeneity from the Indian scorpion Heterometrus granulomanus by affinity chromatography on equine submandibular gland glycopeptides linked to Sepharose and gel filtration on Sephadex G-200. The lectin has a molecular mass of 500 000 Da and was dissociated into single polypeptide chains of 15 000 Da, as determined by SDS gel electrophoresis in the presence of 2-mercaptoethanol. Scorpin is a glycoprotein containing 2.8% sugars. Its specificity was investigated by the inhibition of hemagglutination with various derivatives of...
DiPietro JA, Todd KS, Reuter V.Four groups of 10 horses (mares) each were treated with a 1% solution of ivermectin (200 micrograms/kg of body weight) in a propylene glycol-glycerol formal base orally, a 1% solution of ivermectin (200 micrograms/kg) in a propylene glycol-glycerol formal base via nasogastric tube, a 1.87% paste of ivermectin (200 micrograms/kg) orally, or a 22.7% paste of oxibendazole (10 mg/kg) orally. Fecal examinations were done before treatment and on posttreatment days (PTD) 14, 28, 42, 56, and 70. Strongyle egg per gram counts and sugar flotation fecal examinations were performed. Results of fecal exami...
Ríha J, Minár J, Skaloud J, Janes K, Králík O.Dipterous blood-sucking insects (horseflies, black flies, gnats, midges) have negative impacts on the performance of draught horses in forest enterprises. For the protection of these animals, the following preparations were applied at the interval of 24 hours: diethyltoluamide, Oxamat (N,N-diethyloxamine acid, USSR) and Stomoxin (synthetic pyrethroid, product of the firm Wellcome, England). In the course of 66 working days, the performance of test animals treated with 10% water emulsion of diethyltoluamide increased by 49.25 cu. m. of skidded wood, i.e. by 0.74 cu. m. wood per horse/day (21.65...
Hird DW, Casebolt DB, Carter JD, Pappaioanou M, Hjerpe CA.A case-control study to identify risk factors associated with isolation of Salmonella was accomplished, using data from records of horses hospitalized in the period July 1971 through June 1982. Horses in which nasogastric tubes were passed were at 2.9 times greater risk of having Salmonella isolated, compared with horses that did not undergo this procedure. Horses treated with antibiotics parenterally were at 6.4 times greater risk, and those treated with antibiotics orally and parenterally were at 40.4 times greater risk of developing salmonellosis, compared with horses not receiving such tre...
Frymus T, Kita J, Woyciechowska S, Ganowicz M.On 6 farms with a history of EHV-1 abortions the overall prevalence of losses due to abortion, stillbirth and neonatal foal mortality during 5 foaling seasons preceding the introduction of vaccination against EHV-1 were compared with corresponding data for 8 subsequent seasons in which all horses were immunized with a modified live EHV-1 vaccine. Although both sporadic and epizootic EHV-1 abortions occurred in immunized mares, the numbers of foetal and neonatal foal losses decreased significantly (chi 2 = 15.75; p less than 0.001) from 11.8% (343 of 2897 pregnancies) during the seasons 1969-19...
Magee C, McDaniel S, Turk P, Striegel N, Roman-Muniz IN.The purpose of this study was to learn how perceptions of accuracy and availability of sources affect how members of the Colorado equine industry seek both everyday information and information during an equine disease outbreak. A survey was distributed by email and social media to members of Colorado-based equine organizations. A total of 256 survey responses were obtained from individuals representing a spectrum of ages and roles in the Colorado equine industry. Survey participants predominantly identified as female (95.3%) and their industry role as a horse owner (41%) or a competitive (25.8...
Grahwit G.A historical review is given on the reasons to use restraint measures in animals, their definitions and classifications as well as their mode of action. An attempt is made to give an assessment of these measures according to animal welfare aspects formerly and today. Special emphasis is put on considerations in conformity with the "reasonable reason", as required in the German Animal Welfare Act.