Disease surveillance in horses involves the systematic collection, analysis, and interpretation of health data to monitor and manage equine diseases. This process aids in the early detection of outbreaks, tracking of disease trends, and evaluation of control measures. Surveillance systems may incorporate various data sources, including clinical reports, laboratory testing, and field observations. These systems can focus on infectious diseases, such as equine influenza and West Nile virus, or non-infectious conditions affecting horse populations. This page compiles peer-reviewed research studies and scholarly articles that explore methodologies, technologies, and outcomes associated with disease surveillance in equine populations.
Fouché N, Remy-Wohlfender F, Blau D, Franzen J, Gurtner C, Seuberlich T, Unger L, Gerber V.Outbreaks of equine coronavirus (ECoV) infections have been described in different parts of the world including Europe. The aim of this report was to describe clinical signs, diagnostic work-up and outcome of the first documented outbreak of ECoV in Switzerland in order to raise the awareness for the disease and its various clinical presentations. The outbreak occurred on a farm with 26 horses. Of these, seven horses developed clinical disease ranging from mild signs such as fever and anorexia to severe signs of acute colitis. One horse died due to severe endotoxemia and circulatory shock seco...
Considering the course of the current SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, it is important to have serological tests for monitoring humoral immune response against SARS-CoV-2 infection and vaccination. Herein we describe a novel bridge enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (b-ELISA) for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies detection in human and other species, employing recombinant Spike protein as a unique antigen, which is produced at high scale in insect larvae. Eighty two human control sera/plasmas and 169 COVID-19 patients' sera/plasmas, confirmed by rRT-PCR, were analyzed by the b-ELISA assay. In addition, a total of 27 a...
Hwang H, Ro Y, Lee H, Kim J, Lee K, Choi EJ, Bae YC, So B, Kwon D, Kim H, Lee I.Since 2013, the number of requests for diagnosis for horses based on neurological symptoms has increased rapidly in South Korea. The affected horses have commonly exhibited symptoms of acute seasonal hindlimb ataxia. A previous study from 2015-2016 identified as the causative agent. Objective: This study is an epidemiological investigation to find out risk factors related to the rapid increase in hindlimb ataxia of horses due to aberrant parasites in South Korea. Methods: An epidemiological investigation was conducted on 155 cohabiting horses in 41 horse ranches where the disease occurred. Th...
Suminda GGD, Bhandari S, Won Y, Goutam U, Kanth Pulicherla K, Son YO, Ghosh M.Increasing globalization, agricultural intensification, urbanization, and climatic changes have resulted in a significant recent increase in emerging infectious zoonotic diseases. Zoonotic diseases are becoming more common, so innovative, effective, and integrative research is required to better understand their transmission, ecological implications, and dynamics at wildlife-human interfaces. High-throughput sequencing (HTS) methodologies have enormous potential for unraveling these contingencies and improving our understanding, but they are only now beginning to be realized in livestock resea...
Songsri J, Mala W, Wisessombat S, Siritham K, Cheha S, Noisa N, Wongtawan T, Klangbud WK. O157:H7 is enterohemorrhagic , which produces verocytotoxin or Shiga toxin. It is a well-known cause of severe diseases in humans worldwide. Cattle and other ruminants are the main reservoirs of this organism. Sports animals, such as fighting bulls, riding horses, and fighting cocks, are economic animals in Southern Thailand. This study aimed to identify O157:H7 from the rectal swabs of these sports animals and determine the antimicrobial susceptibility patterns of isolated bacteria. Unassigned: The rectal swabs were collected from 34 fighting bulls, 32 riding horses, and 31 fighting cocks. ...
Cao X, Qiu X, Shi N, Ha Z, Zhang H, Xie Y, Wang P, Zhu X, Zhao W, Zhao G, Jin N, Lu H.Getah virus (GETV) is a mosquito-borne, single-stranded, positive-sense RNA virus belonging to the genus of the family . Natural infections of GETV have been identified in a variety of vertebrate species, with pathogenicity mainly in swine, horses, bovines, and foxes. The increasing spectrum of infection and the characteristic causing abortions in pregnant animals pose a serious threat to public health and the livestock economy. Therefore, there is an urgent need to establish a method that can be used for epidemiological investigation in multiple animals. In this study, a real-time reverse tr...
Lord J, Carter C, Smith J, Locke S, Phillips E, Odoi A.Surveillance of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) among veterinary pathogens is necessary to identify clinically relevant patterns of AMR and to inform antimicrobial use practices. Streptococcus equi subsp. zooepidemicus and Rhodococcus equi are bacterial pathogens of major clinical importance in horses and are frequently implicated in respiratory tract infections. The objectives of this study were to describe antimicrobial resistance patterns and identify predictors of AMR and multidrug resistance (MDR) (resistance to three or more antimicrobial classes) among equine S. zooepidemicus and R. equi...
The genus includes species with a wide geographical spread that cause pathology in humans and animals. In this context, an epidemiological study of infection was carried out in the northeastern part of Romania to investigate for the first time the prevalence of this infection in pigs, horses, wild boars and bears, the geographical distribution of species and the natural reservoir of infection. Between 2010 and 2015, a total of 166,270 animals were examined by the method of artificial digestion, in order to calculate the annual and general prevalence of infection, according to the host and...
Fourie I, Snyman J, Williams J, Ismail A, Jansen van Vuren P, Venter M.Although Old World alphaviruses, Middelburg- (MIDV) and Sindbis virus (SINV), have previously been detected in horses and wildlife with neurologic disease in South Africa, the pathogenesis and clinical presentation of MIDV and SINV infections in animals are not well documented. Clinical samples from horses across South Africa with acute or fatal neurologic and febrile infections submitted between 2014-2018 were investigated. In total, 69/1084 (6.36%) and 11/1084 (1.01%) horses tested positive for MIDV and SINV, respectively, by real-time reverse transcription (RT) PCR. Main signs/outcomes for ...
Kydd J, Nielsen M, Waller A.Julia Kydd, Martin Nielsen and Andrew Waller highlight some of the key presentations given at last year's 11th International Equine Infectious Diseases Conference, which was held virtually.
Suresh KP, Patil SS, Nayak A, Dhanze H, Rajamani S, Shivamallu C, Cull CA, Amachawadi RG.Brucellosis is a highly contagious bacterial disease that mainly affects ruminants, but it may affect equines, canines, and felines. The disease is of utmost significance from an economic standpoint in countries where there is no national brucellosis prevention and eradication policy in operation. A systematic review was done to estimate disease burden, incidences, prevalence, and geographical distribution critical in planning appropriate intervention strategies for the control and prevention of Brucellosis. Research articles that were published during the period 2000-2020 were considered for ...
de Vos CJ, Petie R, van Klink EGM, Swanenburg M.Increasing globalization and international trade contribute to rapid expansion of animal and human diseases. Hence, preparedness is warranted to prevent outbreaks of emerging and re-emerging diseases or detect outbreaks in an early stage. We developed a rapid risk assessment tool (RRAT) to inform risk managers on the incursion risk of multiple livestock diseases, about the main sources for incursion and the change of risk over time. RRAT was built as a relational database to link data on disease outbreaks worldwide, on introduction routes and on disease-specific parameters. The tool was parame...
Kareche H, Daly JM, Laabassi F.Equine influenza (EI) is one of the most contagious respiratory infections in horses, donkeys and mules, caused by equine influenza A virus (EIV). It remains a disease with a strong economic stake for the equine industry. This review focuses on the epidemiological situation of EIV in the Maghreb area, which includes Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia. There is serological evidence for extensive circulation of EIV in the Maghreb area since the early 1970s, but reports of detailed investigation of outbreaks are scarce with no documented isolation or molecular characterization of EIV from Tunisia. Isol...
Badr C, Souiai O, Arbi M, El Behi I, Essaied MS, Khosrof I, Benkahla A, Chabchoub A, Ghram A.Equid herpesvirus (EHV) is a contagious viral disease affecting horses, causing illness characterized by respiratory symptoms, abortion and neurological disorders. It is common worldwide and causes severe economic losses to the equine industry. The present study was aimed at investigating the incidence of EHVs, the genetic characterization of Tunisian isolates and a spatiotemporal study, using 298 collected samples from diseased and clinically healthy horses. The global incidence of EHV infection was found to be about 71.81%. EHV2 and EHV5 were detected in 146 (48.99%) and 159 (53.35%) sampled...
O'Connor M.Zoonotic diseases are those which originate in animals but are transmitted to humans often through an intermediate host such as a wild animal. In Australia Hendra virus (HeV) is a disease of horses with occasional human fatalities and which is spread by the fruit bat. This article explores the lessons learnt from managing the Queensland outbreak of HeV in 1994. The legal framework for the notification and management of prohibited matter including zoonotic diseases in Queensland and New South Wales has been strengthened by provisions in the Biosecurity Act 2015 (NSW) which create strong penalti...
Kamran K, Akbar A, Naseem M, Samad A, Samiullah , Achakzai JK, Rehman ZU, Sohail Sajid M, Ali A.In spite of the significant importance of the donkeys () as draft animal in resource-poor countries like Pakistan, they are equines not receiving the appropriate care. They face challenges including injuries, diseases, lack of basic environment and mismanagement by their owners. The present study aims to provide a brief update on the current status of management of healthcare and the welfare of domestic donkeys using participatory epidemiological tools. These tools can help to provide better strategies for improving their productivity and inclusion in human society. This study was mainly focus...
El-Khatib AH, Engel AM, Weigel S.Hypoglycin A (HGA) and methylenecyclpropylglycine (MCPrG) are formed by some maple trees (Acer species) and have been associated with incidences of atypical myopathy among horses in pastures. In this work, a simple and sensitive ultra-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) method without derivatization was developed for the quantification of HGA and MCPrG in maple samples and validated according to EU guidelines. The LOQ presented here for HGA (16.4 µg/kg) is considerably lower than the lowest published LOQ (500 µg/kg). This method confirms that sycamore and ...
Whitlock F, Grewar J, Newton R.During 2019, an epidemic of equine influenza (EI) occurred in Europe. Objective: To describe the epidemiology of the 2019 EI epidemic within Great Britain (GB). Methods: Retrospective descriptive study of laboratory confirmed EI cases. Methods: Epidemiological data were obtained from veterinary surgeons referring samples for EI virus testing. Where available, data on confirmed cases and their wider resident population on EI-infected premises were collated and described. On a national level, spatial and temporal representations, consisting of choropleth maps and epidemic curves, described the s...
Mota RA, Junior JWP.Glanders is an infectious disease that causes serious damage to the equine production chain in countries where it occurs endemically and poses a risk to public health. This study aimed to conduct an integrative review of the advances in the knowledge of glanders in Brazil over the last three decades since its re-emergence. Documentary research was conducted for the period between the years 2000 and 2022. SCOPUS and PUBMED databases were used to search for scientific articles, dissertations, and thesis, in addition to the Brazilian Digital Library of Thesis and Dissertations (BDTD). A total of ...
Di Azevedo MIN, Lilenbaum W.Leptospirosis may be associated with important syndromes in equines, including reproductive ones. Recently, our group demonstrated a reproductive syndrome of leptospirosis in ruminants (Bovine Genital Leptospirosis - BGL), that presents its own agent, particular diagnostic methods, and specific treatment and prevention, requiring special attention. We realized that the genital syndrome of leptospirosis may not be exclusive to ruminants and may also affect horses. The aim of the present study is to gather the available data on leptospirosis in equine reproduction and propose a new genital lepto...
Yuen KY, Henning J, Eng MD, Wang ASW, Lenz MF, Caldwell KM, Coyle MP, Bielefeldt-Ohmann H.The increased frequency of extreme weather events due to climate change has complicated the epidemiological pattern of mosquito-borne diseases, as the host and vector dynamics shift to adapt. However, little is known about the seroprevalence of common mosquito-borne virus infections in horses in Australia. In this study, serological surveys for multiple alphaviruses were performed on samples taken from 622 horses across two horse populations (racehorses and horses residing on The University of Queensland (UQ) campus) in Queensland using the gold standard virus neutralization test. As is the ca...
Li B, Wang H, Liang G.Getah virus (GETV) is a zoonotic virus transmitted by mosquitoes, belonging to the family, genus. It was first isolated from mosquitoes in Malaysia in 1955, being widespread in island countries in the South Pacific region. Since the beginning of the 21st century, GETV expanded its range and geographical distribution from low-latitude tropical regions to 60° north latitude, being isolated from 17 different species of mosquitoes belonging to five genera of Culicidae (, , , and ), as well as from midges in Eurasia. Molecular genetic evolution analysis revealed large molecular differences betw...
Mundis SJ, Harrison S, Pelley D, Durand S, Ryan SJ.Eastern equine encephalitis virus (EEEV) is a mosquito-borne virus that affects humans and horses, with a high case fatality rate in both species. The virus can be transmitted by several mosquito species and maintained in multiple reservoir hosts, making EEEV dynamics difficult to anticipate. In this study, we identified spatial and temporal factors that precede EEEV detection using sentinel chicken surveillance data from Orange County, Florida, from 2003 to 2017. We first examined the land cover and mosquito species composition associated with sentinel chicken sites. We then fit distributed l...
Bolwell C, Gee E, Adams B, Collins-Emerson J, Scarfe K, Nisa S, Gordon E, Rogers C, Benschop J.The objectives of this study were to determine if horses located near an outbreak of leptospirosis in alpacas had titres indicative of a previous or current infection and, if so, to determine the magnitude in change of titres over time. Further, the objective was to determine if horses with high titre results were shedding in their urine. Blood samples were collected from twelve horses located on or next to the farm with the outbreak in alpacas, on day zero and at four subsequent time points (two, four, six and nine weeks). The microscopic agglutination test was used to test sera for five se...
Molini U, Franzo G, Rautenbach I, Otto HV, Khaiseb S, Di Gennaro A, Ntahonshikira C, Baines I, Monaco F, Savini G, D'Alterio N.West Nile virus (WNV) is a vector-borne virus maintained in nature by a bird-mosquito cycle. However, it can occasionally and accidentally infect horses and human beings, leading to sometimes severe or even fatal outcomes in these species. Therefore, the monitoring of its circulation and disease occurrence is of relevance. Unfortunately, it is underdiagnosed or not diagnosed in several African counties, including Namibia, where no data is currently available for horses. In this study, 98 horses in three different stables in the Windhoek city area were investigated. They were found to have a se...
Silva CJD, Lima KPB, Monteiro JFDCLS, Silva AKSFD, Silva FJD, Pereira AMS, Hernandes VP, Silva EDD, Silva CSAGE, Brandão Filho SP, Brito MEF.American cutaneous leishmaniasis is a commonly neglected, vector-borne tropical parasitic disease that is a major public health concern in Brazil. Leishmania (Viannia) braziliensis is the main species associated with the disease. Accurate diagnosis is based on epidemiological surveillance, clinical assessment, and laboratory testing. Leishmania (V.) braziliensis has been detected in several wild and synanthropic mammals. Their epidemiological role has not been entirely elucidated. This study aimed to assess potential L. braziliensis infections in asymptomatic domestic animals, by molecular and...
Kambayashi Y, Nemoto M, Tsujimura K, Ohta M, Bannai H.Equine coronavirus (ECoV) causes fever, lethargy, anorexia and gastrointestinal signs in horses. There has been limited information about the prevalence and seasonality of ECoV among Thoroughbreds in Japan. Objective: To understand the epidemiology and to evaluate the potential risk of ECoV infection to the horse industry in Japan. Methods: Longitudinal. Methods: The virus-neutralisation (VN) test was performed using sera collected three times a year at 4 months intervals from 161 yearlings and at 6-7 months intervals from 181 active racehorses in Japan in 2017-2018, 2018-2019 and 2019-2020....
Pant GR.Japanese encephalitis (JE) is an emerging disease of animals and humans in Nepal. A serological study for antibody to JE virus was conducted in Nepal from September 2003 to August 2004 by collecting 280 sera from pigs, ducks, and horses covering 10 districts of the country. These sera were tested by performing competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for the detection of antibodies against JE virus. The total number of tested sera was 280, of which 43.92% were found positive for the presence of antibodies against JE virus infection in Nepal. Sero-prevalence of JE in pigs, ducks, and horse...
Yang H, Xiao Y, Meng F, Sun F, Chen M, Cheng Z, Chen Y, Liu S, Chen H.Equine influenza virus is a major respiratory pathogen in horses. Although both horses and donkeys belong to the genus Equus, donkey infection with influenza viruses is rare. In March 2017, an influenza outbreak occurred in donkeys in Shandong province, China. The causative virus, A/donkey/Shandong/1/2017(H3N8), was isolated from a dead donkey. Genetic analysis indicated that the virus originated from influenza A (H3N8) clade 2 of the Florida sub-lineage that has been circulating in Asian equine populations. Comparison of the deduced amino acid sequence of the HA gene of this causative virus w...
Ristic M, Holland CJ, Dawson JE, Sessions J, Palmer J.The recent establishment of a system for the continuous in vitro propagation of Ehrlichia risticii, the causative agent of equine monocytic ehrlichiosis (EME; synonym, Potomac horse fever), has facilitated the development of an indirect fluorescent antibody test for the diagnosis of this disease under laboratory and field conditions. The field diagnostic application of the test has aided in the recognition of the disease in 16 states of the United States and in 1 province of Canada. A limited epidemiologic study conducted between January and September 1985, in an area where the disease is know...
Beck C, Leparc-Goffart I, Desoutter D, Debergé E, Bichet H, Lowenski S, Dumarest M, Gonzalez G, Migné C, Vanhomwegen J, Zientara S, Durand B....New Caledonia and French Polynesia are areas in which arboviruses circulate extensively. A large serological survey among horses from New Caledonia and French Polynesia was carried out to investigate the seroprevalence of flaviviruses in the horse population. Here, 293 equine sera samples were screened for flaviviruses using a competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (cELISA). The positive sera were then confirmed using a flavivirus-specific microsphere immunoassay (MIA) and seroneutralization tests. This serosurvey showed that 16.6% (27/163) and 30.8% (40/130) of horses were positive for...
Von Loewenich FD, Stumpf G, Baumgarten BU, Röllinghoff M, Dumler JS, Bogdan C.Based on seroprevalence studies and tick infection rates, tick-borne human granulocytic ehrlichiosis (HGE) is thought to occur in Germany, but to date no clinical case has been detected. Reported here are the first ehrlichial sequences derived from a German horse that fell ill with granulocytic ehrlichiosis. The analysis of three different genes (16S rRNA gene, groESL, and ankA) revealed up to 100% identity with ehrlichial sequences derived from patients with HGE in other countries or from infected ticks in Germany. Thus, the current lack of clinical cases of HGE in Germany is unlikely to resu...
Knowles EJ, Tremaine WH, Pearson GR, Mair TS.Survey data on equine tumours are sparse compared with other species and may have changed over time. Objective: To describe the most frequently diagnosed equine tumours recorded by a diagnostic pathology laboratory over 29 years, to identify background factors associated with tumour type, and to identify any changes in the tumours diagnosed or the background of cases submitted during the study period. Methods: Observational; cross-sectional analysis of records of a diagnostic pathology laboratory. Methods: The records of all neoplastic equine histology submissions to the University of Bristol ...
Wilson WD.Influenza continues to be one of the most important diseases of horses despite the availability and widespread use of equine influenza vaccines for almost 30 years. In recent years, infection with the influenza A/equine/2 subtype has become endemic in the equine populations of North America, Europe, and Scandinavia. Continued antigenic drift of field virus has compromised the efficacy of vaccines, most of which contain antigens prepared from influenza viruses isolated more than 10 years ago. This article reviews the history, virology, epidemiology, pathogenesis, immunology, clinical presentati...
Ozkul A, Ergunay K, Koysuren A, Alkan F, Arsava EM, Tezcan S, Emekdas G, Hacioglu S, Turan M, Us D.West Nile fever is an important zoonotic infection caused by West Nile virus (WNV), a member of the Flaviviridae. Previous serological data from Turkey suggest widespread WNV circulation. This report includes cases of human and equine WNV infections occurring concurrently, and manifesting as central nervous system infections, in two neighboring provinces of Central Anatolia, Turkey. A partial phylogenetic analysis of the causative virus is given for the first time. Methods: The cases were reported in February (horses) and March (human). Symptoms of the disease were similar in the two species, ...
Kaneene JB, Miller R, Ross WA, Gallagher K, Marteniuk J, Rook J.A population-based prospective epidemiological study was conducted to assess risk factors for equine colic. A stratified sample of 3925 equids in 138 randomly selected equine farms in the state of Michigan was monitored in two 12-month rounds of data collection. Incidence densities were used to describe the rate of development of colic in the study population. Mortality rates, case fatality rates and survival rates were used to describe the severity of colic on the study population. Multivariable logistic regressions with random effects (grouped according to farm) were used to identify risk fa...
Campos AS, Franco AC, Godinho FM, Huff R, Candido DS, da Cruz Cardoso J, Hua X, Claro IM, Morais P, Franceschina C, de Lima Bermann T, Dos Santos FM....Western equine encephalitis virus (WEEV) is a mosquitoborne virus that reemerged in December 2023 in Argentina and Uruguay, causing a major outbreak. We investigated the outbreak using epidemiologic, entomological, and genomic analyses, focusing on WEEV circulation near the Argentina‒Uruguay border in Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil. During November 2023‒April 2024, the outbreak in Argentina and Uruguay resulted in 217 human cases, 12 of which were fatal, and 2,548 equine cases. We determined cases on the basis of laboratory and clinical epidemiologic criteria. We characterized 3 fatal equ...
Garner MG, Cowled B, East IJ, Moloney BJ, Kung NY.In August 2007, Australia which had previously been free of equine influenza, experienced a large outbreak that lasted approximately 4 months before it was eradicated. The outbreak required a significant national response by government and the horse industries. The main components of the response were movement controls, biosecurity measures, risk-based zoning and, subsequently, vaccination to contain the outbreak. Although not initially used, vaccination became a key element in the eradication program, with approximately 140000 horses vaccinated. Vaccination is recognised as a valuable tool fo...
Lee SH, Yun SH, Choi E, Park YS, Lee SE, Cho GJ, Kwon OD, Kwak D.Lyme disease is a tick-borne zoonotic infectious disease caused by Borrelia burgdorferi. The present study assessed the infection status of B. burgdorferi among horses reared in Korea using ELISA and PCR. Between 2009 and 2013, blood samples were collected from 727 horses throughout Korea. Data for each animal including age, gender, breed, and region of sample collection were used for epidemiological analysis. Overall, 38 (5.2%; true prevalence: 5.5%) of 727 horses were seropositive by ELISA. There were statistically significant differences according to breed and region (P<0.001) whose diff...
Perglione CO, Gildea S, Rimondi A, Miño S, Vissani A, Carossino M, Cullinane A, Barrandeguy M.In 2012, equine influenza (EI) virus was confirmed as the cause of outbreaks of respiratory disease in horses throughout South America. In Uruguay and Argentina, hundreds of vaccinated thoroughbred horses in training and racing facilities were clinically affected. Objective: To characterise the EI viruses detected during the outbreak in Uruguay and Argentina. Methods: Virus was detected in nasopharyngeal swabs by a pan-reactive influenza type A real-time RT-PCR. The nucleotide sequence of the HA1 gene was determined and analysed phylogenetically using mega 5 software. Amino acid sequences alig...
Sears KP, Kappmeyer LS, Wise LN, Silva M, Ueti MW, White S, Reif KE, Knowles DP.Theileria equi infection, exotic to the United States has reemerged through intravenous (iatrogenic) and tick-borne transmission. Surveillance at the US-Mexico border identified a new species, Theileria haneyi, (T. haneyi) (EP = Eagle Pass, Texas) which warranted additional investigation due to inability to detect by PCR targeting of T. equi ema-1 and EMA-1-cELISA validated for T. equi. Infection dynamics of T. haneyi were evaluated, including ability to superinfect in the presence of T. equi-Texas (T. equi), the isolate responsible for the reemergence of T. equi in the U S. Experimental i...
Axon JE, Carrick JB, Barton MD, Collins NM, Russell CM, Kiehne J, Coombs G.To evaluate if methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is present in the horse population in Australia. Methods: A two-part retrospective study of laboratory submissions of microbial culture results from horses. Methods: Part A: medical records of 216 horses that had MRSA screening performed on nasal swabs collected over a 30-day period at admission to the Scone Equine Hospital Clovelly Intensive Care Unit were retrieved. Part B: laboratory records from 2004 to 2009 of culture submissions to the Scone Veterinary Laboratory were reviewed and cultures that grew MRSA were identified. T...
Yeh JY, Lee JH, Park JY, Seo HJ, Moon JS, Cho IS, Kim HP, Yang YJ, Ahn KM, Kyung SG, Choi IS, Lee JB.The detection of West Nile virus (WNV) in areas endemic for Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) is complicated by the extensive serological cross-reactivity between the two viruses. A testing algorithm was developed and employed for the detection of anti-WNV antibody in areas endemic for JEV. Using this differentiation algorithm, a serological survey of poultry (2004 through 2009) and horses (2007 through 2009) was performed. Among 2681 poultry sera, 125 samples were interpreted as being positive for antibodies against JEV, and 14 were suspected to be positive for antibodies against undetermined...
Durand B, Lecollinet S, Beck C, Martínez-López B, Balenghien T, Chevalier V.Live animal trade is considered a major mode of introduction of viruses from enzootic foci into disease-free areas. Due to societal and behavioural changes, some wild animal species may nowadays be considered as pet species. The species diversity of animals involved in international trade is thus increasing. This could benefit pathogens that have a broad host range such as arboviruses. The objective of this study was to analyze the risk posed by live animal imports for the introduction, in the European Union (EU), of four arboviruses that affect human and horses: Eastern and Western equine enc...
Gothe LMR, Ganzenberg S, Ziegler U, Obiegala A, Lohmann KL, Sieg M, Vahlenkamp TW, Groschup MH, Hörügel U, Pfeffer M.Since 2018, autochthonous West Nile virus (WNV) infections have been regularly reported in eastern-central Germany. While clinically apparent infections in humans and horses are not frequent, seroprevalence studies in horses may allow the tracing of WNV and related flaviviruses transmission, such as tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV) and Usutu virus (USUV), and consequently help to estimate the risk of human infections. Hence, the aim of our study was to follow the seropositive ratio against these three viruses in horses in Saxony, Saxony Anhalt, and Brandenburg and to describe their geograp...
Ndiva Mongoh M, Hearne R, Dyer NW, Khaitsa ML.This study estimated economic impacts associated with the West Nile virus (WNV) outbreak in horses for North Dakota in 2002. The 2002 epidemic in the United States was the largest meningoencephalitis epidemic reported in the Western Hemisphere. Over 15,257 horse cases were reported in 43 states with most cases occurring in central United States. North Dakota reported over 569 horse cases, with a mortality rate of 22%. The total costs incurred by the state were approximately US$1.9 million. The costs incurred by horse owners were about US$1.5 million. Of the US$1.5 million, about US$781,203 and...
Pisello L, Rampacci E, Stefanetti V, Beccati F, Hyatt DR, Coletti M, Passamonti F.This study aimed to describe bacteria isolated from the reproductive tract of mares and to identify changes in antimicrobial susceptibility patterns to those antibiotics commonly used for the treatment of equine endometritis. A total of 4122 equine uterine swabs were collected from mares suffering from reproductive tract disorders in the period 2010-2017. Aerobic culture and antimicrobial susceptibility testing using agar disc diffusion were performed on each sample. Aerobic bacteria were isolated from 3171 of 4122 (76.9 per cent) samples. The most frequently isolated microorganisms were (885...
Napp S, Llorente F, Beck C, Jose-Cunilleras E, Soler M, Pailler-García L, Amaral R, Aguilera-Sepúlveda P, Pifarré M, Molina-López R, Obón E....The surveillance for West Nile virus (WNV) in Catalonia (northeastern Spain) has consistently detected flaviviruses not identified as WNV. With the aim of characterizing the flaviviruses circulating in Catalonia, serum samples from birds and horses collected between 2010 and 2019 and positive by panflavivirus competition ELISA (cELISA) were analyzed by microneutralization test (MNT) against different flaviviruses. A third of the samples tested were inconclusive by MNT, highlighting the limitations of current diagnostic techniques. Our results evidenced the widespread circulation of flaviviruse...
Silva ASG, Matos ACD, da Cunha MACR, Rehfeld IS, Galinari GCF, Marcelino SAC, Saraiva LHG, Martins NRDS, Maranhão RPA, Lobato ZIP, Pierezan F....Mosquito-borne arboviruses are a major public health concern worldwide and are responsible for emerging and re-emerging diseases. Taken together, the arboviruses have a strong impact on public health and are the most common causes of equine encephalitis. In-depth diagnostic investigation of equine viral encephalitis is of utmost importance for the epidemiological surveillance and control of this disease. Regarding neurological disorders in equids, in April-May 2018, at least 12 cases of equid mortality with acute neurological signs were reported in six farms from Espirito Santo state, Brazil. ...
Meister TL, Tegtmeyer B, Postel A, Cavalleri JV, Todt D, Stang A, Steinmann E.An equine parvovirus-hepatitis (EqPV-H) has been recently identified in association with equine serum hepatitis, also known as Theiler's disease. This disease was first described by Arnold Theiler in 1918 and is often observed after applications with blood products in equines. So far, the virus has only been described in the USA and China. In this study, we evaluated the presence of EqPV-H in several commercial serum samples to assess the potential risk of virus transmission by equine serum-based products for medical and research applications. In 11 out of 18 commercial serum samples, EqPV-H D...
Assaid N, Mousson L, Moutailler S, Arich S, Akarid K, Monier M, Beck C, Lecollinet S, Failloux AB, Sarih M.West Nile virus (WNV) is one of the most widely distributed mosquito-borne viruses in the world. In North Africa, it causes human cases of meningoencephalitis with fatalities in Algeria and in Tunisia, whereas only horses were affected in Morocco. The aims of this study were to detect WNV in mosquitoes and to determine seroprevalence of WNV in Moroccan horses by the detection of IgG antibodies. A total of 1455 mosquitoes belonging to four different species were grouped by collection site, date, and sex with 10 specimens per pool and tested for 38 arboviruses using a high-throughput chip based ...
Burgess BA, Tokateloff N, Manning S, Lohmann K, Lunn DP, Hussey SB, Morley PS.There is little information on the duration of nasal shedding of EHV-1 from horses with naturally occurring equine herpesvirus myeloencephalopathy (EHM). Objective: To evaluate the duration of nasal shedding of EHV-1 in horses affected by EHM. Methods: One hundred and four horses naturally exposed to EHV-1, 20 of which had clinical signs of EHM. Methods: All horses on affected premises were monitored. Those horses developing EHM were sampled in a longitudinal outbreak investigation. Nasal swabs were collected daily from 16 of 20 horses affected by EHM. A qPCR was performed on 98 of 246 nasal s...
Prow NA, Tan CS, Wang W, Hobson-Peters J, Kidd L, Barton A, Wright J, Hall RA, Bielefeldt-Ohmann H.In 2011 an unprecedented epidemic of equine encephalitis occurred in south-eastern (SE) Australia following heavy rainfall and severe flooding in the preceding 2-4 months. Less than 6% of the documented cases occurred in Queensland, prompting the question of pre-existing immunity in Queensland horses. A small-scale serological survey was conducted on horses residing in one of the severely flood-affected areas of SE-Queensland. Using a flavivirus-specific blocking-ELISA we found that 63% (39/62) of horses older than 3 years were positive for flavivirus antibodies, and of these 18% (7/38) had ne...
Jiménez-Clavero MÁ.Environmental changes have an undoubted influence on the appearance, distribution, and evolution of infectious diseases, and notably on those transmitted by vectors. Global change refers to environmental changes arising from human activities affecting the fundamental mechanisms operating in the biosphere. This paper discusses the changes observed in recent times with regard to some important arboviral (arthropod-borne viral) diseases of animals, and the role global change could have played in these variations. Two of the most important arboviral diseases of animals, bluetongue (BT) and West Ni...
Garaicoechea L, Miño S, Ciarlet M, Fernández F, Barrandeguy M, Parreño V.P[12]G3 and P[12]G14 equine rotaviruses (ERVs) are epidemiologically important in horses. In Argentina, the prevalent ERV strains have been historically P[12]G3. The aim of this study was the detection and characterization of ERV strains circulating in foals in Argentina during a 17-year study (1992-2008). Additionally, the gene sequences of VP7, VP4 and NSP4 encoding genes of representative Argentinean ERV strains were determined and phylogenetic analyses were performed to elucidate the evolutionary relationships of the ERV strains in Argentina. ERVs were detected in 165 (21%) out of 771 diar...
