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.
Baldacchino F, Desquesnes M, Mihok S, Foil LD, Duvallet G, Jittapalapong S.Tabanids are nuisance pests for people and livestock because of their painful and irritating bite, persistent biting behavior, and blood ingestion. About 4400 tabanid species have been described; they are seasonally present in all kinds of landscapes, latitudes, and altitudes. High populations have a significant economic impact on outdoor activities, tourism, and livestock production. Tabanids are also vectors of animal disease agents, including viruses, bacteria and parasites. However, tabanids have received little attention in comparison with other hematophagous Diptera. Here, we highlight t...
Dürrwald R, Kolodziejek J, Weissenböck H, Nowotny N.Borna disease (BD) is a sporadic neurologic disease of horses and sheep caused by mammalian Borna disease virus (BDV). Its unique epidemiological features include: limited occurrence in certain endemic regions of central Europe, yearly varying disease peaks, and a seasonal pattern with higher disease frequencies in spring and a disease nadir in autumn. It is most probably not directly transmitted between horses and sheep. All these features led to the assumption that an indigenous virus reservoir of BDV other than horses and sheep may exist. The search for such a reservoir had been unsuccessfu...
Miszczak F, Tesson V, Kin N, Dina J, Balasuriya UB, Pronost S, Vabret A.Equine coronavirus (ECoV) is involved mainly in enteric infections. Following the recent description of ECoV in 2000, this study reports for the first time the presence of ECoV in France and, on a wider scale, in Europe. ECoV was molecularly detected from diarrheic and respiratory specimens. Sequencing and phylogenetic analyses demonstrated that European strains are most closely related to the reference North American strain (ECoV-NC99) than the Asian strain (ECoV-Tokachi09).
Nielsen MK, Pfister K, von Samson-Himmelstjerna G.Since the 1960s equine parasite control has relied heavily on frequent anthelmintic treatments often applied with frequent intervals year-round. However, increasing levels of anthelmintic resistance in cyathostomins and Parascaris equorum are now forcing the equine industry to change to a more surveillance-based treatment approach to facilitate a reduction in treatment intensity. The principle of selective therapy has been implemented with success in small ruminant parasite control, and has also found use in horse populations. Typically, egg counts are performed from all individuals in the pop...
Ekiri AB, House AM, Krueger TM, Hernandez JA.To assess awareness, perceived relevance, and acceptance of surveillance and infection control practices at a large animal referral hospital among referring veterinarians and clients who sent horses to the facility for veterinary care. Methods: Survey. Methods: 57 referring veterinarians and 594 clients. Methods: A 15-question survey targeting Salmonella enterica as an important pathogen of interest in horses was sent to clients who sent ≥ 1 horse to the University of Florida Large Animal Hospital for veterinary care during July 1, 2007, through July 1, 2011, and to veterinarians who had ref...
van Balen J, Mowery J, Piraino-Sandoval M, Nava-Hoet RC, Kohn C, Hoet AE.The role that environmental contamination might play as a reservoir and a possible source of Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) for patients and personnel at equine veterinary hospitals remains undefined, as the environment has only been monitored during outbreaks or for short periods. Therefore, the objectives of this study were to determine the monthly presence, distribution, and characteristics of environmental MRSA at an equine hospital, and to establish patterns of contamination over time using molecular epidemiological analyses. For this purpose, a yearlong active MRSA su...
Stull CL, Holcomb KE.Every state in the United States has regulations prohibiting acts of neglect and cruelty against animals. Local law enforcement and animal control agencies are responsible in many communities to enforce these statutes. As society's perception of horses has changed from their origin as livestock to companion animals in modern times, owners have transitioned their care and management. The goal of this study was to identify the role and capacities of local animal control services in the United States that investigate equine neglect, cruelty, and abandonment investigations and to identify challeng...
Berxholi K, Ziegler U, Rexhepi A, Schmidt K, Mertens M, Korro K, Cuko A, Angenvoort J, Groschup MH.Serum samples collected from 167 equines of 12 districts in Albania were tested for West Nile virus-specific antibodies by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and virus neutralization assay, using WNV lineage 1 and 2. In addition, 95 bird serum samples from Albania and 29 horse samples from Kosovo were tested in ELISA. An overall seroprevalence rate of 22% was found in horses from Albania, whereas no specific antibodies were found in the equine samples from Kosovo and the bird samples. This is the first report indicating WNV infections in animals in Albania, and the first reported seroprevalence...
Kudrnáčová M, Langrová I, Maršálek M, Jankovská I, Scháňková S, Brožová A, Truněčková J.The occurrence of Hypoderma diana (Diptera: Hypodermatidae) in a herd of 15 horses was observed during a 4-year period (2010-2013) in northwest Bohemia. During this period, infestation by the warble fly H. diana increased from 12.5% in 2010 to 53.3% in 2013. Nodules were observed on the neck, back, stomach, legs, and head. The incidence of H. diana was probably influenced by the presence of a specific host mouflon (Ovis orientalis musimon).
Zhang L, Wang X, Zhan Q, Wang Z, Xu M, Zhu D, He F, Liu X, Huang R, Li D, Lei Y, Xie P.Borna disease virus (BDV) is a non-cytolytic, neurotropic RNA virus that can infect many vertebrate species, including humans. To date, BDV infection has been reported in a range of animal species across a broad global geographic distribution. However, a systematic epidemiological survey of BDV infection in domesticated animals in China has yet to be performed. In current study, BDV RNA and antibodies in 2353 blood samples from apparently healthy animals of eight species (horse, donkey, dog, pig, rabbit, cattle, goat, sheep) from three areas in western China (Xinjiang province, Chongqing munic...
Pauvolid-Corrêa A, Campos Z, Juliano R, Velez J, Nogueira RM, Komar N.A recent study reported neutralizing antibodies to West Nile virus (WNV) in horses from four ranches of southern Pantanal. To extend that study, a serosurvey for WNV and 11 Brazilian flaviviruses was conducted with 760 equines, 238 sheep and 61 caimans from 17 local cattle ranches. Among the tested equines, 32 were collected from a ranch where a neurologic disorder outbreak had been recently reported. The sera were initially screened by using a blocking ELISA and then titrated by 90% plaque-reduction neutralization test (PRNT90) for 12 flaviviruses. Employing the criterion of 4-fold greater ti...
Ghosh S, Kobayashi N.Group A rotaviruses (RVA) are a major cause of viral diarrhea in the young of mammals and birds. RVA strains with certain genotype constellations or VP7-VP4 (G-P) genotype combinations are commonly found in a particular host species, whilst unusual or exotic RVAs have also been reported. In most cases, these exotic rotaviruses are derived from RVA strains common to other host species, possibly through interspecies transmission coupled with reassortment events, whilst a few other strains exhibit novel genotypes/genetic constellations rarely found in other RVAs. The epidemiology and evolutionary...
Encarnação JA, Herzog S, Eickmann M, Becker NI, Hermes N, Herden C.Borna disease (BD) is a severe endemic and fatal disorder caused by the neurotropic Borna disease virus (BDV) which mainly occurs in horses and sheep. Borna disease virus belongs to the order Mononegavirales, which includes many reservoir-bound viruses with high zoonotic and pathogenic properties including the filoviruses and lyssaviruses. Clinically manifest BD occurs in endemic areas of Germany, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and Austria. A seasonal accumulation of cases in spring and summer, incidences that vary from year to year, and the recent detection of BDV in bicolored shrews (Crocidura ...
Hussain MH, Saqib M, Raza F, Muhammad G, Asi MN, Mansoor MK, Saleem M, Jabbar A.Equine piroplasmosis (EP) caused by intraerythrocytic parasites (Theileria equi and Babesia caballi) is an emerging equine disease of world-wide distribution. In Pakistan, the prevalence and incidence of EP are unknown. In order to obtain the first insights into the prevalence of the disease, a total of 430 equids, including 33 mules, 65 horses and 332 donkeys, aging from ≤ 5 to ≥ 10 years of either sex, from five metropolises of Punjab, Pakistan, were serologically tested for the presence of antibodies directed against B. caballi and T. equi, using a competitive enzyme-linked immunosorben...
Robin M, Archer D, Garros C, Gardès L, Baylis M.There are concerns that outbreaks of exotic or novel vector-borne viral diseases will increasingly occur within northern Europe and the UK in the future. African horse sickness (AHS) is a viral disease of equids that is transmitted by Culicoides and is associated with up to 95 per cent mortality. AHS has never occurred in the UK; however, it has been suggested that appropriate Culicoides species and climatic conditions are present in northern Europe to support an outbreak. No data are currently available regarding the Culicoides species present on UK equine properties. This study demonstrates ...
McNabb L, Barr J, Crameri G, Juzva S, Riddell S, Colling A, Boyd V, Broder C, Wang LF, Lunt R.Hendra and Nipah viruses (HeV and NiV) are closely related zoonotic pathogens of the Paramyxoviridae family. Both viruses belong to the Henipavirus genus and cause fatal disease in animals and humans, though only HeV is endemic in Australia. In general and due to the acute nature of the disease, agent detection by PCR and virus isolation are the primary tools for diagnostic investigations. Assays for the detection of antibodies against HeV are fit more readily for the purpose of surveillance testing in disease epidemiology and to meet certification requirements in the international movement of...
Signer-Hasler H, Neuditschko M, Koch C, Froidevaux S, Flury C, Burger D, Leeb T, Rieder S.Hereditary variations in head morphology and head malformations are known in many species. The most common variation encountered in horses is maxillary prognathism. Prognathism and brachygnathism are syndromes of the upper and lower jaw, respectively. The resulting malocclusion can negatively affect teeth wear, and is considered a non-desirable trait in breeding programs. We performed a case-control analysis for maxillary prognathism in horses using 96 cases and 763 controls. All horses had been previously genotyped with a commercially available 50 k SNP array. We analyzed the data with a mixe...
Khurelbaatar N, Krueger WS, Heil GL, Darmaa B, Ulziimaa D, Tserennorov D, Baterdene A, Anderson BD, Gray GC.Avian (AIV) and equine influenza virus (EIV) have been repeatedly shown to circulate among Mongolia's migrating birds or domestic horses. In 2009, 439 Mongolian adults, many with occupational exposure to animals, were enrolled in a prospective cohort study of zoonotic influenza transmission. Sera were drawn upon enrollment and again at 12 and 24 months. Participants were contacted monthly for 24 months and queried regarding episodes of acute influenza-like illnesses (ILI). Cohort members confirmed to have acute influenza A infections, permitted respiratory swab collections which were studied w...
Hilderbran AC, Breuhaus BA, Refsal KR.This study was performed to determine whether sick horses have thyroid hormone (TH) alterations similar to those observed in nonthyroidal illness syndrome in other species. Objective: Horses suffering from systemic diseases have decreased THs and inappropriately low thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH). Methods: Seventy-one clinically normal horses; 380 hospitalized horses. Methods: Total thyroxine (TT4), free thyroxine by equilibrium dialysis (fT4D), total triiodothyronine (TT3), free triiodothyronine (fT3), and TSH were measured in normal and hospitalized horses. Disease severity was categorize...
Cuxson JL, Hartley CA, Ficorilli NP, Symes SJ, Devlin JM, Gilkerson JR.A single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) has been previously associated with EHV-1 neurological disease in several countries around the world. This disease is very uncommon in Australia and little information is available about the presence of this SNP in Australian EHV-1 isolates. The ORF30 sequence of 66 Australian EHV-1 isolates was determined and the genotype was compared to the disease manifestation of the case from which the virus was isolated. Of the 66 isolates, 61 were from cases of abortion and 5 were cases associated with equine herpesvirus myeloencephalopathy (EHM). There was no asso...
Woodward AL, Rash AS, Blinman D, Bowman S, Chambers TM, Daly JM, Damiani A, Joseph S, Lewis N, McCauley JW, Medcalf L, Mumford J, Newton JR, Tiwari A....Equine influenza viruses are a major cause of respiratory disease in horses worldwide and undergo antigenic drift. Several outbreaks of equine influenza occurred worldwide during 2010-2012, including in vaccinated animals, highlighting the importance of surveillance and virus characterisation. Virus isolates were characterised from more than 20 outbreaks over a 3-year period, including strains from the UK, Dubai, Germany and the USA. The haemagglutinin-1 (HA1) sequence of all isolates was determined and compared with OIE-recommended vaccine strains. Viruses from Florida clades 1 and 2 showed c...
Sofizadeh A, Telmadarraiy Z, Rahnama A, Gorganli-Davaji A, Hosseini-Chegeni A.A survey on tick species composition was carried out in Golestan Province Iran during year 2010-2011.The aim was to determine tick species parasitizing domestic ruminants and their seasonal population dynamics. Methods: A total of 124 sheep, 92 goats, 84 cattle, 74 camels and 12 horses in several villages were inspected for tick infestation. The collected ticks preserved in 70% alcohol and then were identified. Results: The overall 1059 ticks (453 female, 606 male) were collected. The ticks occur on sheep, goats, cattle, camels and horses as 72.1%, 77.3%, 75.8%, 69.3%, and 50% respectively. Th...
Fonseca AO, Botton Sde A, Nogueira CE, Corrêa BF, Silveira Jde S, de Azevedo MI, Maroneze BP, Santurio JM, Pereira DI.Pythium insidiosum is an important pathogen of mammals' species, including humans. Equine is the main species affected by this oomycete. P. insidiosum requires an aquatic environment to develop its life cycle, and the susceptible hosts are contaminated when they contact the microorganism in swampy areas. The equine pythiosis is characterized by the formation of irregular masses within the cutaneous lesions, called kunkers, which easily detach from the lesion. From these structures, it is possible to isolate P. insidiosum in pure cultures. The present study aimed to reproduce in vitro the life ...
Vignjević G, Vrućina I, Sestak I, Turić N, Bogojević MS, Merdić E.The West Nile Virus (WNV) is a zoonotic arbovirus that has recently been causing outbreaks in many countries in southern and Central Europe. In 2012, for the first time, it caused an outbreak in eastern Croatia with total of 7 human clinical cases. With an aim of assisting public health personnel in order to improve survey protocols and vector control, the high risk areas of the WNV transmission were estimated and mapped. The study area included cities of Osijek and Slavonski Brod and 8 municipalities in Vukovarsko-Srijemska County. Risk estimation was based on seroprevalence of WNV infections...
Ruple-Czerniak A, Bolte DS, Burgess BA, Morley PS.Nosocomial salmonellosis is an important problem in veterinary hospitals that treat horses and other large animals. Detection and mitigation of outbreaks and prevention of healthcare-associated infections often require detection of Salmonella enterica in the hospital environment. Objective: To compare 2 previously published methods for detecting environmental contamination with S. enterica in a large animal veterinary teaching hospital. Methods: Hospital-based comparison of environmental sampling techniques. Methods: A total of 100 pairs of environmental samples were collected from stalls us...
Martins G, Lilenbaum W.Leptospirosis is an important disease caused by various serovars of Leptospira sp. It can affect humans as well as domestic and wild animals; therefore, it has importance for public health, animal production, and wild species. The aim of this paper is to discuss the epidemiology of animal leptospirosis in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, as a possible model for other tropical regions. In several studies conducted in the last 20 years, a total of 47 rats, 120 dogs, 875 cows, 695 horses, 1,343 goats, 308 sheep and 351 pigs from all regions of the state, in addition to 107 wild mammals and 73 golden-lion...
Wang M, Guo W, Igarashi I, Xuan X, Wang X, Xiang W, Jia H.The objective of this study is to investigate the seroprevalence of equine piroplasmosis in China. A total of 1990 sera were collected from clinically healthy horses in various districts located in ten different provinces of China and examined by using indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) with recombinant Theileria equi (T. equi) merozoite antigen 2 (rEMA-2) and Babesia caballi (B. caballi) 48-kDa rhoptry protein (rBc48), respectively. The results showed that 1,018 (51.16%) and 229 (11.51%) samples were positive for B. caballi and T. equi infection, respectively. The number of ...
Ruple-Czerniak AA, Aceto HW, Bender JB, Paradis MR, Shaw SP, Van Metre DC, Weese JS, Wilson DA, Wilson J, Morley PS.Methods that can be used to estimate rates of healthcare-associated infections and other nosocomial events have not been well established for use in equine hospitals. Traditional laboratory-based surveillance is expensive and cannot be applied in all of these settings. Objective: To evaluate the use of a syndromic surveillance system for estimating rates of occurrence of healthcare-associated infections among hospitalised equine cases. Methods: Multicentre, prospective longitudinal study. Methods: This study included weaned equids (n = 297) that were admitted for gastrointestinal disorders at ...
Larska M, Grochowska M, Lechowski L, Żmudziński JF.The aim of the study was to estimate and compare the distribution of Culicoides biting midges species at farms with different main hosts - cattle and horse. Culicoides spp. are known vectors of arboviruses including African horse sickness virus (AHSV), bluetongue virus (BTV) and Schmallenberg virus (SBV). The latter two have been already reported in Polish ruminants recently, while AHSV remains absent, however the risk of its emergence has been increasing in the recent years. In order to establish the activity of potential AHSV vector at vicinity of horses, an OVI midge trap has been placed at...
León B, Jiménez-Sánchez C, Retamosa-Izaguirre M.Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus (VEEV) is an arbovirus transmitted by arthropods, widely distributed in the Americas that, depending on the subtype, can produce outbreaks or yearly cases of encephalitis in horses and humans. The symptoms are similar to those caused by dengue virus and in the worst-case scenario, involve encephalitis, and death. MaxEnt is software that uses climatological, geographical, and occurrence data of a particular species to create a model to estimate possible niches that could have these favorable conditions. We used MaxEnt with a total of 188 registers of VEEV pr...
Hosie MJ, Hofmann-Lehmann R.Companion animals, such as cats, dogs, horses and exotic species, play an important role in society; more than 600 million cats and 900 million dogs live closely with humans worldwide [...].
Ayelet G, Derso S, Jenberie S, Tigre W, Aklilu N, Gelaye E, Asmare K.The study was conducted from June 2011 to May 2012 in central, northern and western parts of Ethiopia to investigate and identify circulating serotypes of African horse sickness virus (AHSV). The indigenous knowledge of equine owners about AHS in the study areas was assessed and also the retrospective data of AHS outbreaks for 2011 were analyzed. Whole blood samples were collected for virus isolation and serotyping from diseased horses and mules showing typical signs of the AHS. Virus isolation on Vero cell and detection of AHSV genomes using conventional RT-PCR were conducted. Further molecul...
Diekmann I, Blazejak K, Krücken J, Strube C, von Samson-Himmelstjerna G.Surveillance of Strongylus vulgaris and other Strongylus spp. in equids is important for targeted intervention in parasite control, requiring reliable routine diagnostic methods. Objective: Comparing morphological examination and PCR analyses of larval cultures to identify Strongylus spp. species based on German diagnostic samples from 2018. Methods: Method comparison. Methods: During the routine diagnostic investigations, in total 712 strongyle-egg positive equine faecal samples were cultured. Third-stage larvae (L3) were morphologically differentiated. For molecular validation, samples were ...
Seo MG, Ouh IO, Choi E, Kwon OD, Kwak D.The identification and characterization of pathogenic and zoonotic tick-borne diseases like granulocytic anaplasmosis are essential for developing effective control programs. The differential diagnosis of pathogenic Anaplasma phagocytophilum and non-pathogenic A. phagocytophilum-like Anaplasma spp. is important for implementing effective treatment from control programs. The objective of the present study was to investigate the prevalence of Anaplasma spp. in horses in Korea by nucleotide sequencing and restriction enzyme fragment length polymorphism assay. Of the 627 horses included in the stu...
Nadal C, Marsot M, Le Metayer G, Boireau P, Guillot J, Bonnet SI.Caused by two blood parasites, and , equine piroplasmosis is a tick-borne disease that poses major health and economic issues for the equine industry. Our objective was to gain insight into the spatio-temporal variations of parasite circulation in France, where the disease is known to be enzootic, but has been the subject of few studies. Seroprevalence was assessed for each parasite thanks to 16,127 equine sera obtained between 1997 and 2003 from all over France and analysed through complement fixation tests. Results indicated that 13.2% (5-27% depending on the region) of horses were seroposi...
Marenzoni ML, Passamonti F, Cappelli K, Veronesi F, Capomaccio S, Supplizi AV, Valente C, Autorino G, Coletti M.Fifteen unweaned thoroughbred foals, born on a stud farm to vaccinated mares, were clinically monitored during their first six months of life and repeatedly tested for equine herpesvirus type 1 (EHV-1) and equine herpesvirus type 4 (EHV-4). Nasopharyngeal swabs and blood samples were collected and screened respectively by PCR and seroneutralisation to detect the presence of the virus, explore its role as a possible cause of respiratory disease, and to assess the efficiency of the pcr for the diagnosis of this disease. The foals were divided into three groups on the basis of their clinical sign...
Pusterla N, James K, Mapes S, Bain F.Due to the inconsistent development of enteric signs associated with ECoV infection in adult horses, many practitioners collect nasal secretions rather than feces for the molecular diagnostic work-up of such horses. ECoV infection should be considered in horses presenting with acute onset of fever, especially when nasal discharge is absent as one of the cardinal clinical sign. A total of 277 adult horses with acute onset of fever were enrolled in this study. Feces were tested for ECoV and nasal secretions for common respiratory pathogens (equine herpesvirus (EHV)-1, EHV-4, equine influenza vir...
Roberts RS, Foppa IM.Since the introduction of West Nile Virus (WNV) to the United States in 1999, the efficacy of dead bird surveillance for the prediction of human and veterinary WNV infection has been an issue of debate. We utilized South Carolina's Department of Health and Environmental Control surveillance data from 2003 to determine whether dead bird surveillance accurately predicts equine WNV infection on a county level. We adjusted for human population density as a potential confounder of an association between WNV-positive dead bird counts and mammalian WNV risk. We found a strong positive association bet...
Basile RC, Yoshinari NH, Mantovani E, Bonoldi VN, Macoris DD, Queiroz-Neto A.Borreliosis caused by Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato is a cosmopolitan zoonosis studied worldwide; it is called Lyme disease in many countries of the Northern Hemisphere and Lyme-like or Baggio-Yoshinari Syndrome in Brazil. However, despite the increasing number of suspect cases, this disease is still neglected in Brazil by the medical and veterinary communities. Brazilian Lyme-like borreliosis likely involves capybaras as reservoirs and Amblyomma and Rhipicephalus ticks as vectors. Thus, domestic animals can serve as key carriers in pathogen dissemination. This zoonosis has been little studi...
Epp T, Waldner C, Corrigan R, Curry P.West Nile virus (WNV) infection in horses was first reported in Canada in 2001 and in the province of Saskatchewan in 2002. This paper outlines the surveillance results of WNV in Saskatchewan horses from 2003 to 2005 and describes the usefulness of its inclusion in an integrated surveillance program in Saskatchewan. The number of human and horse cases was highest in 2003, the epidemic year and then substantially lower in 2004 and 2005. Horses provided additive information about WNV activity in rural areas with low human population, however, this required willingness and active participation by...
McIlwraith CW, Frisbie DD.The therapeutic value of microfracture has been demonstrated in clinical patients. The rationale is that focal penetration of the dense subchondral plate exposes cartilage defects to the benefits of cellular and growth factor influx in addition to improving anchorage of the new tissue to the underlying subchondral bone and, to some extent, the surrounding cartilage. While functional outcomes have been reported, there is a paucity of data on the histological, biochemical, and molecular changes in human patients. This paper reviews 4 basic science studies of microfracture using an equine chondra...
Van Steenkiste G, Delhaas T, Hermans B, Vera L, Decloedt A, van Loon G.In human cardiology, the anatomical origin of ventricular premature depolarizations (VPDs) is determined by the characteristics of a 12-lead electrocardiogram (ECG). Former studies in horses had contradictory results regarding the diagnostic value of the 12-lead ECG and vectorcardiography (VCG), which results were attributed to the different cardiac conduction system in this species. The objective of this study was to determine if the anatomical origin of pacing-induced VPDs could be differentiated in horses based upon VCG characteristics. A 12-lead ECG was recorded in seven horses under gener...
Suganuma K, Acosta TJ, Valinotti MFR, Sanchez AR, Mossaad E, Elata A, Inoue N.Despite the epidemic situation of animal trypanosomosis caused by Trypanosoma evansi, Trypanosoma equiperdum and Trypanosoma vivax in South American countries, there are no reports for the prevalence of animal trypanosomes in Paraguay. In this study, 408 blood samples were obtained from apparently healthy horses from sixteen departments of Paraguay, for routine medical check-up from August to September 2019, and a polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based cross-sectional study was carried out to identify trypanosome prevalence. The prevalence of Trypanozoon (T. evansi and T. equiperdum) and T. viv...
Kelen PV, Downs JA, Unnasch T, Stark L.A GIS-based risk index model was developed to quantify EEEV transmission risk to horses in the State of Florida. EEEV is a highly pathogenic arbovirus that is endemic along the east coast of the United States, and it is generally fatal to both horses and humans. The model evaluates EEEV transmission risk at individual raster cells in map on a continuous scale of 0 to 1. The risk index is derived based on local habitat features and the composition and configuration of surrounding land cover types associated with EEEV transmission. The model was verified and validated using the locations of docu...
Divers TJ, Tomlinson JE, Tennant BC.Theiler's disease (serum hepatitis) may occur in outbreaks or as single cases of acute hepatitis and is often associated with prior administration of equine-origin biologics approximately 4-10 weeks before the onset of clinical signs. Cases have also been described without any prior administration of blood products. The clinical disease has a low morbidity but high mortality and only adult horses are affected. The course of the disease is short, with horses either dying or completely recovering in a few days. Pathology in affected horses is predominantly centrilobular hepatocyte necrosis with ...
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...
House JA.AHS is a noncontagious vector-borne disease of Equidae caused by Orbiviruses. Species susceptibility in decreasing order is horses, mules, donkeys, and zebras. The main vectors of AHS are culicoides. The disease is endemic in sub-Saharan Africa, but epizootics have occurred outside of this area on several occasions. The most recent outbreaks outside of the endemic area were in Spain, Morocco, and Portugal between 1987 and 1990. AHS causes mortality up to 95% and is classically divided into four clinical forms: the pulmonary, cardiac, mixed, and horse fever forms. Pathologic changes are subcuta...
In 2017 the Abruzzo region, located in central Italy, was struck by a sequence of four moderately powerful seismic events (5.0 magnitude on Richter scale), in addition to heavy snowfall that caused a state of emergency affecting the resident population and farm animals. A total of 282 stables were reported to have collapsed or been damaged and several animals (224 cows, 4025 ewes, 40,725 chickens, 22 horses and 3092 pigs) were killed. The Istituto Zooprofilattico of Abruzzo and Molise "G. Caporale" (IZSAM)-National Reference Center for Veterinary Urban Hygiene and Non-Epidemic Emergencies (IUV...
Tapprest J, Morignat E, Dornier X, Borey M, Hendrikx P, Ferry B, Calavas D, Sala C.Quantitative information about equine mortality is relatively scarce, yet it could be of great value for epidemiological purposes. In France, data from rendering plants are centralised in the Fallen Stock Data Interchange database (FSDI), managed by the French Ministry of Agriculture, while individual equine data are centralised in the French equine census database, SIRE, managed by the French horse and riding institute (IFCE). Objective: To evaluate whether the combined use of the FSDI and SIRE databases can provide representative and accurate quantitative information on mortality for the Fre...
Baba SS, Olaleye OD, Ayanbadejo OA.A sero-epidemiological survey of African horse sickness (AHS) virus in 261 animals which included 96 camels, 81 horses, 80 dogs and 4 donkeys was carried out in Nigeria. The animals had no history of vaccination against AHS. Sera were tested by the haemagglutination-inhibition (HI) test for the presence of antibody against AHS virus. Of these, 77 (95.1%) horse, 4 (100%) donkey, 10 (10.4%) camel and 28 (35%) dog sera samples tested were recorded as positive. The prevalence of antibody in samples taken from horses in different regions was similar. The prevalence of antibody to AHS virus detected...
Zhang J, Ma H, Ai J, Qi T, Kang M, Li J, Sun Y.Anaplasma genus infects the blood cells of humans and animals by biting, causing zoonotic anaplasmosis. However, limited data are available on carrier animals for Anaplasma spp. antibodies in the Qinghai−Tibetan Plateau Area. Therefore, a serological indirect ELISA diagnostic method based on the major surface protein 5 (MSP5), derived from Anaplasma phagocytophilum, was developed in this study to analyze both IgG and IgM antibodies of Anaplasma spp. in a total of 3952 animals from the Qinghai−Tibetan Plateau, including yaks (Bos grunniens), cows (Bos taurus), cattle (Bos taurus domesticus)...
Rawlings P, Snow WF, Boorman J, Denison E, Hamblin C, Mellor PS.Twelve light trap collections made near overnight shelters of horses and donkeys in four villages in the Central River Division of The Gambia captured fourteen species of biting midge of the genus Culicoides. Five species new to The Gambia were identified. This brought the number of recognized species of Culicoides (after a revision of C. schultzei) to twenty-nine in The Gambia. Species known or suspected as vectors of African horse sickness virus (AHSV) and bluetongue virus (BTV) comprised 83% of female captures, 65% of captures being C. imicola or its sibling species, C. miombo. Captures of ...
Aviles G, Bianchi TI, Daffner JF, Sabattini MS.It is shown here the WEE virus activity in ARgentina in 1983-1986 post-epizootic period. A surveillance system was established by the equine case notification and the sentinel animal method. Among the thirteen equine focus notified between September 1983-September 1985 in Córdoba and Santa Fe Provinces, 5 presumptive cases out of 16 sick horses were confirmed by the hemagglutination inhibition test for WEE epizootic virus. Twenty eight notified human cases were studied with negative results. The neutralizing antibody (Ac NT) prevalence among sentinel horses in Córdoba Province (4%) was lower...
Schemann K, Firestone SM, Taylor MR, Toribio JA, Ward MP, Dhand NK.In August 2007, Australia experienced its first-ever outbreak of equine influenza, a highly infectious respiratory disease of horses. Although the outbreak spread over a large geographic area, it was eradicated within 5 months following a substantial disease control effort led by federal and state animal health authorities. Despite its timely control, this large-scale outbreak caused severe impacts on horse owners and industry participants. This study aimed to describe the perceptions of horse owners and managers, impacted by outbreak control measures, regarding the state government's animal h...
Milwid RM, O'Sullivan TL, Poljak Z, Laskowski M, Greer AL.Contact networks can be analyzed to assess the potential for disease spread throughout the network. The lack of Canadian facility-level equine contact data makes the characterization of the equine contact structure difficult. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to use empirical contact data to characterize and compare equine network characteristics between equine facilities in Ontario. Contact pattern data from 4 equine facilities were collected using radio-frequency identification tags. The collected data were used to form 7 static contact networks (1 for each study day) for each facilit...
