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Topic:Disease Surveillance
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.
Microfracture: Basic Science Studies in the Horse. 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...
Influenza virus transmission from horses to dogs, Australia. During the 2007 equine influenza outbreak in Australia, respiratory disease in dogs in close contact with infected horses was noted; influenza (H3N8) virus infection was confirmed. Nucleotide sequence of the virus from dogs was identical to that from horses. No evidence of dog-to-dog transmission or virus persistence in dogs was found.
Check list of the helminths of equines in Turkey. Helminths of equines are one of the most important agents of parasitic diseases. Therefore, many studies have been conducted on helminths of equines in Turkey. In this article, a check list and prevalence rates of helminths of equines in Turkey have been given.
Evaluating the effectiveness of early vaccination in the control and eradication of equine influenza–a modelling approach. 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...
Re-emergence of glanders in India – Report of Maharashtra state. Glanders, a notifiable highly contagious disease primarily of equids, is a disease of high zoonotic importance. Caused by gram-negative bacillus, Burkholderia mallei, the disease was restricted to certain pockets of India with sporadic cases. Recently, a major outbreak of glanders occurred in India starting from Maharashtra. Following clinical signs and symptoms and laboratory investigations on serum, nasal swab and pus swab samples, it was confirmed as glanders among equines in Pune and Panchgani areas of Maharashtra. One pus sample and three nasal swabs yielded B. mallei isolates while 23 se...
Potential effectiveness of public health interventions during the equine influenza outbreak in racehorse facilities in Japan, 2007. An outbreak of equine influenza (H3N8) occurred among fully vaccinated racehorses in Japan from August to September, 2007. To assess the potential effectiveness of public health interventions other than vaccination (i.e. movement restriction, isolation and quarantine), which started immediately on the date of detection of the first febrile case, a simple epidemiological model was developed and applied to the observed data. The epidemic curves in five racehorse facilities revealed consistent temporal patterns: (i) a sharp increase in symptom onset of cases during the first 3 days, which is thou...
Use of a novel serological test for exposure to Streptococcus equi subspecies equi in hospitalised horses. Thirty horses with no external signs of strangles were tested for exposure to Streptococcus equi subspecies equi (S equi) using a new, commercially available serological test. The horses were also tested for persistent carriage of S equi by endoscopy of the guttural pouches and PCR analysis of lavage samples. The owners were questioned about the recent medical history of the horses. Serology suggested that four horses had been recently exposed to S equi. None of the horses had a known history of strangles but three of the four seropositive horses had recently shown non-specific signs of respir...
Risk of equine infectious disease transmission by non-race horse movements in Japan. For determining surveillance programs or infectious disease countermeasures, risk evaluation approaches have been recently undertaken in the field of animal health. In the present study, to help establish efficient and effective surveillance and countermeasures for equine infectious diseases, we evaluated the potential risk of equine infectious disease transmission in non-race horses from the viewpoints of horse movements and health management practices by conducting a survey of non-race horse holdings. From the survey, the non-race horse population was classified into the following five secto...
Seroprevalence of Babesia caballi and Theileria equi in the Swiss horse population. In Switzerland, the prevalence and incidence of equine piroplasma parasite (EPP) infections are unknown. In order to obtain a first insight into the prevalence, a representative sample of 689 sera of horses from Switzerland was serologically tested for the presence of antibodies directed against T. equi and B. caballi using the Indirect Fluorescence Antibody Test (IFAT). A total of 50 (7.3%) horses were seropositive for EPP: overall, the seroprevalence of T. equi was significantly higher than that of B. caballi (p=0.002). The seropositivities in indigenous horses (animals bred and raised in Sw...
Real-time RT-PCR for the detection and quantitative analysis of equine rhinitis viruses. Equine rhinitis viruses (ERV) cause respiratory disease and loss of performance in horses. It has been suggested that the economic significance of these viruses may have been underestimated due to insensitive methods of detection. Objective: To develop a sensitive, rapid, real-time RT-PCR (rRT-PCR) assay suitable for the routine diagnosis and epidemiological surveillance of the A and B variants of ERV. Methods: TaqMan primer probe sets for ERAV and ERBV were designed from conserved regions of the 5' UTR of the ERV genome. Over 400 samples from both clinically affected and asymptomatic horses w...
Detection of equine rotavirus by reverse transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP). Reverse transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP) was applied to detection of equine rotavirus. Because equine rotavirus of the single P genotype, P[12], is predominant in the equine population worldwide, an RT-LAMP primer set was designed to target the genotype P[12] sequence and thus detect equine rotavirus. The detection limit of the RT-LAMP assay was 10(3) copies of viral RNA, whereas that of semi-nested RT-PCR for genotype P[12] was 10(5) copies. The RT-LAMP assay specifically amplified genotype P[12] but did not amplify the other P genotype strains. The RT-LAMP assay...
Molecular detection of Theileria equi and Babesia caballi in the bone marrow of asymptomatic horses. Equine piroplasmosis is a tick-borne disease, the aetiological agents of which are either Theileria equi or Babesia caballi parasites. Piroplasmosis is commonly encountered in acute or sub-acute clinical forms although clinically recovered horses may remain asymptomatic but infected for several years. The clinical detection of such apparently healthy carrier horses (that serve as a host for subsequent infecting ticks), remains a worldwide challenge for controlling the spread of the disease. The aim of the present paper is to report on the detection of both T. equi and B. caballi by PCR in the ...
Prevalence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus colonization in horses in Saskatchewan, Alberta, and British Columbia. This study estimated the prevalence of methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in nasal swabs of 458 horses in western Canada. The rate of colonization was 1.3% +/- 5.84% [95% confidence interval (CI)], a rate similar to those reported elsewhere. Colonization tended to be transient and seemed unrelated to stress or administration of antimicrobials. Five of the 6 isolates were Canadian epidemic MRSA-5, a human clone that appears to predominate in horses in North America. The other isolate was spa type 539 (t034), a sequence type 398 strain, and this is the first report of this clone ...
An autochthonous case of cutaneous bovine leishmaniasis in Switzerland. The present case report describes a novel etiological agent of cutaneous leishmaniasis that appears for the first time in a cow. A similar agent had recently been described as causing autochthonous infections in horses of Germany and Switzerland. The infection in the cow was initially diagnosed upon clinical and immunohistological findings. Subsequent comparative sequence analysis of diagnostic PCR products from the internal transcribed spacer 1 (ITS1) of ssrRNA classified the respective isolate as neither Old World nor New World Leishmania species, but yielded complete identity of the analyse...
Invited review: the role of caterpillars in mare reproductive loss syndrome: a model for environmental causes of abortion. A new abortigenic disease, now known as mare reproductive loss syndrome (MRLS), significantly affected the horse industry in the Ohio River Valley of the United States in late April and early May of 2001 and 2002. In 2001, approximately 25% of all pregnant mares aborted within several weeks (over 3,000 mares lost pregnancies), and abortion rates exceeded 60% on some farms. Mare reproductive loss syndrome struck hard and without warning, it was caused by something in the environment, it was not transmitted between animals, and it was not associated with any known abortigenic agent or disease. T...
Equine influenza outbreak in India (2008-09): virus isolation, sero-epidemiology and phylogenetic analysis of HA gene. An outbreak of equine influenza (EI) was reported in India in June, 2008 after a gap of two decades. The outbreak started from Jammu and Kashmir (Katra), northern state of India and spread to the other parts of the country affecting equines in 11 states. The virus (H3N8) was isolated from nasal swabs obtained from clinical cases in various locations in the country including Katra (Jammu and Kashmir), Mysore (Karnataka) and Ahmedabad (Gujarat) using embryonated chicken eggs. The virus isolates were identified as H3N8 by haemagglutination inhibition (HI) test titration with standard serum and by...
West Nile virus transmission in 2008 in north-eastern Italy. After 10 years, West Nile virus (WNV) re-emerged in Italy in August 2008. As on 31 December 2008, the infection affected eight Provinces in three Regions (Emilia Romagna, Veneto, Lombardy), where a total of 794 cases of WNV infection in 251 equine stables were detected on the basis of the clinical signs and as a result of a serological screening in horses living in the area. Only 4.0% (32/794) of the serologically positive animals showed clinical signs, and the 32 clinical cases were reported in 18 different farms. The observed case-fatality rate was 15.6% (5/32). The confirmed clinical cases ...
Echinococcus granulosus infection in humans and livestock in the Coquimbo region, north-central Chile. Cyst echinococcosis (CE) is one of the most important zoonosis in Chile, where studies have focussed mainly in moist southern regions. The present study was conducted to determine the prevalence of cystic echinococcosis (CE) in livestock and humans in the semiarid Coquimbo region in north-central Chile. A review of all surgical cases of CE in humans reported in the Elqui, Limarí and Choapa provinces in Coquimbo region for the period comprising 1995-2006 was obtained. In addition, a retrospective study of CE covering condemnation records from slaughterhouses of these provinces from the same pe...
Validation of computerized diagnostic information in a clinical database from a national equine clinic network. Computerized diagnostic information offers potential for epidemiological research; however data accuracy must be addressed. The principal aim of this study was to evaluate the completeness and correctness of diagnostic information in a computerized equine clinical database compared to corresponding hand written veterinary clinical records, used as gold standard, and to assess factors related to correctness. Further, the aim was to investigate completeness (epidemiologic sensitivity), correctness (positive predictive value), specificity and prevalence for diagnoses for four body systems and cor...
Prevalence of equine adenovirus antibodies in horses in New South Wales, Australia. There are currently two known serotypes of equine adenovirus (EAdV), equine adenovirus type 1 (EAdV1) and equine adenovirus type 2 (EAdV2); EAdV1 is predominantly associated with upper respiratory tract infections while EAdV2 appears to have a higher association with gastrointestinal infection, however, very little is known about the prevalence of these viruses in horse populations in Australia. In this study we tested 122 serum samples obtained from horses in New South Wales, Australia, using a standard serum neutralization (SN) assay and ELISA. Ninety-seven of the 122 sera displayed had mode...
Nucleotide sequence heterogeneity in the small subunit ribosomal RNA gene within Theileria equi from horses in Sudan. This is a molecular epidemiological investigation on Theileria equi, a causative agent of equine piroplasmosis. Blood samples were collected from 127 horses from different geographical locations in Sudan. The small subunit of rRNA gene (18S; ~1,600 bp) was amplified from 20 positive field samples and subsequently subjected to direct sequencing and analysis to reveal possible strain differences and the presence of a novel species or genotypes. Sequences were compared with published sequences mainly from South African and Spanish isolates. Eleven distinct T. equi sequences within 18S rRNA gene w...
A retrospective longitudinal study of animal and human rabies in Botswana 1989-2006. A longitudinal study of animal and human rabies covering 18 years from 1989 to 2006 was retrospectively conducted in order to highlight the epidemiological features and trends of the disease in Botswana. Over the 18-year period, a total of 4 306 brain specimens collected from various species of animals including human beings with clinical signs consistent with rabies were submitted to the National Veterinary Laboratory in Gaborone for confirmatory diagnosis. Of the samples submitted, 2419 cases were found to be positive for lyssavirus antigen; this presents an overall prevalence rate of 56.18 ...
Age patterns of disease and death in insured Swedish dogs, cats and horses. From 1995 to the present Agria Animal Insurance, Sweden (Agria Djurförsäkring, Stockholm, Sweden) has provided data on both health care and life insurance claims for descriptive and analytical research. From these data we have published extensively on insured dogs and horses and have recently submitted a study on cat mortality. Over the periods studied most extensively (1995-2002 for dogs, 1997-2004 for horses and 1999-2006 for cats), Agria has insured approximately 200,000 dogs, 100,000 horses and up to 200,000 cats per year. Estimates based on formal research or market surveys suggest that...
Investigation of equine influenza transmission in NSW: walk, wind or wing? An outbreak of equine influenza occurred in New South Wales in 2007. In addition to the local spread of the disease between bordering properties, windborne spread over several kilometres had been postulated as a possible method of transmission in this outbreak. This study aimed to describe potential modes of transmission for a property infected with equine influenza where no apparent epidemiological links to other infected properties were reported. Methods: A semi-structured questionnaire was administered to owners of affected properties. The questionnaire collected detailed transmission-risk ...
Evolutionary patterns of eastern equine encephalitis virus in North versus South America suggest ecological differences and taxonomic revision. The eastern equine encephalitis (EEE) complex consists of four distinct genetic lineages: one that circulates in North America (NA EEEV) and the Caribbean and three that circulate in Central and South America (SA EEEV). Differences in their geographic, pathogenic, and epidemiologic profiles prompted evaluation of their genetic diversity and evolutionary histories. The structural polyprotein open reading frames of all available SA EEEV and recent NA EEEV isolates were sequenced and used in evolutionary and phylogenetic analyses. The nucleotide substitution rate per year for SA EEEV (1.2 x 10(-4...
Seroprevalence survey of equine Lyme borreliosis in France and in sub-Saharan Africa. A precise assessment of the epidemiological extent of equine Lyme disease is not well established in metropolitan France, French Guiana, and Africa (Chad, Djibouti, Ivory Coast, Gabon, and Democratic Republic of Congo). Blood samples were obtained from 570 horses. The samples were tested for Borrelia burgdorferi infection by a commercial ELISA Dot-Blot method (SNAP 4 Dx; IDEXX S. Laboratory). Lyme disease antibodies were only detected in metropolitan France, specifically in the eastern and center-western regions (48% and 31%). The geographical distribution of the disease follows the distributi...
