Disease transmission in horses refers to the spread of infectious agents such as bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites among equine populations. These pathogens can be transmitted through various routes, including direct contact, vector-borne transmission, or environmental exposure. Factors influencing disease transmission include horse density, management practices, and biosecurity measures. Understanding the mechanisms and conditions that facilitate the spread of diseases is essential for developing effective prevention and control strategies. This page compiles peer-reviewed research studies and scholarly articles that investigate the modes of transmission, risk factors, and management practices related to infectious diseases in horses.
Ortega-Sánchez R, Bárcenas-Reyes I, Cantó-Alarcón GJ, Luna-Cozar J, E RA, Contreras-Magallanes YG, González-Ruiz S, Cortez-García B....The spatio-temporal epidemiology of rabies has related the influence of environmental factors and anthropogenic changes on the movements of the hematophagous bat Desmodus rotundus. In Mexico, D. rotundus is the main transmitter of the rabies virus for different livestock species, modifying annually the fluctuation of the number of cases of rabies and its dissemination in subtropical areas and regions considered free of the disease. The purpose of this study was to perform a descriptive analysis of the distribution of cases of rabies in Mexico, and to perform a time-series analysis to evaluate ...
Bonura F, Mangiaracina L, Filizzolo C, Bonura C, Martella V, Ciarlet M, Giammanco GM, De Grazia S.Sicily was the first Italian region to introduce rotavirus (RV) vaccination with the monovalent G1P[8] vaccine Rotarix® in May 2012. In this study, the seasonal distribution and molecular characterization of RV strains detected over 19 years were compared to understand the effect of Rotarix® on the evolutionary dynamics of human RVs. A total of 7846 stool samples collected from children < 5 years of age, hospitalized with acute gastroenteritis, were tested for RV detection and genotyping. Since 2013, vaccine coverage has progressively increased, while the RV prevalence decreased from 36.1...
Meny P, Iglesias T, Menéndez C, Quintero J, Ríos C, Ashfield N, Ferreira O, Mosca V, De Brun L, Ortiz G, De Vries I, Varela G, Schelotto F.To investigate seroprevalence of anti-Leptospira antibodies in equines and associated workers in Uruguay, 891 equine and 150 human sera were drawn; 212 equine urine samples were also taken for culture. Environmental conditions and equine raising or managing practices were recorded in all 72 visited establishments; epidemiological information was obtained from each worker. Microscopic agglutination technique (MAT) was performed with 10 Leptospira strains for equines and 18 for human sera, that were also studied with IgM indirect immunofluorescence (IgM-IIF). Equine titres ≥100 were considered...
Hierweger MM, Remy-Wohlfender F, Franzen J, Koch MC, Blau D, Schoster A, Nicholson P, Gerber V, Gurtner C, Fouché N, Unger L, Seuberlich T.Coronaviruses are causing severe respiratory and enteric diseases in humans and animals. Here, we report an outbreak of equine coronavirus disease in adult horses, detected by a voluntary syndromic surveillance scheme for equine diseases in Switzerland. This scheme allowed a rapid concerted action to diagnose and contain the disease.
Lee K, Pusterla N, Barnum SM, Lee DH, Martínez-López B.Equine influenza virus (EIV) is a highly contagious pathogen of equids, and a well-known burden in global equine health. EIV H3N8 variants seasonally emerged and resulted in EIV outbreaks in the United States and worldwide. The present study evaluated the pattern of cross-regional EIV H3N8 spread and evolutionary characteristics at US and global scales using Bayesian phylogeography with balanced subsampling based on regional horse population size. A total of 297 haemagglutinin (HA) sequences of global EIV H3N8 were collected from 1963 to 2019 and subsampled to global subset (n = 67), raw US ...
Gao S, Zeng Z, Wang H, Chen F, Huang L, Wang X.African horse sickness (AHS) is a devastating equine infectious disease. On 17 March 2020, it first appeared in Thailand and threatened all the South-East Asia equine industry security. Therefore, it is imperative to carry out risk warnings of the AHS in China. The maximum entropy algorithm was used to model AHS and Culicoides separately by using climate and non-climate variables. The least cost path (LCP) method was used to analyze the habitat connectivity of Culicoides with the reclassified land cover and altitude as cost factors. The models showed the mean area under the curve as 0.918 and ...
Desanti-Consoli H, Bouillon J, Chapuis RJJ.Vaccination against infectious diseases is a cornerstone of veterinary medicine in the prevention of disease transmission, illness severity, and often death in animals. In North American equine medicine, equine vaccines protecting against tetanus, rabies, Eastern and Western equine encephalomyelitis, and West Nile are core vaccines as these have been classified as having a heightened risk of mortality, infectiousness, and endemic status. Some guidelines differ from the label of vaccines, to improve the protection of patients or to decrease the unnecessary administration to reduce potential sid...
Lawton KOY, Arthur RM, Moeller BC, Barnum S, Pusterla N.More and more studies are reporting on the natural transmission of SARS-CoV-2 between humans with COVID-19 and their companion animals (dogs and cats). While horses are apparently susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 infection based on the homology between the human and the equine ACE-2 receptor, no clinical or subclinical infection has yet been reported in the equine species. To investigate the possible clinical role of SARS-CoV-2 in equids, nasal secretions from 667 horses with acute onset of fever and respiratory signs were tested for the presence of SARS-CoV-2 by qPCR. The samples were collected from...
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...
Falcão MVD, Laroucau K, Vorimore F, Deshayes T, Santana VLA, Silva KPC, do Nascimento SA, de Castro RS, Araújo FR, Mota RA.Glanders is an infectious zoonosis caused by Burkholderia (B.) mallei that mainly affects equids. The objective of this work was to provide additional knowledge on the diversity of the strains circulating in Brazil. Six Burkholderia mallei isolates obtained during necropsies of glanderous horses between 2014 and 2017 in two different states (Pernambuco and Alagoas) were analyzed by polymerase chain reaction-high-resolution melting (PCR-HRM). While four strains (9902 RSC, BM_campo 1, BM_campo 3 and UFAL2) clustered in the L3B2 branch, which already includes the Brazilian 16-2438_BM#8 strain, tw...
Cabral LDR, Sato AP, de Sousa RS, Rossa AP, Sanches AWD, Bortoleto CT, Locatelli Dittrich R.The closely related apicomplexa protozoa, Toxoplasma gondii, Neospora spp., and Sarcocystis neurona, have all been associated with neurological and reproductive diseases in horses. However, there is limited data regarding the presence of these three parasites in equine placental tissues and amniotic fluid. The aim of the present report was to investigate the presence of the DNA of T. gondii, Neospora spp. and S. neurona in placentas and amniotic fluid in mares. Anti-T. gondii, anti- S. neurona and anti- Neospora spp. antibody titers were evaluated in 31 mares in the final third of pregnancy by...
Steuer AE, Anderson HP, Shepherd T, Clark M, Scare JA, Gravatte HS, Nielsen MK.Horses are host to a plethora of parasites. Knowledge of the seasonality of parasite egg shedding and transmission is important for constructing parasite control programs. However, studies describing these patterns are sparse, and have largely been conducted only in the United Kingdom. This study evaluated strongylid egg shedding patterns and transmission dynamics of Strongylus vulgaris in naturally infected and untreated mares and foals through one calendar year in Kentucky, USA. The study also investigated the existence of a peri-parturient rise (PPR) in strongylid egg counts in foaling mare...
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 [...].
Tirosh-Levy S, Steinman A.Equine encephalosis (EE) is an arthropod-borne, noncontagious, febrile disease of horses. It is caused by EE virus (EEV), an Orbivirus of the Reoviridae family transmitted by Culicoides. Within the EEV serogroup, seven serotypes (EEV-1-7) have been identified to date. This virus was first isolated from a horse in South Africa in 1967 and until 2008 was believed to be restricted to southern Africa. In 2008-2009, isolation of EEV in an outbreak reported from Israel demonstrated the emergence of this pathogen into new niches. Indeed, testing in retrospect sera samples revealed that EEV had alread...
Almazán C, Scimeca RC, Reichard MV, Mosqueda J.Babesia and Theileria are apicomplexan parasites that cause established and emerging diseases in humans, domestic and wild animals. These protozoans are transmitted by Ixodid ticks causing babesiosis or theileriosis, both characterized by fever, hemolytic anemia, jaundice, and splenomegaly. In North America (NA), the most common species affecting humans is B. microti, which is distributed in the Northeastern and Upper Midwestern United States (US), where the tick vector Ixodes scapularis is established. In livestock, B. bovis and B. bigemina are the most important pathogens causing bovine babe...
Hain-Saunders NMR, Knight DR, Bruce M, Riley TV.Clostridioides (Clostridium) difficile presents a significant health risk to humans and animals. The complexity of the bacterial-host interaction affecting pathogenesis and disease development creates an ongoing challenge for epidemiological studies, control strategies and prevention planning. The recent emergence of human disease caused by strains of C. difficile found in animals adds to mounting evidence that C. difficile infection (CDI) may be a zoonosis. In equine populations, C. difficile is a known cause of diarrhoea and gastrointestinal inflammation, with considerable mortality and morb...
Joachim A, Cavalleri JV, Berger S.Equine granulocytic anaplasmosis (EGA) and equine piroplasmosis (EP) are triggered by tick-borne pathogens - the intracellular bacterium Anaplasma phagocytophilum and the intracellular protozoa Babesia caballi and Theileria equi. These pathogens attack cells in the blood stream and cause similar clinical symptoms and changes in laboratory values. Although the treatment principles are naturally different, similarities in prophylaxis exists due to the transmission route. Tick transmitted pathogens can play a greater role in equine medicine in the future due to various factors, such as the tenden...
Chambers TM.Horses are the third major mammalian species, along with humans and swine, long known to be subject to acute upper respiratory disease from influenza A virus infection. The viruses responsible are subtype H7N7, which is believed extinct, and H3N8, which circulates worldwide. The equine influenza lineages are clearly divergent from avian influenza lineages of the same subtypes. Their genetic evolution and potential for interspecies transmission, as well as clinical features and epidemiology, are discussed. Equine influenza is spread internationally and vaccination is central to control efforts....
Mohammed R, Nader SM, Hamza DA, Sabry MA.Cryptococcosis is an opportunistic mycozoonosis of global significance in a wide variety of host species. In equines, cryptococcosis is uncommon, and sporadic cases have been reported with rhinitis, sinusitis, pneumonia, and meningitis. Cryptococcus spp. represents a potential risk for immunosuppressed and healthy persons. In Egypt, epidemiological data on cryptococcal infection in horses are limited. The current study was carried out to investigate the occurrence of Cryptococcus spp. in horses and its possible role in the epidemiology of such disease in Egypt. A total of 223 samples was colle...
Oliveira FAS, Castro RJS, de Oliveira JF, Barreto FM, Farias MPO, Marinho GLOC, Soares MJDS, Silva-Júnior A, Schwarz DGG.In Brazil, the horse is frequently used in cultural activities, sports, and in rural and urban work, implementing the economy in different social classes. Among the diseases in horses with zoonotic potential, rabies has been neglected in the country, increasing the risk of spreading the disease across borders. The present study evaluated the spatiotemporal distribution and temporal trend of rabies in horses in Brazil between 2010 and 2019. During this period, 1290 cases of rabies were detected in horses in Brazil, mainly in the states of São Paulo (21.7%) and Mato Grosso (13.3%). However, Esp...
Yoon J, Park T, Kim A, Song H, Park BJ, Ahn HS, Go HJ, Kim DH, Lee JB, Park SY, Song CS, Lee SW, Choi IS.Equine parvovirus-hepatitis (EqPV-H) and equine hepacivirus (EqHV) are etiologically associated with Theiler's disease (TD), causing fulminant equine hepatitis, but the transmission route and co-infection effect remain unclear. We determined EqPV-H and EqHV prevalence and coinfection rate in 160 serum and 114 faecal samples using nested polymerase chain reaction. Amino acid and nucleotide analyses were performed and phylogenetic trees were constructed. By measuring liver-specific parameters (AST, GGT, TBIL and A/G ratio), hepatopathological changes in viremia status were compared. We found a h...
El-Hage C, Mekuria Z, Dynon K, Hartley C, McBride K, Gilkerson J.Equine herpesviruses (EHVs) are common respiratory pathogens in horses; whilst the alphaherpesviruses are better understood, the clinical importance of the gammaherpesviruses remains undetermined. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of, and any association between, equine respiratory herpesviruses EHV1, -2, -4 and -5 infection in horses with and without clinical signs of respiratory disease. Nasal swabs were collected from 407 horses in Victoria and included clinically normal horses that had been screened for regulatory purposes. Samples were collected from horses during Australia's e...
Page AE, Partridge E, Erol E, Scoggin KE, Fedorka CE, Ruby RE, Ball BA, Horohov DW, Adam E.Cases of nocardioform placentitis are characterized by focal, mucoid placentitis resulting in late-term abortion, premature birth, or small, full-term foals, occur sporadically, and are most commonly associated with Crossiella equi and Amycolatopsis spp. infection. The goal of this project was to develop an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for quantifying antibodies against Crossiella equi and Amycolatopsis spp. and utilize the ELISA to determine when exposure occurs. Serum samples collected during the 2020 foaling season from Crossiella equi (n = 8) and Amycolatopsis spp. (n = 32...
Bugno-Poniewierska M, Kij-Mitka B, Podstawski Z, Długosz B, Lasek O, Mrowiec P, Tischner M.The use of frozen semen lowers the risk of disease transmission, eliminates geographical limitations and supports the implementation of genetic resource protection programs. However, due to the very rare use of frozen semen from Hutsul stallions, their genetic material is not secured in sperm banks, and very little information is available about their semen, including its suitability for cryopreservation, and sperm survival rates after thawing. The aim of this study was to analyse basic parameters such as sperm motility, vitality and morphology in diluted-stored and post-thawed Hutsul semen, u...
Ciota AT.Eastern equine encephalitis virus (EEEV; Togaviridae, Alphavirus) is an arthropod-borne virus (arbovirus) primarily maintained in an enzootic cycle between Culiseta melanura (Coquillett) and passerine birds. EEEV, which has the highest reported case- fatality rate among arbovirus in the Americas, is responsible for sporadic outbreaks in the Eastern and Midwest United States. Infection is associated with severe neurologic disease and mortality in horses, humans, and other vertebrate hosts. Here, we review what is known about EEEV taxonomy, functional genomics, and evolution, and identify gaps i...
Burkett-Cadena ND, Day JF, Unnasch TR.Eastern equine encephalitis virus (EEEV; family Togaviridae, genus Alphavirus) is a mosquito-borne pathogen found in eastern North America that causes severe disease in humans and horses. The mosquito Culiseta melanura (Coquillett) (Diptera: Culicidae) is the primary enzootic vector of EEEV throughout eastern North America while several mosquito species belonging to diverse genera serve as bridge vectors. The ecology of EEEV differs between northern and southern foci, with respect to phenology of outbreaks, important vertebrate hosts, and bridge vector species. Active transmission is limited t...
Armstrong PM, Andreadis TG.In the current review, we examine the regional history, ecology, and epidemiology of eastern equine encephalitis virus (EEEV) to investigate the major drivers of disease outbreaks in the northeastern United States. EEEV was first recognized as a public health threat during an outbreak in eastern Massachusetts in 1938, but historical evidence for equine epizootics date back to the 1800s. Since then, sporadic disease outbreaks have reoccurred in the Northeast with increasing frequency and northward expansion of human cases during the last 20 yr. Culiseta melanura (Coquillett) (Diptera: Culicidae...
da Costa Pimenta J, Saavedra MJ, da Silva GJ, Cotovio M.Many emergent pathogenic agents are cross-transmitted from animals to humans. Horses are considered as potential reservoirs of commensal, zoonotic, and multidrug-resistant bacteria. Equine bites could lead to infections caused by these agents, considering equine species as a public health concern. The more it is known about the equine oral microbiota the best secondary problems created by their commensal flora can be controlled. There are very few reports of , a zoonotic and opportunistic bacterium, both in human and veterinary medicine. Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the Gram-negativ...
Wagnerová P, Sak B, McEvoy J, Rost M, Sherwood D, Holcomb K, Kváč M.The prevalence of Cryptosporidium and microsporidia in feral horses, which have minimal contact with livestock and humans, is not currently known. We report the findings of a study on Cryptosporidium and microsporidia in 34 Mustangs and 50 Chincoteague ponies in the USA. Fecal samples were screened for presence of Cryptosporidium spp. by analysis of the small-subunit rRNA (SSU) and 60-kDa glycoprotein (gp60) genes, and Enterocytozoon bieneusi and Encephalitozoon spp. by analysis of the ribosomal internal transcribed spacer region (ITS). Cryptosporidium spp. and E. bieneusi were detected in 28/...
Souza CE, Pinter A, Donalisio MR.Brazilian spotted fever (BSF) is a disease transmitted by ticks for which the etiological agent is Rickettsia rickettsii. The present essay evaluates the risk factors associated with the transmission of cases of BSF in the time period between 2003 and 2013 in the Piracicaba river basin, state of São Paulo. Methods: This essay presents a retrospective study to identify the factors associated with the transmission of cases of BSF among all suspected cases identified by the System for Epidemiological Surveillance of São Paulo (CVE). After the description of temporal distribution (onset of sympt...
Kilcoyne I, Spier SJ, Carter CN, Smith JL, Swinford AK, Cohen ND.To quantify the number of horses with Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis infection identified in the United States from January 2003 through December 2012. Methods: Cross-sectional study. Methods: State veterinary diagnostic laboratory records of 2,237 C pseudotuberculosis culture-positive samples from horses. Methods: 44 state veterinary diagnostic laboratories throughout the United States were invited by mail to participate in the study. Data requested included the number of C pseudotuberculosis culture-positive samples from horses identified per year, geographic location from which the C ps...
Azócar-Aedo L.Leptospirosis is an important zoonosis worldwide. This disease affects numerous animal species, some of them are classified as "maintenance hosts", and others are categorized as "incidental hosts". Humans are at risk of becoming infected by having contact with domestic and wild animals. In this paper, general aspects of the etiology and transmission of leptospirosis are addressed, data regarding the clinical presentation of the pathology in humans and animals are also presented, and the results of some epidemiological studies on leptospirosis carried out in Chile in different animal species an...
Nielsen SS, Bicout DJ, Calistri P, Canali E, Drewe JA, Garin-Bastuji B, Gonzales Rojas JL, Gortázar C, Herskin M, Michel V, Miranda Chueca MÁ.... () was identified among the most relevant antimicrobial-resistant (AMR) bacteria in the EU for dogs and cats, horses, swine, poultry, cattle, sheep and goats in previous scientific opinions. Thus, it has been assessed according to the criteria of the Animal Health Law (AHL), in particular criteria of Article 7 on disease profile and impacts, Article 5 on its eligibility to be listed, Annex IV for its categorisation according to disease prevention and control rules as in Article 9 and Article 8 for listing animal species related to the bacterium. The assessment has been performed following a m...
Kabir A, Lamichhane B, Habib T, Adams A, El-Sheikh Ali H, Slovis NM, Troedsson MHT, Helmy YA.The equine industry holds substantial economic importance not only in the USA but worldwide. The occurrence of various infectious bacterial diseases in horses can lead to severe health issues, economic losses, and restrictions on horse movement and trade. Effective management and control of these diseases are therefore crucial for the growth and sustainability of the equine industry. While antibiotics constitute the primary treatment strategy for any bacterial infections in horses, developing resistance to clinically important antibiotics poses significant challenges to equine health and welfa...
Pagamjav O, Kobayashi K, Murakami H, Tabata Y, Miura Y, Boldbaatar B, Sentsui H.Three hundred sera were collected from horses in various parts of Mongolia in 2007 and seroepidemiological surveys for several equine viruses performed on them. Equid herpesvirus 1 and equine rhinitis A virus were prevalent, and equine arteritis virus and equid herpesvirus 3 were detected over a wide area though their rates of antibody-positivity were not high. Equine infectious anemia was distributed locally. The rates of horses antibody-positive for Japanese encephalitis virus and equine influenza virus were low, but these were detected. Bovine coronavirus antibodies were detected at a high ...
Hawkins JA, Adams WV, Wilson BH, Issel CJ, Roth EE.The mechanical transmission of equine infectious anemia (EIA) virus by Tabanus fuscicostatus was investigated. In 1 of 7 transmission trials, a single horsefly transmitted EIA virus from an acutely infected pony to a susceptible pony. Groups of horseflies isolated for 3, 10, or 30 minutes before refeeding transmitted EIA virus, whereas those isolated for 4 or 24 hours did not. Data from field studies indicate that the home range or flight distance of horseflies may exceed 4 miles. That information together with our observations suggest that segregation of infected horses (usually defined as at...
Cho HC, Hwang S, Kim EM, Park YJ, Shin SU, Jang DH, Chae JS, Choi KS. is an obligate intracellular zoonotic bacterium with a global distribution. This study was conducted to investigate the prevalence of in different animals and to assess the potential role of these species as reservoirs of infection and transmission to humans. A total of 592 blood samples (105 beef cattle, 61 dairy cattle, 110 Korean native goats, 83 Boer goats, and 233 horses) were collected in the Republic of Korea (ROK). The DNA was detected from blood samples using the transposon-like repetitive region () by PCR method. The results showed that 22.7% of the Korean-native goats, 16.4% of t...
Mellor PS.1. 903 horses were examined at 3 abattoirs in South East England. 10(22–7%) of the horses at the London Colney abattoir, 23(13–9%) of those at the Braintree abattoir, Essex, and 90(12–9%) of those at the Islington abattoir, London, were infected with O. cervicalis. All 105 horses examined in Southern Ireland were found to be negative.
2. The adult worms of O. cervicalis were found without exception, in the ligamentum nuchae of infected horses. The suspensory ligaments of the fetlock and flexor tendons were always negative.
3. The microfilariae of O. cervicalis concentrate along the...
Howerth EW, Mead DG, Mueller PO, Duncan L, Murphy MD, Stallknecht DE.Horses were inoculated with Vesicular stomatitis New Jersey and Indiana viruses by routes simulating contact and vector transmission. Clinical signs, lesions, antibody development, viral shedding and persistence, and viremia were monitored. Horses were infected with both viruses by all routes as confirmed by seroconversion. Salivation, primary lesions at inoculation sites, and secondary oral lesions were the most common clinical findings. Viral shedding was most often from the oral cavity, followed by the nasal cavity; titers were highest from oral cavity samples. Virus was rarely isolated fro...
Grinberg A, Learmonth J, Kwan E, Pomroy W, Lopez Villalobos N, Gibson I, Widmer G.Cryptosporidium isolates from diarrheic foals in New Zealand (n = 9) were identified as C. parvum, subtyped at two polymorphic loci, and compared with human (n = 45) and bovine (n = 8) isolates. Foal C. parvum isolates were genetically diverse, markedly similar to human and bovine isolates, and carried GP60 IIaA18G3R1 alleles, indicating a zoonotic potential.
Stout AE, Hofmar-Glennon HG, André NM, Goodman LB, Anderson RR, Mitchell PK, Thompson BS, Lejeune M, Whittaker GR, Goodrich EL.In the United States, horses are used for a variety of purposes including recreation, exhibition, and racing. As farm, performance, and companion animals, horses are a unique species from a zoonotic disease risk perspective, and the risks of subclinical infections spreading among horses can pose challenges. Using a nanoscale real-time PCR platform, we investigated the prevalence of 14 enteric pathogens, 11 genes, and 9 respiratory pathogens in fecal samples from 97 apparently healthy horses at a multi-day horse event. In addition, sugar flotation test was performed for fecal parasites. was c...
Barclay AJ, Paton DJ.Hendra has been recognized in Australia as a new zoonotic disease of horses since 1994/5 and subsequent work has shown that the viral agent is endemic in certain species of fruit bat. The Hendra virus is the type species of a new genus within the sub-family Paramyxovirinae, which also contains another newly identified zoonotic bat virus, namely Nipah. It is assumed that contact with bats has led to the Hendra virus being transferred to horses on each of the three separate incidents that have been reported in the last five years. No evidence has been found for widespread subclinical infection o...
Donabedian SM, Perri MB, Abdujamilova N, Gordoncillo MJ, Naqvi A, Reyes KC, Zervos MJ, Bartlett P.Vancomycin-resistant enterococci are a major cause of nosocomial infections but are rarely found in humans in the community and have not been identified in food animals in the United States. We evaluated a total of 360 fecal specimens from humans and their animals being raised for exhibit at three county fairs in Michigan. Fecal samples from 158 humans, 55 swine, 50 cattle, 25 horses, 57 sheep, 14 goats, and 1 llama were obtained and plated onto Enterococcosel agar containing 16 μg/ml of vancomycin. Vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium (VREF) was isolated from six pigs but not from human...
Pusterla N, Wattanaphansak S, Mapes S, Collier J, Hill J, Difrancesco M, Gebhart C.Equine proliferative enteropathy (EPE) is an emerging disease of weanling foals. Objective: Describe clinical, hematologic, biochemical, serologic, molecular, and ultrasonographic findings in foals experimentally infected with Lawsonia intracellularis. Methods: Eight foals. Methods: Recently weaned foals were assigned to either the challenge (n = 3), the sentinel (n = 3), or the control (n = 2) group. Foals were experimentally challenged via intragastric inoculation of 3 x 10(10)L. intracellularis organisms grown in culture. Each experimentally infected foal was housed with a sentinel foal in ...
Coultous RM, Phipps P, Dalley C, Lewis J, Hammond TA, Shiels BR, Weir W, Sutton DGM.Equine piroplasmosis (EP) has historically been of minor concern to UK equine practitioners, primarily due to a lack of competent tick vectors. However, increased detection of EP tick vector species in the UK has been reported recently. EP screening is not currently required for equine importation, and when combined with recent relaxations in movement regulations, there is an increased risk regarding disease incursion and establishment into the UK. This study evaluated the prevalence of EP by both serology and PCR among 1242 UK equine samples submitted for EP screening between February and Dec...
Venter GJ, Paweska JT.Previously reported virus recovery rates from Culicoides (Avaritia) imicola Kieffer and Culicoides (Avaritia) bolitinos Meiswinkel (Diptera, Ceratopogonidae) orally infected with vaccine strain of African horse sickness virus serotype 7 (AHSV-7) were compared with results obtained from concurrently conducted oral infections with five recent AHSV-7 isolates from naturally infected horses from various localities in South Africa. Culicoides were fed sheep bloods spiked with 10(7.6) TCID(50)/mL of a live-attenuated vaccine strain AHSV-7, and with five field isolates in which virus titre in the blo...
Timoney PJ.In an era of increasing globalization, the risk of spread of infectious diseases in humans and animals, including equids, has never been greater. International movement of equids and trade in semen are the most important factors responsible for the dissemination of various equine pathogens. Other factors that can or do have the potential to influence the global distribution of equine infectious diseases include: multinational trade agreements, emergent diseases, mutation of pathogens, climate related phenomena, migration of amplifying/reservoir hosts or vectors, availability of new vectors, va...
Stadejek T, Bj Rklund H, Bascu Ana CR, Ciabatti IM, Scicluna MT, Amaddeo D, McCollum WH, Autorino GL, Timoney PJ, Paton DJ, Klingeborn B, Bel K S.Equine arteritis viruses (EAV) from Europe and America were compared by phylogenetic analysis of 43 isolates obtained over four decades. An additional 22 virus sequences were retrieved from GenBank. Fragments of the glycoprotein G(L) and the replicase genes were amplified by RT-PCR, prior to sequencing and construction of phylogenetic trees. The trees revealed many distinctive lineages, consistent with prolonged diversification within geographically separated host populations. Two large groups and five subgroups were distinguished. Group I consisted mainly of viruses from North America, whilst...
Chambers TM.Equine influenza virus (EIV) is a common respiratory pathogen of horses and other equids in most parts of the world. EIV are Type A influenza viruses and two subtypes are known: H3N8 and H7N7. Both are believed to have evolved from avian influenza virus ancestors. The H3N8 subtype circulates widely, but the H7N7 subtype is thought to be extinct. The clinical disease in horses, caused by either subtype, is an upper respiratory infection of varying severity depending upon the immune status of the individual animal. It is not normally life-threatening in itself except in very young foals; however...
Galuppi R, Piva S, Castagnetti C, Sarli G, Iacono E, Fioravanti ML, Caffara M.This paper describes the transmission of a zoonotic subtype of Cryptosporidium parvum between two foals hospitalized in an Equine Perinatology Unit (EPU) linked to an outbreak of cryptosporidiosis in veterinary students. Fecal specimens of 36 mares (105 samples) and 28 foals (122 samples) were subjected to Ziehl-Neelsen staining, nested PCR of 18S rDNA. Two foals tested positive for Cryptosporidium; PCR restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) analysis and subtyping by nested PCR of the 60kDa glycoprotein (gp60) gene revealed C. parvum subtype IIdA23G1. The introduction of Cryptospo...
Lai AC, Rogers KM, Glaser A, Tudor L, Chambers T.Phylogenetic and antigenic analyses indicate that recent circulating equine-2 influenza viruses in the United States have been alternating between two genetic and antigenic distinct lineages since 1996. The evolution rates for these two lineages, the Kentucky and the Florida lineage, are very similar. For the earlier isolates in the Kentucky lineage, there are multiple and sequential nonsynonymous substitutions at antigenic sites B and D. However, there are no changes at any of these antigenic sites for KY98 and OK00. In the Florida lineage, except for NY99 with one amino acid substitution at ...
Onmaz AC, Beutel RG, Schneeberg K, Pavaloiu AN, Komarek A, van den Hoven R.Most diseases of horses with zoonotic importance are transmitted by arthropods. The vectors belong to two very distantly related groups, the chelicerate Ixodidae (Acari = ticks) and the hexapod Diptera (true flies). Almost all relevant species are predestined for transmitting pathogens by their blood-sucking habits. Especially species of Diptera, one of the megadiverse orders of holometabolan insects (ca. 150.000 spp.), affect the health status and performance of horses during the grazing period in summer. The severity of pathological effect depends on the pathogen, but also on the group of ve...
Abdel-Shafy S, Abdullah HHAM, Elbayoumy MK, Elsawy BSM, Hassan MR, Mahmoud MS, Hegazi AG, Abdel-Rahman EH.Piroplasmosis and anaplasmosis are serious tick-borne diseases (TBDs) that are concerning for the public and animal health. This study aimed to detect the molecular prevalence and epidemiological risk factors of Piroplasma and Anaplasma species in animal hosts and their associated ticks in Egypt. A total of 234 blood samples and 95 adult ticks were collected from animal hosts (112 cattle, 38 sheep, 28 goats, 26 buffaloes, 22 donkeys, and 8 horses) from six provinces of Egypt (AL-Faiyum, AL-Giza, Beni-Suef, Al-Minufia, Al-Beheira, and Matruh). Blood and tick samples were investigated by polymer...
Zoonoses and public healthSeptember 28, 2011
Volume 59, Issue 3 217-228 doi: 10.1111/j.1863-2378.2011.01438.x
Bolton DJ, O'Neill CJ, Fanning S.The aims of this study were to investigate the incidence of Salmonella, verocytotoxigenic Escherichia coli (VTEC)/Escherichia coli O157 and Campylobacter on four mixed farms and to characterize the isolates in terms of a range of virulence factors. Eighty-nine composite (five different samples from the same animal species combined) faecal [cattle (24), pigs (14), sheep (4), poultry (4), horses (7), deer (4), dogs (9), rodents (2) and wild birds (20)] samples, 16 composite soil samples plus 35 individual water samples were screened using culture-based, immunomagnetic separation and molecular me...
Firestone SM, Lewis FI, Schemann K, Ward MP, Toribio JA, Taylor MR, Dhand NK.Australia experienced its first ever outbreak of equine influenza in August 2007. Horses on 9359 premises were infected over a period of 5 months before the disease was successfully eradicated through the combination of horse movement controls, on-farm biosecurity and vaccination. In a previous premises-level case-control study of the 2007 equine influenza outbreak in Australia, the protective effect of several variables representing on-farm biosecurity practices were identified. Separately, factors associated with horse managers' perceptions of the effectiveness of biosecurity measures have b...
