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.
Carossino M, Lee PY, Nam B, Skillman A, Shuck KM, Timoney PJ, Tsai YL, Ma LJ, Chang HF, Wang HT, Balasuriya UB.Equine arteritis virus (EAV) is the causative agent of equine viral arteritis (EVA), a respiratory and reproductive disease of horses. Most importantly, EAV induces abortion in pregnant mares and can establish persistent infection in up to 10-70% of the infected stallions, which will continue to shed the virus in their semen. The objective of this study was to develop and evaluate a reverse transcription insulated isothermal polymerase chain reaction (RT-iiPCR) for the detection of EAV in semen and tissue samples. The newly developed assay had a limit of detection of 10 RNA copies and a 10-fol...
Herholz C, Kopp C, Wenger M, Mathis A, Wägeli S, Roth N.Female tabanid flies (Diptera: Tabanidae) can be a serious nuisance for horses because of their painful bites during blood feeding. They also play a primary role in mechanical transmission of a lentivirus causing Equine Infectious Anemia (EIA), a virus that has spread within Europe in recent years. According to the European law for products intended for use as a repellent on horses (recreational and sport horses), a field test is mandatory to demonstrate sufficient repellency of such a substance against the specific target fly species, but currently no agreed protocols are available for testin...
Sergeant ES, Grewar JD, Weyer CT, Guthrie AJ.African horse sickness (AHS) is a severe, often fatal, arbovirus infection of horses, transmitted by Culicoides spp. midges. AHS occurs in most of sub-Saharan Africa and is a significant impediment to export of live horses from infected countries, such as South Africa. A stochastic risk model was developed to estimate the probability of exporting an undetected AHS-infected horse through a vector protected pre-export quarantine facility, in accordance with OIE recommendations for trade from an infected country. The model also allows for additional risk management measures, including multiple PC...
Field HE.Hendra virus causes acute and highly fatal infection in horses and humans. Pteropid bats (flying-foxes) are the natural host of the virus, with age and species being risk factors for infection. Urine is the primary route of excretion in flying-foxes, with viral RNA more frequently detected in Pteropus alecto and P. conspicillatus than other species. Infection prevalence in flying-foxes can vary between and within years, with a winter peak of excretion occurring in some regions. Vertical transmission and recrudescing infection has been reported in flying-foxes, but horizontal transmission is ev...
Liebenberg D, Piketh S, van Hamburg H.Africa horse sickness (AHS) is the most lethal infectious non-contagious horse disease and has accordingly been declared notifiable by the World Organisation for Animal Health. AHS is endemic to sub-Saharan Africa and causes considerable losses to the equestrian industry. The effect of diseases in livestock on socio-economic factors is well researched, but the effect of anthropogenic factors on the distribution of a disease is poorly understood. The purpose of the study was to assess Namibian and South African horse owners' perceptions and the effect of horse movement on AHS distribution. A cr...
Qi M, Wang R, Wang H, Jian F, Li J, Zhao J, Dong H, Zhu H, Ning C, Zhang L.In present study, 262 fecal specimens were collected from 12 groups of grazing horses in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China. The specimens were subjected to PCR and sequencing analyses of the ribosomal internal transcribed spacer (ITS). The overall prevalence of E. bieneusi in horses was 30.9% (81/262). No significant differences in prevalence were observed between horses of different ages or sexes. Nineteen genotypes were identified: 15 known genotypes (BEB6, CHG19, CM6, CM7, CM8, CS-1, CS-4, D, EpbA, EbpC, G, horse1, horse2, O, and Peru8) and four new genotypes (XJH1-XJH4). Six ...
This year's Association of Veterinary Students' congress was held at the University of Liverpool, and included a varied programme, with subjects ranging from the role of large-scale production systems in dairy farming and fertility practices in horses to the importance of recognising and talking about mental health problems within the veterinary profession. Jordan Sinclair, editor of the Journal of the Association of Veterinary Students, reports.
Haenni M, Saras E, Ponsin C, Dahmen S, Petitjean M, Hocquet D, Madec JY.The objective of this study was to characterize ESBL-producing Enterobacter cloacae isolated from animals and to compare their clonal distribution with that of human-related isolates. Among 635 clinical E. cloacae from horses, dogs and cats collected in France between 2010 and 2013, 36 were resistant to ceftiofur as determined by disc diffusion. ESBL genes were identified by sequencing. Plasmids carrying ESBL-encoding genes were characterized by PCR-based replicon typing, S1-PFGE and Southern blotting. IncHI2 plasmids were subtyped using the plasmid double-locus sequence typing scheme and mult...
Petrov AA, Lebedev VN, Kulish VS, Pyshnaya NS, Stovba LF, Borisevich SV.Epidemiologic analysis of epidemic outbreaks caused by American equine encephalitis causative agents is carried out in the review. Eastern equine encephalomyelitis (EEE), Western equine encephalomyelitis (WEE) and Venezuela equine encephalomyelitis (VEE) viruses are etiologic agents of dangerous transmissive diseases that are usually accompanied by fever and neurologic symptoms. Among the New World alphaviruses, VEE virus has the most potential danger for humans and domestic animals. Currently, enzootic strains of VEE play an increasing role as etiologic agents of human diseases. Most of the V...
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...
Cuny C, Witte W.MRSA infections in equine clinics were reported from Northern America, Europe, Australia, and Japan. The majority of nosocomial infections in horses is obviously associated with particular MRSA clonal lineages. As already observed for epidemic MRSA in human hospitals more than 10 years ago, a dynamics of MRSA clonal lineages is also observed in European equine clinics: clonal lineages belonging to clonal complex (CC) 8 are on the retreat whereas MRSA attributed to CC398 become increasingly prevalent. The majority of CC398 isolates belong to a subpopulation which is particularly associated with...
Tsegay K, Potts AD, Aklilu N, Lötter C, Gummow B.Little work has been done on diseases of horses in Ethiopia or tropical regions of the world. Yet, Ethiopia has the largest horse population in Africa and their horses play a pivotal role in their economy as traction animals. A serological and questionnaire survey was therefore conducted to determine the circulating serovars of Leptospira and their association with potential risk factors in the cart horse population of Central and Southern Ethiopia. A total of 184 out of 418 cart horses from 13 districts had antibody titres of 1:100 or greater to at least one of 16 serovars of Leptospira speci...
Ahmadnejad F, Otarod V, Fathnia A, Ahmadabadi A, Fallah MH, Zavareh A, Miandehi N, Durand B, Sabatier P.Geographic distribution of West Nile virus (WNV) is heterogeneous in Iran by a high circulation in the southern-western areas. The objective of our study was to determine environmental and climatic factors associated with the risk of WNV equine seropositivity in Iran. Methods: Serological data were obtained from a serosurvey conducted in equine population in 260 districts in Iran. The climate and environmental parameters included in the models were distance to the nearest wetland area, type of stable, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), annual mean temperature, humidity and precipit...
Conte A, Candeloro L, Ippoliti C, Monaco F, De Massis F, Bruno R, Di Sabatino D, Danzetta ML, Benjelloun A, Belkadi B, El Harrak M, Declich S....West Nile virus (WNV) is a mosquito-transmitted Flavivirus belonging to the Japanese encephalitis antigenic complex of the Flaviviridae family. Its spread in the Mediterranean basin and the Balkans poses a significant risk to human health and forces public health officials to constantly monitor the virus transmission to ensure prompt application of preventive measures. In this context, predictive tools indicating the areas and periods at major risk of WNV transmission are of paramount importance. Spatial analysis approaches, which use environmental and climatic variables to find suitable habit...
Stojecki K, Sroka J, Cencek T, Dutkiewicz J.Faecal samples from 297 farm animals were collected from 18 households in distinct sites of the Łęczyńsko-Włodawskie Lake District of eastern Poland. They included samples from 86 cattle (Bos taurus), 84 pigs (Sus scrofa f. domestica), 81 sheep (Ovis aries), 10 horses (Equus caballus), and 36 dogs (Canis lupus familiaris). The samples were examined for the presence of Giardia intestinalis by the Direct Fluorescence Assay (DFA) and semi-nested PCR. All amplicons were sequenced on both strands. By DFA, cysts of Giardia spp. were detected in 66 of 297 faecal samples (22.2%). Positive specimen...
Dominguez M, Münstermann S, de Guindos I, Timoney P.An analysis of the factors leading to equine disease events was used to support the development of international recommendations for mitigating the risk of disease dissemination through sport horse movements (high health, high performance - 'HHP' horses). Objective: A review was undertaken to identify the factors resulting in equine disease events following international movement of horses to draw lessons in support of the development of international recommendations for the safe movements of a specific subpopulation of horses: the HHP sport horses. Methods: Systematic review carried out in ac...
Back H, Berndtsson LT, Gröndahl G, Ståhl K, Pringle J, Zohari S.Equine Influenza Virus (EIV) is a major cause of respiratory disease in horses and the virus constantly undergoes antigenic drift. Here we characterize and describe the HA1 and the NA genes of H3N8 within samples obtained from outbreaks in Sweden during November-December 2011. Both clade 1 and clade 2 viruses of the Florida sublineage were identified. The index case of clade 2 was transported to Sweden from Spain through the Netherlands, whereas the clade 1 had its origin from a Swedish stud farm. The clade 1 virus was efficiently spread between training yards by unvaccinated young horses, but...
Elvander M, Persson B, Sternberg Lewerin S.As in most European countries, anthrax was common in Swedish livestock during the centuries leading up to the mid-twentieth century. After 1957, the disease was regarded as practically extinct. However, in the past 7 years, three outbreaks have caused public alarm because of the risk of environmental contamination. Properly buried carcasses should present little risk of spore contamination, and instructions were in place to ensure this since the 1890s. However, as has been demonstrated in recent outbreaks, carcasses were not always adequately buried and viable spores may remain in some sites....
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/...
Chung YS, Song JW, Kim DH, Shin S, Park YK, Yang SJ, Lim SK, Park KT, Park YH.Limited information is available regarding horse-associated antimicrobial resistant (AR) Escherichia (E.) coli. This study was designed to evaluate the frequency and characterize the pattern of AR E. coli from healthy horse-associated samples. A total of 143 E. coli (4.6%) were isolated from 3,078 samples collected from three national racetracks and 14 private horse-riding courses in Korea. Thirty of the E. coli isolates (21%) showed antimicrobial resistance to at least one antimicrobial agent, and four of the AR E. coli (13.3%) were defined as multi-drug resistance. Most of the AR E. coli har...
Mill G.Official Veterinarians (OVs) from across the U.K. came together recently at conference organised to provide targeted CPD for their particular roles. With the theme of 'Reducing the impact of notifiable diseases in the UK', the meeting considered a wide range of topics, spanning large animal, small animal and equine issues. Georgina Mills reports on some of the sessions.
Miranda J, Mattar S.Anaplasma and Ehrlichia species are important tick-borne pathogens that cause disease in cattle, dogs, horses and humans; with little information available about these agents in Colombia. The aim of this study was to provide molecular evidence for the presence of Anaplasma sp. and Ehrlichia sp. species in ticks collected from horses, dogs and cattle in Cordoba, Colombia. In this study, 1.105 ticks were removed from 226 zebu cattle (Bos indicus), 87 dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) and 19 horses (Equus caballus), from different localities of Cordoba. Ticks were identified taxonomically and PCR ass...
Elbers AR, Meiswinkel R.Culicoides (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) host preferences and attack rates were quantified in early summer at a dairy farm in the Netherlands using livestock tethered at pasture. Midges were aspirated hourly over seven consecutive hours (17:00-23:00) from a dairy cow, a Shetland pony, and a sheep and correspondingly yielded seventeen, thirteen, and nine species. Of the 14,181 midges obtained, approximately 95% belonged to the C. obsoletus complex, C. dewulfi, C. chiopterus, and C. punctatus that together include all proven or potential vectors for arboviral diseases in livestock in northwestern E...
Issel CJ, Foil LD.There is no credible evidence that the lentivirus that causes equine infectious anaemia (EIA) replicates in invertebrates. The virus persistently infects its equid hosts and is often present in blood in significant quantities. Blood-feeding arthropods thus have the potential to transfer the virus between hosts, especially if their feeding on the first host is interrupted and immediately continued on a second host. The general details and dynamics of mechanical transmission are included in this paper, as this agent presents an excellent model. Mechanical transmission can be effectively controll...
Morita K, Nabeshima T, Buerano CC.Japanese encephalitis (JE) is an inflammation of the central nervous system in humans and animals, specifically horses and cattle. The disease, which can sometimes be fatal, is caused by the flavivirus Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV), of which there are five genotypes (genotypes 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5). The transmission cycle of the virus involves pigs and wild birds as virus amplifiers and mosquitoes as vectors for transferring the virus between amplifying hosts and to dead- end hosts, i.e. humans, horses and cattle. In horses and cattle the disease is usually asymptomatic, but when clinical sign...
Petinaki E, Spiliopoulou I.Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) remains one of the most virulent human pathogens and has also recently been recognized as such in the veterinary settings. Companion animals, including dogs, cats, horses, small exotic animals, wildlife animals, and livestock, may constitute a reservoir for MRSA transmission to humans and vice versa. The evolution, emergence, and risk factors for MRSA transmission among colonized or infected animals are reviewed in the present paper, and infection control practices are discussed.
Pybus OG, Thézé J.Just 5 years ago the hepatitis C virus (HCV) - a major cause of liver disease infecting >3% of people worldwide - was the sole confirmed member of the Hepacivirus genus. Since then, genetically-diverse hepaciviruses have been isolated from bats, dogs, cows, horses, primates and rodents. Here we review current information on the hepaciviruses and speculate on the zoonotic origins of the viruses in humans, horses and dogs. Recent and direct cross-species transmission from horses to dogs appears plausible, but the zoonotic origins of HCV in humans remain opaque. Mechanical transmission by biting ...
Downs JA, Hyzer G, Marion E, Smith ZJ, Kelen PV, Unnasch TR.Eastern equine encephalitis (EEE) is a mosquito-borne viral disease that is often fatal to humans and horses. Some species including white-tailed deer and passerine birds can survive infection with the EEE virus (EEEV) and develop antibodies that can be detected using laboratory techniques. In this way, collected serum samples from free ranging white-tailed deer can be used to monitor the presence of the virus in ecosystems. This study developed and tested a risk index model designed to predict EEEV activity in white-tailed deer in a three-county area of Michigan. The model evaluates EEEV risk...
Pusterla N, Vin R, Leutenegger C, Mittel LD, Divers TJ.Equine coronavirus (ECoV) is an emerging virus associated clinically and epidemiologically with fever, depression, anorexia and less frequently colic and diarrhoea in adult horses. Sporadic cases and outbreaks have been reported with increased frequency since 2010 from Japan, the USA and more recently from Europe. A faeco-oral transmission route is suspected and clinical or asymptomatic infected horses appear to be responsible for direct and indirect transmission of ECoV. A presumptive clinical diagnosis of ECoV infection may be suggested by clinical presentation, haematological abnormalities ...
Medina-Torres CE, Weese JS, Staempfli HR.Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) is a recognized cause of colitis in the horse. Identification of its toxins is important for management of individual cases and for prevention of transmission and zoonosis. In humans, CDI diagnosis is performed with enzyme immunoassays, none of which have been validated for horses. Objective: (1) Establish which test for CDI diagnosis was more frequently used by diagnostic laboratories, (2) determine the identified test's performance, sensitivity, and specificity, and (3) validate its use in diarrheic horses. Methods: Samples were obtained from 72 horses p...
Ceylan O, Benedicto B, Ceylan C, Tumwebaze M, Galon EM, Liu M, Xuan X, Sevinc F.Common vector-borne diseases of horses include equine piroplasmosis (EP) caused by Babesia caballi and Theileria equi, and equine granulocytic anaplasmosis (EGA) caused by Anaplasma phagocytophilum. Equine piroplasmosis leads to severe health issues in horses and restrictions on the movement of horses internationally. Anaplasma phagocytophilum causes an acute febrile illness in horses and is also of zoonotic importance. In the present study, blood samples were collected from 152 Turkish racehorses from three different provinces (İzmir, Gaziantep, and Konya) of Turkey to investigate the preval...
Cummings KJ, Rodriguez-Rivera LD, Mitchell KJ, Hoelzer K, Wiedmann M, McDonough PL, Altier C, Warnick LD, Perkins GA.Nosocomial salmonellosis continues to pose an important threat to veterinary medical teaching hospitals. The objectives of this study were to describe an outbreak of salmonellosis caused by Salmonella enterica serovar Oranienburg within our hospital and to highlight its unique features, which can be used to help mitigate or prevent nosocomial outbreaks in the future. We retrospectively analyzed data from patients that were fecal culture-positive for Salmonella Oranienburg between January 1, 2006, and June 1, 2011, including historical, clinical, and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) data...
Majewska AC, Werner A, Sulima P, Luty T.The present study was undertaken to investigate the prevalence of Cryptosporidium infection in horses used for recreational riding as well as in humans. A total of 106 faecal specimens from horses raised in 4 localities of western Poland and 6 stool samples from 3 persons who had constant or sporadic contact with horses were screened microscopically for oocysts using modified Ziehl-Neelsen staining. Enzyme immunoassay (EIA) was additionally used for the detection of coproantigen in human stool samples as well as in 43 randomly selected horse faecal samples. The overall infection rate of horses...
Sellers RF, Maarouf AR.Outbreaks of vesicular stomatitis, serotype New Jersey, during epidemics in the United States and northern Mexico, 1982-5, were examined by backward trajectories of winds to investigate spread and possible sources. The outbreaks selected for analysis did not involve introduction of disease by infected animals. The findings indicate that wind could have been responsible for carrying infection from northern Mexico to Arizona and New Mexico and thence to Colorado and Utah and on to Wyoming, Idaho and Montana. The results of these analyses are consistent with the findings from T1 RNAse fingerprint...
Gale P, Kelly L, Snary EL.The emergence of bluetongue virus and Schmallenberg virus in Great Britain (GB) during the last decade has highlighted the need for understanding the relative importance of the various pathways of the entry of livestock arboviruses so as to help focus surveillance and mitigation. This study summarizes what is known for the main routes of entry and assesses the strength of the current evidence for and against. Entry through infected arthropod vectors is considered at the level of each life cycle stage for tick-, biting midge- and mosquito-borne viruses, and while there is evidence that this cou...
Stobierski MG, Signs K, Dinh E, Cooley TM, Melotti J, Schalow M, Patterson JS, Bolin SR, Walker ED.Eastern equine encephalomyelitis (EEE) is a mosquito-borne viral disease that is an emerging public health concern in the state of Michigan. Although Michigan has one of the highest incidence rates of EEE in the United States, much of the information known about cases in humans, equines, and other animals residing in Michigan is unpublished. This article summarizes such information and explores spatial trends in the historic distribution of EEE in Michigan. Outbreaks in Michigan have occurred over an 80-yr interval, involving only horses in 1942-1943 and 1973-1976, and then episodically from 1...
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 ...
Mariappan V, Vellasamy KM, Anpalagar RR, Lim YM, Zainal Abidin N, Subramaniam S, Nathan S.The One Health concept was initiated to promote the integration of human, animal, and environmental ecosystems into healthcare to ensure effective control and the sustainable governance of multifaceted health matters. Climate change, deforestation, and rigorous farming disrupt the environment, which serves as the natural habitat for many animals and microbes, increasing the likelihood of disease transmission between humans and animals. Melioidosis (neglected tropical diseases) and glanders are of humans and animals caused by the gram-negative bacteria Burkholderia pseudomallei and its close re...
Miranda J, Mattar S.Anaplasma and Ehrlichia species are important tick-borne pathogens that cause disease in cattle, dogs, horses and humans; with little information available about these agents in Colombia. The aim of this study was to provide molecular evidence for the presence of Anaplasma sp. and Ehrlichia sp. species in ticks collected from horses, dogs and cattle in Cordoba, Colombia. In this study, 1.105 ticks were removed from 226 zebu cattle (Bos indicus), 87 dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) and 19 horses (Equus caballus), from different localities of Cordoba. Ticks were identified taxonomically and PCR ass...
Singh M, Chaudhry MA, Yadava JN, Sanyal SC.This study was undertaken to assess the spectrum of drug resistance prevalent in Escherichia coli isolates from human and animal populations in Northern India. Three hundred and two isolates of Escherichia coli isolated from various infections of humans (47 from diarrhoea; 101 from urinary tract infection) and veterinary animals (17 from poultry septicaemia; 75 from bovine diarrhoea; 14 from ovine diarrhoea and 48 from equine metritis) were studied for their susceptibility to ampicillin, cephaloridine, amoxycillin, cloxacillin, oxytetracycline, doxycycline, chloramphenicol, gentamicin, and tri...
Rios LM, Sheu JJ, Day JF, Maruniak JE, Seino K, Zaretsky H, Long MT.The objective of this study was to examine the extrinsic risk factors of West Nile virus (WNV) clinical disease in Florida horses as established from confirmed and negative horses tested within the state from 2001 to 2003. An Arboviral Case Information Form (ACF) was submitted by a referring veterinarian at the time of testing to the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services on every horse suspected of a viral encephalitis in Florida. A follow-up survey that focused on arbovirus prevention and farm ecology was created and mailed to the owner of each tested horse. Data from the fo...
Vissani MA, Damiani AM, Barrandeguy ME.Equine coital exanthema (ECE) is a highly contagious, venereally-transmitted mucocutaneous disease, characterized by the formation of papules, vesicles, pustules and ulcers on the external genital organs of mares and stallions, and caused by (EHV-3). The infection is endemic worldwide and the virus is transmitted mainly through direct contact during sexual intercourse and by contaminated instruments during reproductive maneuvers in breeding facilities. The disease does not result in systemic illness, infertility or abortion, yet it does have a negative impact on the equine industry as it forc...
Gür S, Gürçay M, Seyrek A.Bovine enteroviruses (BEV) are members of Enterovirus genus of the family Picornaviridae. BEV1 has a broad host spectrum, including humans. The virus usually causes subclinical infection, but fatal/severe cases have also been reported in different animal species. There is quite limited data regarding BEV1 in humans. The purpose of this study is to investigate human infection and to identify possible risk factors for viral exposure. For this purpose, blood serum samples (n=1,526) were collected from a city center and nearby villagers simultaneously from humans and farm animals in Elazig provinc...
Abbas I, Ahmed F, Muqaddas H, Alberti A, Varcasia A, Sedda L.Climate change can cause spatio-temporal shifts in the epidemiology of various vector borne pathogens, especially in vulnerable areas such as the Mediterranean Basin (MB). Among these pathogens, the West Nile virus (WNV) became endemic in the region. This systematic review and meta-analysis study summarizes WNV epidemiology, molecular characteristics, and surveillance in various MB countries, relying on data and scientific articles on WNV published during 2010-2023. The number of published articles varied across the three MB subregions: Southern Europe (n = 153), North Africa (n = 33), and...
Pan J, Ji L, Wu H, Wang X, Wang Y, Wu Y, Yang S, Shen Q, Liu Y, Zhang W, Zhang K, Shan T.Mammals are potential hosts for many infectious diseases. However, studies on the viral communities of herbivorous mammals in the Northwest Plateau are limited. Here, we studied the viral communities of herbivorous mammals in the Northwest Plateau using virus metagenomic analysis to analyze and compare the viral community composition of seven animal species. Results: By library construction and next-generation sequencing, contigs and singlets reads with similar viral sequences were classified into 24 viral families. Analyzed from the perspective of sampling areas, the virus community compositi...
Vissani MA, Alamos F, Tordoya MS, Minatel L, Schammas JM, Dus Santos MJ, Trono K, Barrandeguy ME, Balasuriya UBR, Carossino M.Western equine encephalitis virus (WEEV) is a mosquito-borne arbovirus (genus , family ) that has re-emerged in South America in late 2023, causing severe disease in both horses and humans after a nearly 40-year intermission period. We here describe the virological, serological, pathological, and molecular features of WEEV infection in horses during the 2023-2024 outbreak in Argentina. WEEV-infected horses developed neurological signs with mild to severe encephalitis associated with minimal to abundant WEEV-infected cells, as demonstrated by WEEV-specific in situ hybridization. The distributio...
Eady NA, Holmes C, Schnabel C, Babasyan S, Wagner B.Equine herpesvirus type 1 (EHV-1) is a contagious respiratory pathogen that infects the mucosa of the upper respiratory tract (URT). Mucosal immune responses at the URT provide the first line of defense against EHV-1 and are crucial for orchestrating immunity. To define host-pathogen interactions, we characterized B-cell responses, antibody isotype functions, and EHV-1 replication of susceptible (non-immune) and clinically protected (immune) horses after experimental EHV-1 infection. Nasal secretion and nasal wash samples were collected and used for the isolation of DNA, RNA, and mucosal antib...
Khalefa HS, Arafa AA, Hamza D, El-Razik KAA, Ahmed Z.Klebsiella pneumoniae is an opportunistic pathogen responsible for various infections in humans and animals. It is known for its resistance to multiple antibiotics, particularly through the production of Extended-Spectrum Beta-Lactamases (ESBLs), and its ability to form biofilms that further complicate treatment. This study aimed to isolate and identify K. pneumoniae from animal and environmental samples and assess commercial disinfectants' effectiveness against K. pneumoniae isolates exhibiting ESBL-mediated resistance and biofilm-forming ability in poultry and equine farms in Giza Governorat...
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...
Hain-Saunders NMR, Knight DR, Bruce M, Byrne D, Riley TV.Clostridioides difficile poses an ongoing threat as a cause of gastrointestinal disease in humans and animals. Traditionally considered a human healthcare-related disease, increases in community-associated C. difficile infection (CDI) and growing evidence of inter-species transmission suggest a wider perspective is required for CDI control. In horses, C. difficile is a major cause of diarrhoea and life-threatening colitis. This study aimed to better understand the epidemiology of CDI in Australian horses and provide insights into the relationships between horse, human and environmental strains...
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.
Perry BD, Schmidtmann ET, Rice RM, Hansen JW, Fletcher M, Turner EC, Robl MG, Hahn NE.A serological study of antibodies to Ehrlichia risticii was carried out on 10 species of wild and domestic mammals found on or near 21 horse farms in an area of the USA in which Potomac horse fever is endemic. No antibodies were found in 133 peridomestic rodents (Norway rats and house mice), nor in 108 wild rodents (white-footed mice and meadow voles) captured on farms. Three of the six domestic animal species examined, cats, pigs and a goat, showed serological evidence of exposure to E risticii. Seropositive animals were detected on three of the 21 premises. The eight seropositive cats (of 48...
Lindahl S, Söderlund R, Frosth S, Pringle J, Båverud V, Aspán A.Strangles is a serious respiratory disease in horses caused by Streptococcus equi subspecies equi (S. equi). Transmission of the disease occurs by direct contact with an infected horse or contaminated equipment. Genetically, S. equi strains are highly homogenous and differentiation of strains has proven difficult. However, the S. equi M-protein SeM contains a variable N-terminal region and has been proposed as a target gene to distinguish between different strains of S. equi and determine the source of an outbreak. In this study, strains of S. equi (n=60) from 32 strangles outbreaks in Sweden ...
Weese JS, Slovis N, Rousseau J.Understanding the epidemiology of Clostridium difficile is important for the development and assessment of infection prevention and control practices, as well as surveillance methods and interpretation of diagnostic testing results. Objective: Our objective was to longitudinally evaluate C. difficile shedding in neonatal foals and mares admitted to a referral hospital neonatal intensive care unit. Methods: Foals admitted to a neonatal intensive care unit, along with their dams. Methods: Rectal swabs were collected from mares and foals at admission, and then approximately every 3 days, when p...
Siqueira CC, Fraga DBM, Chagas-Junior AD, Athanazio DA, Silva MMN, Cerqueira RB, da C McBride FW, Pinna MH, Ayres MCC.Equine leptospirosis, although usually asymptomatic, has been associated with recurrent uveitis, abortion, and other systemic signs, constituting a major economic loss in the equine agribusiness sector. The occurrence of anti-Leptospira spp. agglutinins were investigated in 1200 serum samples of horses from 27 municipalities of the Recôncavo Baiano region, Bahia state (NE Brazil), besides the risk factors related to animals and their cattle farms. The microscopic agglutination test (MAT) was performed using 13 serogroups of Leptospira spp. as antigens. From 1200 analyzed equines, 97 (8%) were...
