Disease treatment in horses encompasses a range of medical interventions and management strategies aimed at addressing various health conditions affecting equine species. These treatments can include pharmacological approaches, such as the administration of antibiotics, anti-inflammatory drugs, and antiparasitic medications, as well as non-pharmacological methods like physical therapy, dietary adjustments, and surgical procedures. The selection of appropriate treatments depends on the specific disease, its severity, and the individual needs of the horse. This topic brings together peer-reviewed research studies and scholarly articles that explore the efficacy, safety, and advancements in therapeutic options for equine diseases, providing insights into best practices and emerging trends in equine veterinary medicine.
Bang FB.The titration curve for the virus of Eastern equine encephalomyelitis inoculated into the 10 day old chick embryo shows that the maximum increase in virus content continues until shortly before the generalized destruction of the embryo is apparent. This is followed by a stationary phase. Histological studies of infected embryos fail to demonstrate selective tissue destruction, and titrations show the virus to be distributed throughout the egg, although concentrated in the embryo. The chorioallantoic membrane gradually becomes increasingly resistant with age to both the Eastern and Western viru...
Findlay GM, Maccallum FO.(1) Among 3,100 persons immunized against yellow fever with virus and immune serum over a period of five years, 89 cases of jaundice have been traced.(2) The symptoms are those of a hepatitis and closely resemble those produced by common infective hepatic jaundice, cases of which have frequently been noted as occurring in the same areas.(3) The average period between the time of inoculation and the development of hepatitis is between two and three months.(4) Attention is directed to the occurrence of hepatitis in horses, usually two to three months after immunization against the viruses of hor...
Woods AC, Chesney AM.A filterable agent has been obtained from the humors and tissues of the eyes of horses suffering from active periodic ophthalmia. The intra-vitreous injection of this filtrate produced in normal horses the same clinical and pathological picture observed in the natural disease. This filtrate injected into rabbits produced a different clinical picture, but the essential pathological lesions closely resembled those found in horses. After passage of the filterable agent through six generations of rabbits, it again produced the clinical and pathological picture of the natural disease when injected ...
Parker JT, McCoy MV.1. The serum of horses immunized with increasing doses of certain anaerobically produced autolysates of pneumococci contain potent neutralizing antibodies for the pneumotoxin. 2. The method for the in vitro titration of these horse antipneumotoxic serums is given.
Friedlander M, Sobotka H, Banzhaf EJ.The precipitin indices for a number of monovalent and polyvalent antipneumococcus sera were determined under known conditions, and found to vary as did the number of protective units. The ratio precipitin index/protective units in monovalent sera was found to lie between 2.8 and 4.8 for Type I and to be about ten times greater for Type III. Lower values were found in polyvalent horses and when mixing heterologous monovalent sera with each other. The influence of the duration of treatment upon the quotient was studied. Several refined and concentrated preparations showed a relative increase in ...
Wadsworth AB, Sickles GM.IT HAS BEEN SHOWN THAT THE PNEUMOCOCCUS MULTIPLYING IN THE TISSUES OF THE IMMUNIZED ANIMAL (HORSE) BECOMES ATTENUATED: loses, in varying degrees, its virulence, capacity of capsule formation, susceptibility to phagocytosis, and type specificity. The antigenic activity as an immunizing agent and the production of "soluble specific substance" are also altered. In some instances, the typical pneumococcus characteristics may be quickly restored by one or two passages through a susceptible animal (mouse). In others, virulence is not recovered and the organism remains atypical. Whether these changes...
Olitsky PK, Kligler IJ.With the methods which have been described we have separated an exotoxin and an endotoxin from cultures of the Shiga dysenteric bacillus. The study of the nature and effect of the poison of this microorganism is thus simplified. The two toxins are physically and biologically distinct. The exotoxin is relatively heat-labile, arises in the early period of growth, and yields an antiexotoxic immune serum. The endotoxin, on the other hand, is heat-stable, is formed in the later period of growth, and is not neutralized by the antiexotoxic serum. The exotoxin exhibits a specific affinity for the cent...
Jones FS.The lower nasal mucosa and the pharynx of thirty eastern and twenty-three western horses have been examined for streptococci. Eight of the eastern horses carried non-hemolytic streptococci on the nasal mucosa. From the pharynx of six, non-hepiolytic streptococci were cultivated. The throats of eighteen contained strains of the hemolytic type. The nasal mucosa of the eastern horses failed to show hemolytic streptococci. Eight western horses carried non-hemolytic streptococci in the nasal passage; eight also harbored the hemolytic type. Twenty-two strains were isolated from the pharynx. Eleven w...
Amoss HL, Marsh P.Experiments were made for the purpose of testing the reaction of protection against infection as a measure of potency of antimeningococcic serum. The results of the experiments were extremely variable and bore no relation to the quality of the sera as determined by the period of immunization of the horses from which they were obtained, or the indications of efficiency based upon their employment in human cases of epidemic meningitis. The results also failed entirely to conform to the agglutination titer of the sera tested and to be affected by the different type forms of the meningococci. We r...
Wadsworth AB, Kirkbride MB.Horses immunized to Type I pneumococci developed serum, 0.1 cc. of which protected against 0.5 cc. of a virulent culture, 0.000001 cc. of which killed mice in less than 40 hours. Protective tests of serum from horses immunized to Type II organisms varied, 0.1 cc. protecting, however, in certain instances against 0.1 and 0.01 cc. of virulent homologous culture. Types I and II sera obtained in our experiments with culture sediment and whole culture did not vary markedly for a given type and corresponded closely in their protective titer with samples of sera received from The Rockefeller Institut...
Gao X, Liu J, Xu K, Hu J, Xiao C, Wang D, Li C, Ji C, Yao X, Wang PG, Jing Y, He Y, Shen CK.Typically, the antigen-specific antibodies constitute a small fraction-often estimated to be around 2-10 %-of the total IgG in the serum after immunization. This low percentage necessitates the use of purification techniques to enrich the antigen-specific antibodies for therapeutic or research purposes. This study introduces an affinity chromatography column using NHS-activated Sepharose as a matrix and the tetanus toxin subunit C, TeNT-Hc-C869A, as a ligand, enabling the purification of polyclonal antibodies with high specificity. This process improves antitoxin purity to over 95 %, effecti...
Cardinaux EM, Oltmanns H, Beineke A, Meißner J, Geburek F.Flexural limb deformities are a widespread condition in foals. Oxytetracycline is a common conservative treatment option with relaxing effects on the muscle-tendon-unit, potentially mediated through a matrix-metalloproteinase (MMP)-inhibitor mechanism. Its high therapeutic dose for this indication, potential negative side effects, and the guidelines for prudent use of antimicrobials make investigating alternatives desirable. In this study, the influence of substances with potentially similar mechanisms of action, however without antimicrobial properties, on viability and proliferation of juven...
Birkmann K, Waldern N, Jucker S, Balaschitsch K, Zablotski Y, Fettelschoss-Gabriel A.Recurrent urticaria is common in horses. The pathophysiology is poorly understood and treatment options are limited. Often, only glucocorticoids are effective for controlling clinical signs, albeit with potential adverse effects. Studies investigating new treatments need a validated objective scoring system for the grading of skin lesions to assess response. Objective: The aims were to investigate inter- and intraobserver reliability of the Equine Urticaria Activity Score (EqUAS) for the grading of skin lesions in horses with recurrent urticaria, and to examine agreement between experienced an...
Stuart RB, Miles-Farrier F, Bard AM, Rees G.Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is an increasingly serious threat to human and animal health. Antimicrobial use (AMU) in horses is gathering research interest, although there remain significant evidence gaps. Currently, there is scant qualitative research into equine owners' use of antimicrobials, specifically antibiotics, hindering the design of evidence-based stewardship interventions and policies. Objective: To understand Welsh equine owners' views and behaviours relating to antimicrobial usage. Methods: Cross sectional survey and qualitative data collection and analysis. Methods: An online ...
Vinijkumthorn R, Prapaiwan N, Chotikaprakal T, Prompiram P, Phaonakrop N, Roytrakul S, Tesena P.Phenylbutazone (PBZ) can potentially induce gastrointestinal ulceration, and early detection of PBZ-induced gastroenteropathy will be useful for the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of PBZ toxicity. Objective: To identify putative proteins associated with equine gastric ulcer syndrome after clinical dose (4.4 mg/kg) administration of PBZ by proteomic study. Methods: In vivo experiments. Methods: Proteomic analysis using LC-MS/MS compared protein expression in serum and faeces of seven PBZ-treated horses with seven placebo-treated controls, and a novel putative biomarker was validated via...
da Silveira BP, Kahn SK, Legere RM, Bray JM, Cole-Pfeiffer HM, Golding MC, Cohen ND, Bordin AI.Using a horse foal model, we show that enteral immunization of newborn foals with Rhodococcus equi overcomes neonatal vaccination challenges by reprogramming innate immune responses, inducing R. equi-specific adaptive humoral and cell-mediated immune responses and protecting foals against experimental pneumonia challenge. Foals were immunized twice via gavage of R. equi (immunized group) or saline (control group) at ages 1 and 3 days. At age 28 days, all foals were challenged intrabronchially with R. equi. Post-challenge, all 5 immunized foals remained healthy, whereas 67% (4/6) of control foa...
Bazzano M, Laus F, Cerquetella M, Spaterna A, Marchegiani A.Phytocannabinoids have the potential to lower intraocular pressure in both normal and glaucomatous eyes and they have been tested in different animal species, but not in the horse. The present paper describes the tonometric curve of healthy adult Italian Saddle horses after oral administration of cannabidiol oil (CBD). Methods: CBD 20% was administered orally (oily solution) at the dose of 1 mg/kg to 8 adult horses and intraocular pressure (IOP) was evaluated by tonometric curve. Data were then compared to those of the same horses obtained the day before (blank) CBD administration. Results: ...
Forni G, Ellero N, Mannini A, Scacco L, Freccero F.A 3-year-old Quarter Horse stallion was referred for headshaking (HS) syndrome of one month duration. The horse underwent complete HS workup. Physical examination revealed up-and-down head movements associated with nose snorting during lunging and riding, in the absence of other abnormalities at rest or in motion. Lameness, neurologic and behavioural evaluations were unremarkable. Endoscopic examination of the upper respiratory tract showed bilateral guttural pouches (GPs) inflammation. The mucosal surface was altered by the presence of areas of microbullous appearance coalescing into some bul...
Araújo IRDS, de Brito EL, de Melo UP, Mariz ALB, Cavalheiro MT, Ferreira C, de Morais LF, de Souza RF.This study aimed to evaluate the use of antimicrobials in horses, focusing on administration practices, adherence to veterinary prescriptions, and the impact on the development of antimicrobial resistance. The research was based on a questionnaire completed by 220 horse owners in the State of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil. The data collected covered aspects including antibiotic use, prescription sources, the performance of culture and susceptibility tests, and the disposal of veterinary drug waste. The results indicated that 98.63% of horse owners administered antibiotics mainly to treat respira...
Donovan K, Torres J, Zhu D, Herrington WG, Staplin N.Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of disease progression are vulnerable to collider bias caused by selection of participants with disease at study entry. This bias introduces spurious associations between disease progression and genetic variants that are truly only associated with disease incidence. Methods of statistical adjustment to reduce this bias have been published, but rely on assumptions regarding the genetic correlation of disease incidence and disease progression which are likely to be violated in many human diseases. MR-Horse is a recently published Bayesian method to estimate...
Gamage C, Holl W, Parreño V, Thieulent CJ, Balasuriya UBR, Vissani MA, Barrandeguy ME, Carossino M.Group A rotavirus (RVA) infections are a leading cause of neonatal diarrhoea in foals. Neonatal mice could serve as a useful tool to study the pathogenesis of equine RVA (ERVA) as well as a preclinical model for assessment of vaccine efficacy. This study aimed to comparatively evaluate the clinical, virological and pathological features of ERVA G3P[12] and G14P[12] infection in neonatal mice and compare them with porcine OSU G5P[7] and bovine UK G6P[5] RVA reference strains. Neonatal mice orally inoculated with equine, bovine and porcine RVA developed short-lived diarrhoea at variable rates, G...
Singh A, Johnson T, Wotman K, Leary D.Veterinary personnel exposure due to scattered x rays, when present during superficial radiation treatment (SRT), was evaluated. Veterinary personnel presence is needed during SRT to minimize the degree of required aesthesia to horses. Animal treatment was simulated, and exposure rates determined for 50, 70, and 100 kV x rays using eight different SRT applicators. Exposure rates at the surface of a solid water phantom (SWP) phantom ranged from 3.9 mR h-1 to 396 mR h-1 for 50 kV, from 41 mR h-1 to 2,880 mR h-1 for 70 kV, and from 235 mR h-1 to 7,500 mR h-1, for 100 kV, respectively. A horse pha...
Roth SP, Liso G, Brehm W, Wagner B, Schnabel CL, Troillet A.The anti-inflammatory and regenerative effects of autologous conditioned serum (ACS) in joint-associated disorders are presumably mediated by the biomolecules it contains, such as cytokines and chemokines. ACS is commonly used in equine practice after storage. Data regarding the influence of storage conditions of ACS on cytokine and chemokine concentrations are not available. Unassigned: To evaluate the effect of commonly used storage conditions on selected cytokine and chemokine concentrations in equine ACS. Unassigned: From 10 horse patients with clinically indicated ACS preparation six ACS ...
Tarillion M, Hertzsch R, Richter A.Since 28.01.2022, veterinary medicinal products must be used in accordance with the conditions of authorization (Regulation (EU) 2019/6, Article 106). This entails further restrictions on therapeutic freedom, e. g., with regard to dose deviations. To date, there is no data available in equine medicine on the scope of off-label use as any use deviating from the expert information for antibiotics, on the basis of which the feasibility of implementing the new regulations in Germany can be assessed.To collect data on the off-label use of antibiotics, a Germany-wide anonymous online survey was th...
Chaipokam J, Rojnuckarin P.In Thailand, stem cell transplantation and horse antithymocyte globulin (ATG) are not accessible for most adult aplastic anemia (AA) patients. Alternative therapies are required. We conducted a cohort study of 110 adult AA patients treated with oxymetholone alone for at least 30 days from 2013 to 2023. Response at month 6 and prognostic factors were evaluated. The mean age was 63.4 years old and 58.2% were female. Severe and very severe AA (SAA/VSAA) comprised 64.5% and 3.6%, respectively. The initial oxymetholone daily dose was 150 mg in 66.4%. The overall response was 56.4% (50.7% for SAA/V...
Pluim M, Reynolds A, McClure S.High-power laser therapy and extracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT) can be safely used to treat tendon and ligament injuries in horses, and the potential beneficial effects have been described. The power of low level lasers is not sufficient for treatment of tendon and ligament injuries in horses. ESWT is used more often to treat tendon and ligament injuries than it is for any other type of condition in horses, but there is limited supporting scientific evidence. Further research should focus on establishing dosage and treatment protocols for both laser therapy and ESWT in horses with clinic...
Connard SS, Schnabel LV.This review explores the use of biologics in the treatment of tendon and ligament injuries in horses, focusing on current and emerging therapies aimed at enhancing tissue repair and regeneration. It discusses the role of scaffold-based therapies, growth factors, blood-derived and tissue-derived biologics, and gene therapy as biologic regenerative therapies for improving healing outcomes. The review evaluates the mechanisms, efficacy, and challenges of biologics in clinical applications, highlighting recent advances and clinical studies. It provides an overview of current trends and future dire...
Baptiste KE, Kyvsgaard NC, Ahmed MO, Damborg P, Dowling PM.Rifampin is an enigma among antimicrobials. Blood and tissue compartment concentrations are a "moving target" along the treatment course due to the complex pharmacodynamic interactions within the body. Rifampin concomitant therapies are for the prevention and treatment of Rhodococcus equi infection in foals, for nearly 40 years. The necessity of rifampin concomitant therapies is based on beliefs that both antimicrobials (e.g., rifampin plus macrolide) penetrate into pulmonary abscesses and intracellular compartments above R. equi minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs), as well as better ef...
Kutumbetov L, Myrzakhmetova B, Tussipova A, Zhapparova G, Tlenchiyeva T, Bissenbayeva K, Nurabayev S, Kerimbayev A.Equine rhinopneumonia, caused by equine herpesvirus types 1 and 4 (EHV-1 and EHV-4), continues to be a significant health and economic concern in the global equine industry, particularly in Kazakhstan. While vaccines targeting EHV-1 are available, there is currently no licensed monovalent vaccine for EHV-4, and existing formulations offer limited protection against this serotype. This study aimed to develop and evaluate a freeze-dried, live-attenuated EHV-4 vaccine with improved safety, stability, and immunogenicity. Methods: A field isolate of EHV-4 was attenuated through serial passaging in ...
Kuroda T, Minamijima Y, Niwa H, Mita H, Nomura M, Ohta M.A pharmacokinetics/pharmacodynamics (PK/PD) approach was used to determine the dosage regimens of trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections after intravenous (IV) and per os (PO) administration in horses. Methods: Trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole plasma concentrations were measured in six horses after a single IV administration of 15 mg/kg (2.5 mg/kg trimethoprim and 12.5 mg/kg sulfamethoxazole) and PO administration of 30 mg/kg (5.0 mg/kg trimethoprim and 25.0 mg/kg sulfamethoxazole). The data were modeled using a nonlinear mixed-effects mode...
Irving J, Pineau V, Shultz S, Ter Woort F, Julien F, Lambey S, van Erck-Westergren E.Equine gastric disease (EGD) is a common condition in performance horses (), potentially compromising behaviour, performance, and welfare. EGD is often attributed to high-starch, high-sugar feeds and limited forage. Evidence for diet-induced changes on digestive microbiota is lacking. Nine elite showjumping horses were housed at the same performance yard with standardised diet and management throughout the study. Horses were transitioned from a high-sugar and -starch (31%) feed to a low-starch and -sugar (16.5%) concentrate feed. Gastroscopies, blood, and faecal samples were taken pre- and 12 ...
Batterham R, Allen K, Dickson J, Warman S, Parkin T.To ensure veterinary students are prepared for clinical practice, curricula must provide opportunities for students to learn about the cases most frequently seen in practice. Currently, there is a gap in the literature with regard to the identification of common clinical topics encountered in equine primary care practice in the UK. This study aims to address this gap by utilizing text-mining techniques on electronic medical records (EMRs) to produce a ranked list of the most common clinical topics encountered in equine primary care in the UK. The study included 1,092,731 rows of data from 150,...
Golen GS, Erganiş O, Balevi A. is an important bacterial pathogen and causes severe chronic granulomatous pneumonia in foals below 6 months of age. It has also become an opportunistic and emerging pathogen in immunocompromised humans. Vaccination is the most cost-effective strategy for controlling and preventing this infection. Although several potential virulence genes and candidate immunogens have been identified over the years, no effective vaccine is currently available to prevent disease in horses. Recently, bacterial vector vaccines have been shown to be promising for In this study, the gene of was cloned into P...
Segabinazzi L, Lisboa FP, Zutter B.Limited response to conventional therapies and rising antibiotic resistance emphasize the need for alternative treatments for infectious endometritis. A recent in vitro study showed promising antimicrobial activity of a commercial uterine cleaning sanitizer (UCS) against endometritis pathogens. However, its safety and efficacy in mares remain untested. Objective: This study aimed to assess the clinical safety of intrauterine infusion of UCS in reproductively sound mares. Methods: Exp. 1. Six healthy mares with endometrial biopsies classified as I or IIA had two intrauterine infusions of UCS pe...
Symoens A, Gauthier ML, Paillette L, Allano M, Lavoie JP, Leclère M.This study aimed to document antimicrobial resistance patterns of bacteria frequently isolated at a referral equine hospital between 2020 and 2022 and to compare these results to those of studies carried out in previous decades at the same reference center. Unassigned: Using the Kirby-Bauer method, 340 tests were completed on bacterial isolates and compared to 233, 255, and 396 tests carried out in 1986 to 1988, 1996 to 1998, and 2007 to 2013, respectively. Data were analyzed with tests for trends, followed by pairwise Fisher tests and Bonferroni corrections. Unassigned: Increasing resistanc...
Jafari H, Abebe BK, Cong L, Ahmed Z, Zhaofei W, Sun M, Muhatai G, Chuzhao L, Dang R.The domestication and selective breeding of horses have profoundly influenced the emergence of adaptive traits and stress resistance mechanisms, shaping modern equine populations. This comprehensive review examines the genomic foundations of these traits, emphasizing recent advancements in high-throughput sequencing technologies and bioinformatics. These tools have elucidated the genetic underpinnings of key characteristics such as endurance, speed, metabolic efficiency, and disease resistance. Importantly, the review identifies and connects gene variants associated with thermoregulation, immu...
Carotenuto SE, Broussard G, Fox GA, Hayes WK.To assess the efficacy of a new equine F[ab'] antivenom (US Department of Agriculture code 6101.05) in removing serum venom and lowering the snakebite severity score (SSS) in animals suffering from naturally occurring viperid envenomation. Methods: Retrospective study, April 2020 to October 2021. Methods: Veterinary hospitals across four North American regions. Methods: Twenty-two dogs, one cat, and one horse. Methods: All patients received the new antivenom intravenously and were assessed for clinical response. Most dogs required one vial for clinical control of signs. Results: Among the dogs...
Young KAS, Schnabel LV, Gilger BC.Equine ocular disease is common and often challenging to treat using traditional methods. This has led to the development of new therapies. Like human medicine, veterinary medicine is adopting cellular and gene therapy as innovative approaches. Equine ocular disease is a particularly promising area for these techniques. Notably, immune-mediated diseases (such as immune-mediated keratitis and equine recurrent uveitis), ulcerative keratitis, and infectious ocular diseases are of interest. Several ocular gene therapy products are approved for use in humans, and more are currently being researched...
Almaqhawi AA, El-Jalii IM, Al-Sabi MNS, Al-Ali A, Khalid AM, Abduljawad M, Shawaf T.Equine babesiosis is a widespread protozoan disease in Saudi Arabia. The most common finding of clinical babesiosis is splenomegaly, which can be detected using non-invasive splenic ultrasonography. Unassigned: This study aimed to investigate changes in the spleen size in horses infected with babesiosis using ultrasonography before and after treatment. Unassigned: This study employed 15 male and female Arabian horses. Each animal was examined clinically for clinical signs, and blood samples were collected in plain tubes to detect antibodies against . The spleens of healthy and affected horses ...
Schmidt S, Swagemakers JH, le Jeune SS.The cervical vertebral column in horses plays a crucial role in movement, posture, and performance and disorders affecting it can cause pain, ataxia, or lameness. This review discusses major acquired (traumatic, infectious, neoplastic) and degenerative (osteoarthritis, foraminal stenosis, intervertebral disc disease) conditions. Acquired lesions often arise from trauma, bacterial infection, or neoplasia, with clinical signs ranging from neck pain to neurologic deficits. Degenerative disorders, particularly osteoarthritis of articular process joints, are common in the caudal cervical spine and ...
