The study of diseases in horses encompasses a wide range of conditions affecting equine health, including infectious diseases, metabolic disorders, and genetic abnormalities. These diseases can impact various systems within the horse, such as respiratory, gastrointestinal, and musculoskeletal systems, and can lead to significant health challenges. Research in this area focuses on understanding the pathophysiology, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of equine diseases. Common diseases studied include equine influenza, equine herpesvirus, and laminitis. This page provides access to peer-reviewed research studies and scholarly articles that explore the etiology, clinical presentation, and management strategies of diseases in horses, contributing to the advancement of equine veterinary medicine.
Mediannikov O, Davoust B, Cabre O, Rolain JM, Raoult D.Bartonellae are gram-negative facultative intracellular alpha-proteobacteria from the family Bartonellaceae. The natural history of bartonellae consists of a reservoir/host, which is a vertebrate with chronic intravascular infection with sustained bacteremia, and a vector (usually an arthropod) that transfers the bacteria from the reservoir to a susceptible yet uninfected host. In order to reveal the sources and reservoirs of Bartonella infection in animals and vectors in New Caledonia, we collected the blood samples of 64 dogs, 8 cats, 30 bovines, 25 horses and 29 wild deer Cervus timorensis ...
Mykkänen AK, Hyytiäinen HK, McGowan CM.A 2-week-old Estonian Draft foal presented with signs of severe generalised tetanus, recumbency and inability to drink. The suspected source of infection was the umbilicus. Medical treatment was administered, including tetanus antitoxin, antimicrobial therapy and phenobarbital to control tetanic spasms. In addition, an intensive physiotherapy program was carried out during the recovery period. Techniques designed for syndromes involving upper motor neuron spasticity in humans were applied. Exercises aimed at weight-bearing and mobility were executed with the help of a walking-frame. The foal m...
Fox-Clipsham LY, Brown EE, Carter SD, Swinburne JE.The Fell and Dales are UK pony breeds that have small populations and may be at risk from in-breeding and inherited diseases. Foal immunodeficiency syndrome (FIS) is a lethal inherited disease caused by the recessive mutation of a single gene, which affects both Fell and Dales ponies and potentially other breeds that have interbred with either of these. FIS, previously known as Fell pony syndrome, is characterised by progressive anaemia and severe B lymphocyte deficiency. The identification of the causal mutation for this disease led to the recent development of a DNA-based carrier test. In th...
Muscatello G.Rhodococcus equi pneumonia is a worldwide infectious disease of major concern to the equine breeding industry. The disease typically manifests in foals as pyogranulomatous bronchopneumonia, resulting in significant morbidity and mortality. Inhalation of aerosolised virulent R. equi from the environment and intracellular replication within alveolar macrophages are essential components of the pathogenesis of R. equi pneumonia in the foal. Recently documented evidence of airborne transmission between foals indicates the potential for an alternative contagious route of disease transmission. In the...
Reinemeyer CR.Since 2002, selected populations of Parascaris equorum in several countries have been reported to survive treatment with macrocyclic lactone (M/L) anthelmintics. Clinical treatment failures are characterized by negligible fecal egg count reduction, but M/L resistance has been confirmed in ascarids by controlled efficacy testing. Resistance was selected by current parasite control practices for foals, which often include exclusive and excessively frequent use of M/L dewormers, thereby minimizing refugia within the host and in the environment. Chemical control of M/L-resistant isolates can be ac...
Kuzmina TA.Analysis of the influence of horse-keeping conditions by contamination of the environment (pastures, paddocks, and stalls) by the strongylid infective larvae (L(3)) was carried out at various types of horse farms, hippodromes, and riding clubs in Ukraine. A total of 1,237 horses from three types of horse-keeping conditions were examined. Epidemiological studies of stall and grazing area (pasture and paddocks) contamination by L(3) were performed at hippodrome (stalled horse-keeping) and horse farms with stall/paddock-keeping and stall/pasture-keeping conditions. Grass and stall litter samples ...
Matthews JB, McArthur C, Robinson A, Jackson F.Cyathostomins are the primary parasitic pathogens of equids. For over 40 years, these nematodes have been controlled using broad spectrum anthelmintics. Three classes of anthelmintic are currently available for this use but, unfortunately, resistance to each of these has now been recorded in cyathostomin populations. As part of an optimal strategy to control cyathostomin infections in the field, it will be important to identify drug-resistant worms at as early a stage as possible. This objective needs to be supported by methodologies that will allow the accurate comparison of anthelmintic resi...
Aleman M.NMD is an important cause of morbidity in horses. Signs of dysfunction could be variable depending on the specific area affected. NM disease can go unrecognized if a thorough evaluation is not performed in diseased horses. Electrodiagnostic testing is an area that has the potential to document and improve our understanding of NM disease yet is uncommonly performed. Keeping an open and observant mind will enhance our ability to search and find answers.
Wong D, Wilkins PA, Bain FT, Brockus C.Neonatal encephalopathy is a common central nervous system disorder of neonatal foals and human infants, resulting in clinical signs such as lethargy, inappropriate behavior, seizures, and other neurologic deficits. Although neonatal encephalopathy is frequently seen in equine practice, a paucity of veterinary clinical and basic science research data is available. Therefore, the pathophysiologic mechanisms of this disorder in equids, such as energy deprivation, excess excitatory amino acids, and free radical injury, have been extrapolated from human medicine. Equine veterinarians have used var...
Dickey EJ, Long SN, Hunt RW.Hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) is a condition that occurs in both human newborns and foals. The condition is the subject of extensive current research in human infants, but there have been no direct studies of HIE in foals, and hence, knowledge of the condition has been extrapolated from studies in humans and other animal models. The purpose of this review article is to highlight the most up-to-date and relevant research in the human field, and discuss how this potentially might have an impact in the management of foals with HIE.
Beech J, Boston R, Lindborg S.Changes in both adrenocorticotropin (ACTH) and cortisol concentration in response to thyrotropin releasing hormone (TRH) administration have been used to diagnose equine pituitary pars intermedia dysfunction (PPID), but the use of the 2 hormones has not been compared. Objective: Measuring ACTH concentration is superior to measuring cortisol concentration after TRH administration in differentiating between normal horses and those with PPID, and the 2 hormone concentrations are disassociated in PPID horses. Methods: Eleven horses and 2 ponies with PPID and 19 normal horses. Methods: A study eval...
Giguère S, Cohen ND, Chaffin MK, Hines SA, Hondalus MK, Prescott JF, Slovis NM.Pneumonia is a major cause of disease and death in foals. Rhodococcus equi, a gram-positive facultative intracellular pathogen, is a common cause of pneumonia in foals. This article reviews the clinical manifestations of infection caused by R. equi in foals and summarizes current knowledge regarding mechanisms of virulence of, and immunity to, R. equi. A complementary consensus statement providing recommendations for the diagnosis, treatment, control, and prevention of infections caused by R. equi in foals can be found in the same issue of the Journal.
Arias M, Yeargan M, Francisco I, Dangoudoubiyam S, Becerra P, Francisco R, Sánchez-Andrade R, Paz-Silva A, Howe DK.Horses serve as an intermediate host for several species of Sarcocystis, all of which utilize canids as the definitive host. Sarcocystis spp. infection and formation of latent sarcocysts in horses often appears to be subclinical, but morbidity can occur, especially when the parasite burden is large. A serological survey was conducted to determine the presence of antibodies against Sarcocystis spp. in seemingly healthy horses from the Galicia region of Spain. Western blot analyses using Sarcocystis neurona merozoites as heterologous antigen suggested greater than 80% seroprevalance of Sarcocyst...
Hashimoto-Hill S, Magdesian KG, Kass PH.Serial measurement of lactate concentration is utilized for therapeutic and prognostic purposes in human critical care. The prognostic value of serial lactate measurement in equine acute colitis warrants investigation. Objective: Serial lactate concentrations are predictive of outcome in horses with colitis. Methods: A total of 101 horses with colitis. Methods: Retrospective study. Plasma L-lactate concentrations were measured at admission and at 4-8 and 24 hours after admission. Associations between admission, early (4-8 hours) and late (24 hours) lactate concentrations, and survival status w...
Fletcher MT, Hayes PY, Somerville MJ, De Voss JJ.Crotalaria medicaginea has been implicated in horse poisoning in grazing regions of central-west Queensland, which resulted in the deaths of more than 35 horses from hepatotoxicosis in 2010. Liver pathology was suggestive of pyrrolizidine alkaloidosis, and we report here the isolation of two previously uncharacterized pyrrolizidine alkaloids from C. medicaginea plant specimens collected from pastures where the horses died. The first alkaloid was shown by mass spectometric and NMR analyses to be 1β,2β-epoxy-7β-hydroxy-1α-methoxymethyl-8α-pyrrolizidine, which, like other alkaloids previousl...
Pietra M, Cinotti S, Ducci A, Giunti M, Peli A.During an 18 day test, we measured the cytokine mRNA expression (Interleukin-1beta [IL-1beta], Interleukin-8 [IL-8], Interferon-gamma [IFN-gamma], Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha [TNF-alpha]) of cells from bronchoalveolar lavage fluid [BALF] in five horses previously diagnosed with RAO, before and during challenge exposure, and after the desensitization phase which involved dexamethasone treatment and environmental modification. Simultaneously, the same cytokine mRNA expression of cells from BALF in four asymptomatic RAO-affected horses maintained outdoors was analyzed. An evident respiratory dist...
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...
van Doorn DC, Eysker M, Kooyman FN, Wagenaar JA, Ploeger HW.A study was conducted to evaluate the occurrence of resistance against, in particular, ivermectin in cyathostomins in the Netherlands. Seventy horse farms were visited between October 2007 and November 2009. In initial screening, faecal samples were collected 2 weeks after deworming with either ivermectin, moxidectin or doramectin. Pooled faecal samples from a maximum of 10 horses were examined for worm eggs using a modified McMaster technique and for worm larvae after faecal larval cultures. In total 931 horses were involved. On 15 of 70 farms eggs and/or larvae were found. On 8 of these 15 f...
Sasaki M, Kim E, Igarashi M, Ito K, Hasebe R, Fukushi H, Sawa H, Kimura T.Equine herpesvirus-1 (EHV-1), an α-herpesvirus of the family Herpesviridae, causes respiratory disease, abortion, and encephalomyelitis in horses. EHV-1 utilizes equine MHC class I molecules as entry receptors. However, hamster MHC class I molecules on EHV-1-susceptible CHO-K1 cells play no role in EHV-1 entry. To identify the MHC class I molecule region that is responsible for EHV-1 entry, domain exchange and site-directed mutagenesis experiments were performed, in which parts of the extracellular region of hamster MHC class I (clone C5) were replaced with corresponding sequences from equine...
Clegg PD.Orthopaedic injury is common in the racing Thoroughbred and is a cause of both economic loss to the industry, as well as being an obvious welfare issue. Fatal injuries sustained during racing are an obvious major concern and it is important that all is done to reduce their frequency. As a consequence of the importance of these causes of horse morbidity and mortality, the Horserace Betting Levy Board in the UK has invested considerable resources into research in recent years in this area in an attempt to decrease the frequency of such injuries. This review summarises current knowledge relating ...
Collins JA, Hanlon A, More SJ, Wall PG, Duggan V.Ireland has long been renowned as a major centre for the breeding, rearing and keeping of horses. Since 2007, however, there has been increasing concern for horse health and welfare standards, and links between these concerns and the structures, governance and funding of the Irish equine industries have been reported. This paper addresses two central issues: firstly the local governance of, trade in and disposal of unwanted horses; and secondly mechanisms employed to improve standards of care given to horses owned by certain communities. Methods: Primary information was gathered through visits...
Baker WT, Frederick J, Giguere S, Lynch TM, Lehmkuhl HD, Slone DE.To evaluate the outcome in horses treated with a rolling technique or surgically for nephrosplenic entrapment of the large colon (NSE) and to examine the benefit of phenylephrine (PE) HCl on the efficacy of nonsurgical (rolling) management of NSE. Methods: Case series. Methods: Horses (n = 211) diagnosed with NSE by rectal palpation with or without ultrasonography, or at the time of exploratory celiotomy or necropsy. Methods: Medical records (January 1, 2001-September 1, 2008) were collected from horses diagnosed with NSE at 2 referral centers. Records were used to obtain signalment, physical ...
Pilo C, Altea A, Pirino S, Nicolussi P, Varcasia A, Genchi M, Scala A.A post-mortem survey was carried out on 46 Sardinian horses to evaluate the presence of Strongylus vulgaris and associated pathology. Horses were from local farms and had been treated with broad-spectrum anthelmintics at least 3 times a year. Examination of the cranial mesenteric arterial system (CMAS) showed parasite-induced lesions in all horses. S. vulgaris larvae were found in 39% of examined arteries, while their detection rate in coprocultures was 4%. Histology, carried out on 26 horses, showed mainly chronic and chronic-active lesions. Histometry showed a significant increase in thickne...
Corbin LJ, Blott SC, Swinburne JE, Vaudin M, Bishop SC, Woolliams JA.We have used linkage disequilibrium (LD) to identify single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) on the Illumina Equine SNP50 BeadChip, which may be incorrectly positioned on the genome map. A total of 1201 Thoroughbred horses were genotyped using the Illumina Equine SNP50 BeadChip. LD was evaluated in a pairwise fashion between all autosomal SNPs, both within and across chromosomes. Filters were then applied to the data, firstly to identify SNPs that may have been mapped to the wrong chromosome and secondly to identify SNPs that may have been incorrectly positioned within chromosomes. We identifie...
Collatos C, Barton MH, Prasse KW, Moore JN.Components of the coagulation and fibrinolytic cascades, prothrombin and activated partial thromboplastin times, endotoxin activity, and albumin concentration were measured in blood and peritoneal fluid from 20 healthy horses and from 153 horses with acute gastrointestinal tract diseases at admission. Overall, 77% (117/153) of affected horses survived to discharge from the hospital, and 85% (82/97) of horses discharged were reported to be normal 9 to 14 months later. Significant differences in hemostatic factors were more common in peritoneal fluid than in blood. Tissue plasminogen activator, ...
Aleman M, Vedavally U, Pusterla N, Wensley F, Berryhill E, Madigan JE.Comprehensive descriptions of equids with granulocytic anaplasmosis (EGA) with neurologic or muscle disease and other atypical presentations are scarce in the literature. Objective: Describe the clinical signs, laboratory findings, treatment, and outcome of equids with EGA with emphasis on neurologic and muscle disease. Methods: Thirty-eight horses, 1 donkey. Methods: Retrospective study. Equids with EGA were included. The electronic data base was searched from January 2000 to December 2022 using the words anaplasmosis, ehrlichiosis, granulocytic, and rickettsia. Signalment and clinical data w...
López-Martínez MJ, Lamy E, Cerón JJ, Ayala I, Contreras-Aguilar MD, Henriksen IH, Muñoz-Prieto A, Hansen S.Equine gastric ulcer syndrome (EGUS) is currently one of the more frequent diseases in horses. We aimed to identify changes in the salivary proteome in horses with EGUS at diagnosis and after successful treatment by using gel proteomics. Saliva samples were collected from nine horses with EGUS before and after treatment and nine matched healthy controls. SDS-PAGE (1DE) and two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2DE) were performed, and significantly different protein bands and spots were identified by mass spectrometry. Horses with EGUS had increases in proteins such as adenosine deaminase (ADA)...
Clarke E, Varela L, Jenkins RE, Lozano-Andrés E, Cywińska A, Przewozny M, van Weeren PR, van de Lest CHA, Peffers M, Wauben MHM.Osteoarthritis causes progressive joint deterioration, severe morbidity, and reduced mobility in both humans and horses. Currently, osteoarthritis is diagnosed at late stages through clinical examination and radiographic imaging, hence it is challenging to address and provide timely therapeutic interventions to slow disease progression or ameliorate symptoms. Extracellular vesicles are cell-derived vesicles that play a key role in cell-to-cell communication and are potential sources for specific composite biomarker panel discovery. We here used a multi-omics strategy combining proteomics and p...
Auer U, Kelemen Z, Vogl C, von Ritgen S, Haddad R, Torres Borda L, Gabmaier C, Breteler J, Jenner F.Musculoskeletal disease is a common cause of chronic pain that is often overlooked and inadequately treated, impacting the quality of life of humans and horses alike. Lameness due to musculoskeletal pain is prevalent in horses, but the perception of pain by owners is low compared with veterinary diagnosis. Therefore, this study aims to establish and validate a pain scale for chronic equine orthopaedic pain that is user-friendly for horse owners and veterinarians to facilitate the identification and monitoring of pain in horses. The newly developed musculoskeletal pain scale (MPS) was applied t...
Ibrahim L, Buschmann E, van Loon G, Cornillie P.Three-dimensional electro-anatomical mapping, previously performed in horses with atrial arrhythmias, has demonstrated the medial region of the caudal vena cava (CaVC), 1-8 cm caudal to the fossa ovalis, as an anatomical predilection site for atrial tachycardia associated with areas of slow conduction and conduction block. Slow conduction has also been recorded in the cranial vena cava (CrVC). Objective: To investigate the morphological characteristics of the myocardial sleeves (MS) in the CaVC and CrVC, in order to identify a potential substrate of right sided atrial arrhythmias. Methods: C...
Domańska-Kruppa N, Wierzbicka M, Stefanik E.Back pain is common in ridden horses. Back diseases in horses include Impinging Dorsal Spinous Processes, Ventral Spondylosis, Osteoarthritis of Articular Process, Intervertebral Discs Disease, Vertebral Fractures, Conformational Abnormalities, Desmopathy of the Supraspinous Ligament, Desmopathy of the Intraspinous Ligament, and Longissimus Muscle Strain. Back pain may also develop as a result of lameness (particularly hindlimb lameness). A poorly fitting saddle and an unbalanced rider are also considered important factors influencing the development of back pain in horses. The conventional di...
Jasiński T, Turek B, Kaczorowski M, Brehm W, Skierbiszewska K, Bonecka J, Domino M.Osteoarthritis (OA) of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) occurs spontaneously in humans and various animal species, including horses. In humans, obtaining tissue samples is challenging and clinical symptoms appear late in the disease progression. Therefore, genetically modified, induced, and naturally occurring animal models play a crucial role in understanding the pathogenesis and evaluating potential therapeutic interventions for TMJ OA. Among the naturally occurring models, the equine TMJ OA model is characterized by slow, age-related progression, a wide range of clinical examinations, and ...
Faulkner JE, Joostens Z, Broeckx BJG, Hauspie S, Mariën T, Vanderperren K.Injuries of the sagittal groove of the proximal phalanx (P1) in equine athletes are considered to predominantly occur due to chronic bone stress overload. Objective: To describe the range of abnormalities that is present in the sagittal groove in a large group of horses diagnosed with sagittal groove disease (SGD) on low-field MRI. Methods: Retrospective, cross-sectional. Methods: Medical records were searched to identify initial MRI images of horses diagnosed with SGD and these were blindly evaluated using a semi-quantitative grading scheme and novel SGD MRI classification system reflecting p...
Deniz Ö, Ekinci G, Onmaz AC, Derelli FM, Fazio F, Aragona F, Hoven RVD.Rhodococcus equi (R. equi), a gram-positive facultative intracellular pathogen, is a common cause of pneumonia in foals and represents a major cause of disease and death. The aim of the present study was to investigate the time-depended changes in White Blood Cells (WBC), basophils (Baso), neutrophils (Neu), lymphocytes (Lymf), monocytes (Mon), eosinophils (Eos), platelet (PLT) counts, fibrinogen (Fbg) concentration, interferon (IFN-α, IFN-γ) and interleukins (IL-2 and IL-10) in foals with clinical R. equi pneumonia. The main treatment was with azithromycin-rifampicin for 14 days. Blood was ...
Samir A, Abdel-Moein KA, Zaher HM.The upsurge of diarrheagenic E. coli pathotypes carrying extended-spectrum beta-lactamases (ESBLs)/plasmid-mediated AmpC β-lactamase (pAmpC) among animals constitutes an emerging threat for humans and animals. This study investigated the burden of ESBL-/pAmpC-producing diarrheagenic E. coli among diarrheic foals and its potential public health implications. Rectal swabs were collected from 80 diarrheic foals. These swabs were processed to isolate and identify ESBL/pAmpC-producing E. coli using a selective culture medium, biochemical tests, phenotypic identification, and molecular identificati...
Pineau V, Ter Woort F, Julien F, Vernant M, Lambey S, Hébert C, Hanne-Poujade S, Westergren V, van Erck-Westergren E.Gastric disease is highly prevalent in sport horses and may lead to poor performance, cause behavioral changes and impact welfare. Objective: Assess whether diet affects gastric disease and pain expression during riding, and whether it has an impact on physiological and locomotor variables during an exercise test, including jumps. Methods: Nine healthy show-jumping Warmbloods trained at the same stable. Methods: Prospective observational cohort study. The horses receiving a pelleted diet, high in sugar and starch (>30%), were examined at T0 and after 12 weeks (T12) of changing to a cooked, m...
Duaso J, Perez-Ecija A, Martínez E, Navarro A, De Las Heras A, Mendoza FJ.Equine piroplasmosis (EP) is a tick-borne disease affecting equids worldwide. Diagnosis is based on direct methods (blood smear or PCR) or indirect methods (serology); however, these techniques yield positive and negative results. Thus, an alternative, reliable, rapid, and cost-effective complementary tool, such as hematologic parameters and newly described hematologic ratios, could help in the EP diagnosis. This study describes the changes induced by piroplasmosis infection on hematologic parameters and ratios in horses. PCR-positive horses exhibited anemia and thrombocytopenia, whereas PCR...
Ahedor B, Otgonsuren D, Zhyldyz A, Guswanto A, Ngigi NMM, Valinotti MFR, Kothalawala H, Kalaichelvan N, Silva SSP, Kothalawala H, Acosta TJ....Theileria equi causes equine piroplasmosis, an economically significant disease that affects horses and other equids worldwide. Based on 18S ribosomal RNA (18S rRNA sequences), T. equi can be classified into five genotypes: A, B, C, D, and E. These genotypes have implications for disease management and control. However, no conventional polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays are available to differentiate the genotypes of T. equi. To overcome this limitation, we developed and evaluated PCR assays specific for the detection of each T. equi genotype. Methods: A pair of forward and reverse primers...
Hüttl J, Reitt K, Meli ML, Meili T, Bönzli E, Pineroli B, Ginders J, Schoster A, Jones S, Tyson GB, Hosie MJ, Pusterla N, Wernike K....Horses and cattle have shown low susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2, and there is no evidence of experimental intraspecies transmission. Nonetheless, seropositive horses in the US and seropositive cattle in Germany and Italy have been reported. The current study investigated the prevalence of antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 in horses and cattle in Switzerland. In total, 1940 serum and plasma samples from 1110 horses and 830 cattle were screened with a species-specific ELISA based on the SARS-CoV-2 receptor-binding domain (RBD) and, in the case of suspect positive results, a surrogate virus neutralizat...
Wang T, Li S, Hu X, Geng Y, Chen L, Liu W, Zhao J, Tian W, Wang C, Li Y, Li L.Equid alphaherpesvirus 8 (EqHV-8) is one of the most economically important viruses that is known to cause severe respiratory disease, abortion, and neurological syndromes in equines. However, no effective vaccines or therapeutic agents are available to control EqHV-8 infection. Heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) is an antioxidant defense enzyme that displays significant cytoprotective effects against different viral infections. However, the literature on the function of HO-1 during EqHV-8 infection is little. We explored the effects of HO-1 on EqHV-8 infection and revealed its potential mechanisms. Our ...
Tong P, Pan J, Dang Y, Yang E, Jia C, Duan R, Tian S, Palidan N, Kuang L, Wang C, Lu G, Xie J.Equine herpesvirus type 1 (EHV-1) is commonly associated with horse abortion. Currently, there are no reported cases of abortion resulting from EHV-1 infection in donkeys. This was the first survey-based study of Chinese donkeys. The presence of EHV-1 was identified by PCR. This survey was conducted in Chabuchar County, North Xinjiang, China, in 2020. A donkey EHV-1 strain (Chabuchar/2020) was successfully isolated in MDBK cells. Seventy-two of 100 donkey sera were able to neutralize the isolated EHV-1. Moreover, the ORF33 sequence of the donkey-origin EHV-1 Chabuchar/2020 strain showed high l...
Lebrasseur O, More KD, Orlando L.Equine viral outbreaks have disrupted the socio-economic life of past human societies up until the late 19th century and continue to be of major concern to the horse industry today. With a seroprevalence of 60-80 per cent, equine herpesvirus 4 (EHV-4) is the most common horse pathogen on the planet. Yet, its evolutionary history remains understudied. Here, we screen the sequenced data of 264 archaeological horse remains to detect the presence of EHV-4. We recover the first ancient EHV-4 genome with 4.2× average depth-of-coverage from a specimen excavated in the Southeastern Urals and dated ...
Taha NM, Salem MA, El-Saied MA, Mohammed FF, Kamel M, El-Bahy MM, Ramadan RM.Cystic echinococcosis (CE) is a neglected zoonotic disease that causes significant economic losses in livestock and poses health risks to humans, necessitating improved diagnostic and therapeutic strategies. This study investigates CE in donkeys using a multifaceted approach that includes molecular identification, gene expression analysis, serum biochemical profiling, histopathological and immunohistochemical examination, and in vitro drug efficacy evaluation. Molecular analysis of hydatid cyst protoscolices (HC-PSCs) from infected donkey livers and lungs revealed a high similarity to Echinoco...
Amairia S, Jbeli M, Mrabet S, Jebabli LM, Gharbi M.Sarcocystis spp. and Toxoplasma gondii are two apicomplexan protozoa that infect a broad range of vertebrates, however, little is known about the infection of equids with these parasites. A total of 184 slaughtered equids from slaughterhouses of Bizerte and Tunis located in Northern Tunisia, were examined for meat infections with Sarcocystis spp. and T. gondii by PCR. The prevalence of infections with Sarcocystis spp. and T. gondii were 38% (95% CI: 31-45) and 39.7% (95% CI: 32.6-46.7), respectively. The highest prevalence of infection with Sarcocystis spp. was observed in donkeys (48.6%; 95%C...
Stickle RL, Fessler JF.Equine cryptorchidism was examined by a review of the literature and a retrospective study of 350 horses over a 14-year period. The incidence of left vs right testis retention was nearly equal. On the left side, 75.2% of the retained testes were retained abdominally and 24.8% inguinally; on the right side, 41.8% of the retained testes were retained abdominally and 58.2% inguinally. Preoperative diagnosis by rectal palpation of the vaginal rings was considered a valuable technique, with 87.9% accuracy in 190 horses. Invasive and nonivasive surgical techniques for abdominal cryptorchidectomy and...
Srihongse S, Grayson MA, Morris CD, Deibel R, Duncan CS.An extensive outbreak of eastern equine encephalomyelitis (EEE) occurred in upstate New York during the summer of 1976, with 37 cases confirmed in horses by isolation of virus and/or by serologic examination. Other specimens collected in the affected area yielded 16 further isolates: 9 from 818 pools of 33,365 mosquitoes, 5 from tissues of 64 birds and 2 from 4 sentinel pheasants with serologic conversions. EEE antibodies were also detected in 81 of 499 wild birds tested. Our data implicate sparrows, cowbirds, and catbirds in the amplification of EEE virus and Culiseta melanura mosquitoes as v...
Qi M, Ji X, Zhang Y, Wei Z, Jing B, Zhang L, Lin X, Karim MR, Wang H, Sun M.Giardia duodenalis is a zoonotic intestinal parasite infecting humans and mammals worldwide. In this study, we evaluated the prevalence of G. duodenalis in racehorses in China and genetically characterized it. In total, 621 fecal samples were collected from racehorses at 17 equestrian clubs in 15 cities in China. Forty-eight (7.7%) animals from 11 equestrian clubs were positive for G. duodenalis of assemblages A (n = 10), B (n = 36), and E (n = 2), based on the small subunit ribosomal RNA (SSU rRNA) gene. Statistically significant differences in the prevalence of this parasite were...
Castillo-Olivares J, Tearle JP, Montesso F, Westcott D, Kydd JH, Davis-Poynter NJ, Hannant D.Equine arteritis virus (EAV) causes a systemic infection in equids with variable outcome, ranging from subclinical infections to severe disease, and also has the capacity to induce abortion in pregnant mares and persistent infections in stallions. The serum virus-neutralizing antibody response that invariably develops in the infected animal lasts for many months or years and is believed to play an important role in virus clearance. However, very little is known about cellular immunity against EAV because of a lack of methods for evaluating these immune responses. In the present study, we descr...
Lunn DP, Cuddon PA, Shaftoe S, Archer RM.In an investigation of 2 closely related Miniature Horses with a history of excessive sleepiness, depression and episodes of collapse, a diagnosis of narcolepsy was made on the basis of neurological examination and pharmacological testing. Further investigations included electroencephalographic examination (EEG), and analysis of protein content, cell count and monoamine metabolite concentrations of lumbosacral cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). There were no abnormalities noted in the EEGs, and no consistent changes in CSF neurotransmitter metabolites in the narcoleptic horses when compared with 3 nor...
Jánosi S, Huszenicza G, Kulcsár M, Kóródi P.After giving an overview of the general pathology of endotoxin-mediated diseases, the authors summarise the endotoxin-induced endocrine changes and their clinical consequences, with particular regard to reproduction. The consequences of temporary activation of the cyclooxygenase-2 and lipoxygenase enzyme systems resulting in elevated release of various prostanoids are discussed in cyclic and pregnant ruminants, sows and mares. The clinical failures attributable to increased glucocorticoid secretion as well as the endotoxin-induced changes in thyroid function and in peripheral level of some oth...
