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.
Kirchhof N, Steinhauer D, Fey K.Large intestinal adenocarcinoma with osseous metaplasia was diagnosed in two horses, a 15-year-old standard bred gelding and a 9-year-old Haflinger mare. Clinically, both animals had displayed weight loss and anaemia. A presumptive diagnosis of abdominal neoplasia was made and the horses were humanely killed. At necropsy, the gelding and the mare were found to have ulcerated tumours growing into the lumen of the caecum and colon, respectively. In the mare, the mass extended through the mesocolon and was evident in the left dorsal and ventral colon. Histopathologically, the tumours consisted of...
Chase JP, Beard WL, Bertone AL, Goltz K.Peritonitis was induced in 12 horses by median celiotomy and 1 hour of small intestinal ischemia. Six horses had primary closure of the incision, whereas six horses had a plastic mesh sutured to the ventral abdominal wall leaving the abdomen open for ventral drainage. The mesh was removed after 5 days and the abdominal wall was closed by apposition of the linea alba and subcutaneous tissues and approximation ef the skin edges. Peritoneal fluid was collected and analyzed for nucleated cell count and total protein concentration on days 0 and 5. Serum biochemical profiles, serum electrolyte conce...
Bracher V, Mathias S, Allen WR.Placentation between 80 and 220 days of gestation was studied by measurement of fetal dimensions and gross, light and transmission and scanning electron microscopic examinations of the allantochorion and endometrium from 4 fertile mares with no, or very mild, endometrial histopathology and 6 subfertile Thoroughbred mares suffering varying degrees of age-related chronic degenerative endometritis (endometrosis). Spontaneously occurring twin gestation was observed in 3 animals. Several of the subfertile mares had endometrial cysts which showed 2 distinct features during pregnancy: those located n...
Reef VB, Vaala WE, Worth LT, Sertich PL, Spencer PA.Mares with complicated pregnancies (illness, problems at parturition or delivery of an abnormal foal, n = 30) were scanned transabdominally from 298 days gestation to term in order to measure fetal size, evaluate fetal well-being and characterise the intrauterine environment. The results of the last scan obtained prior to parturition were compared to normal data obtained from fetuses of comparable gestational age to develop a biophysical profile specific for the equine fetus. Twelve mares produced a normal foal (positive outcome) and 18 mares delivered 19 abnormal foals (negative outcome). Bot...
Reisen WK, Hardy JL, Presser SB, Chiles RE.The vector competence of Culex tarsalis Coquillett from the Coachella Valley of California for western equine encephalomyelitis (WEE) and St. Louis encephalitis (SLE) viruses was monitored monthly from February to November 1993. The concentration of WEE virus required to infect 50% of the females increased during summer coincidentally with ambient temperature and was highest during July. Transmission rates of WEE virus were high during March, low during May-June, and high again during July-September. Females expressed both mesenteronal escape and salivary gland barriers limiting WEE virus diss...
de Verdier Klingenberg K, Esfandiari J.An immunochromatographic test for the detection of group A rotavirus was evaluated against a reference group A rotavirus ELISA, by using a panel of 161 bovine, porcine and equine faecal samples submitted for routine examination. The sensitivity of the test was 89 per cent and the specificity 99 per cent compared with the ELISA. Its reproducibility was 100 per cent. The simplicity and rapidity of the test procedure make it suitable for use in practice.
Seltzer KL, Byars TD.To determine the percentage of Thoroughbred racehorses that would be capable of racing performance after recovery from infectious pleuropneumonia. Methods: Retrospective case series. Methods: 70 Thoroughbred horses that had recovered from pleuropneumonia. Only horses 5 years old known to be in race training at the time of illness were included in the study. Results: Forty-three of the 70 (61%) horses raced after recovery, and 24 of the 43 (56%) won at least 1 race. Horses that required placement of an indwelling thoracic drain apparently did not have a worse prognosis than did horses that did...
Adeyefa CA, Tomori O, Akpavie SO, Awoseyi OA.Thirteen cases of a disease with a low morbidity and very high mortality in horses in Nigeria are described; the disease is characterised by fever (rectal temperature > or = 40 degrees C), generalised muscle spasms, ataxia, increased respiratory and heart rates and terminal lateral recumbency. The illness generally lasts three to five days but durations of 12 to 30 hours have been observed. Laboratory investigations, including histopathology and serology suggest a viral aetiology, possibly an alphavirus of the equine encephalitis group.
Bell K, Colling DT.An alloimmune reagent has been produced that distinguishes the equine factor Df in the D phenogroup, cfmqr, from that occurring in cefmqr and dfklr. Using this reagent it has been possible to correctly genotype Dc, d, f, k, l, m, q and r positive cells without recourse to family data.
Maddison JE.Seventy-seven reports of suspected adverse drug reactions (ADRs) were received by the Adverse Drug Reaction Subcommittee (ADRSc) of the Australian Veterinary Association from April 1993 to December 1994 inclusive. The number of reports received/number of animals involved per species were: dogs (32/44), cats (18/31), horses (17/48), and cattle (10/21). Of these, 49 (64%) were classified as definite ADRs and 9 (12%) as probable ADRs. In 11 (14%) reports an ADR could not be substantiated or there was insufficient information available to make a decision. Eight reports were not classified because ...
Yeruham I, Rosen S, Braverman Y.The horses were in two stables: in the first stable they were kept together with sheep and in the second stable they were kept together with goats. All horses in both stables were diagnosed as being infested with the cat flea Ctenocephalides felis felis. Foals were severely infested, whereas adult horses were only moderately infested.
Coté N, Trout DR, Hayes AM.The electrophoretic position and behavior of the native and activated forms of equine plasma alpha-2-macroglobulin (alpha 2M) were characterized and compared to human alpha 2M by nondenaturing polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis (PAGE). Plasma alpha 2M was also compared between 6 normal horses and 6 horses with clinical signs of colic and endotoxemia due to volvulus or enteritis. Native and activated forms of alpha 2M were quantified by PAGE and densitometry. Binding of radio-labeled recombinant human tumour necrosis factor-alpha (125I-rhTNF-alpha) to native and activated forms of equine alpha ...
Sanada Y, Noda H, Nagahata H.The blastogenic response of lymphocytes from 16 newborn foals naturally infected with Rhodococcus equi was investigated, in order to evaluate the relationship between R. equi infection and depressed host response. Naturally infected foals showed evidence of R. equi infection at 5-6 weeks of age, as determined by clinical, haematological, bacteriological and serological methods. The blastogenic response of lymphocytes against phytohaemagglutinin was significantly depressed (stimulation index < 1.80; P < 0.01, P < 0.05) in R. equi-infected foals at 5-6 weeks of age compared with those o...
Gregory CR, Latimer KS, Niagro FD, Campagnoli RP, Steffens WL, Ritchie BW.Eastern equine encephalomyelitis (F.EE) virus was detected in infected formalin-fixed horse and emu tissues and in infected chicken embryo fibroblasts. Results of in situ hybridization using a digoxigenin-labeled 40-base DNA probe complementary to a conserved region of the EEE virus RNA compared favorably with results of both virus isolation and serum neutralization tests. This technique may be useful for diagnosis of EEE virus infection in various animal species, especially when fresh tissues are not available for analysis, and also will provide a means for studying the involvement of alphavi...
Raisis AL, Hodgson JL, Hodgson DR.Equine neonatal septicaemia was confirmed in 24 foals hospitalised at the Rural Veterinary Centre between 1989 and 1992 with suspected septicaemia. Septicaemia was confirmed by culture of bacteria from blood of live foals and tissues obtained at necropsy of foals that died or were euthanased. Pathogenic bacteria isolated were predominantly Enterobacteriaceae (including Escherichia coli and Salmonella serovars) and Actinobacillus equuli. Clinical manifestations of septicaemia included signs of depression, dehydration, abnormalities in body temperature and manifestations of localised infection i...
Hanson RR, Schumacher J, Humburg J, Dunkerley SC.To evaluate clinical and laboratory findings for horses treated medically for ileal impactions. Methods: Retrospective case series. Methods: 10 horses with primary ileal impaction that were treated successfully with medical treatment alone. Methods: Medical records were reviewed for all horses with naturally developing ileal impaction seen at our hospital between 1990 and 1994. Results: Transrectal palpation revealed an impaction in the midabdominal area in all horses. Generalized distention of the small intestine was evident in 6 horses, whereas 4 horses were examined early in the course of t...
Boersema JH, Eysker M, Maas J, van der Aar WM.The reappearance of strongyle eggs in faeces after treatment with ivermectin or pyrantel embonate was investigated in 22 foals, 36 yearlings, and 45 adult horses on five Dutch horse farms. The results confirmed earlier studies which showed an egg reappearance period of 9 and 6 weeks after ivermectin and pyrantel treatment, respectively. There were no differences between the egg reappearance periods of foals, yearlings, and adult horses. The mean egg counts of the yearlings were, however, consistently higher than the mean egg counts of the adult horses and foals in both ivermectin- and pyrantel...
Rezai A, Underwood JL, Jalali GR, Mathias S, Allen WR, Mowbray JF.Recurrent spontaneous abortion occurs in 1 in 500 random matings and usually results in abortion of all pregnancies. If absence of antibody to a paternally derived antigen caused abortion, the woman would be expected to make antibody to the other paternal antigen and abort only half her pregnancies. Methods: Microvesicles were prepared from equine placentae. Acid-eluted IgG antibody was eluted from the polymorphic R80K antigen and used to type the residual R80K antigen on vesicles or on peripheral blood leucocytes. Results: In several equine sibships all the half-sibs had the same paternal R80...
van Damme CMM, van den Broek J, Sloet van Oldruitenborgh-Oosterbaan MM.In equine atopic patients intradermal testing (IDT) and immunoglobulin (Ig)E serology are used frequently. There is little evidence regarding the reproducibility of the IDT and IgE serology in horses. Objective: To compare the results of a simultaneously performed IDT on the left and right side of the neck in atopic horses, and to compare these results with allergen-specific IgE serology. Methods: Ten equine patients from a university hospital population with chronic urticaria and/or pruritus. Methods: The IDT was performed using 16 allergens and the results were evaluated after 30 min, 1, 4 ...
Allen WE, Pycock JF.Mares with persistent and recurrent endometritis are said to be susceptible to infection; in particular they are unable to resolve the acute endometritis that always follows mating. It is thought, therefore, that these mares have a local immunological defect in the uterus that impedes the elimination of bacteria. Studies on immunoglobulins, opsonins and the functional ability of neutrophils in the uterus of susceptible mares have not confirmed the presence of an impaired immune response. It is concluded that factors involved in the production and drainage of uterine fluid may be important in t...
Knottenbelt DC.Few skin diseases specifically or exclusively affect older horses and donkeys. Hypertrichosis (hirsutism) associated with pituitary pars intermedia dysfunction is probably the most recognized and best understood exception and is the most common age-related skin condition in equids. Many other conditions are known to be more serious in older horses. Horses affected with immune-compromising conditions can be more severely affected by infectious diseases of the skin or heavy and pathologically significant parasitism. Neoplasia of the skin is probably more prevalent and worse in older horses, alth...
Roy MF, Parente EJ, Donaldson MT, Habecker P, Axon J.Malignant neoplasia of the equine large colon is rare and reports
are limited to a few cases of adenocarcinoma (Traub et al. 1983;
Wright and Edwards 1984; Rottman et al. 1991; Kirchhof et al.
1996; East et al. 1998) and lymphosarcoma (Dabareiner et al.
1996). Early diagnosis of colonic neoplasia is crucial if one is to
attempt surgical resection before metastasis has occurred.
Unfortunately, microscopic (Dabareiner et al. 1996) or
macroscopic (Traub et al. 1983; Rottman et al. 1991; East et al.
1998) metastasis are often already present by the time of diagnosis
since clinical signs o...
Scotty NC, Ford M, Williams F, Loiacono C, Johnson PJ, Messer NT, Turnquist SE, Essman S.An 11-year-old Quarterhorse mare developed a paranasal sinus osteoma that extended into the right orbit and led to ipsilateral exophthalmia. Although the tumor was radiographically evident in the paranasal sinuses, ultrasonography was used to demonstrate extension of the tumor into the retrobulbar space, and endoscopy was used to identify its extension into the nasopharynx. Biopsies were obtained using both fine-needle aspiration and paranasal sinus trephination. Despite numerous antemortem diagnostic tests, only postmortem histologic analysis of the mass afforded the diagnosis of osteoma.
Erwin SJ, Blikslager AT, Ziegler AL.Colic is a leading cause of death in horses, with the most fatal form being strangulating obstruction which directly damages the intestinal barrier. Following surgical intervention, it is imperative that the intestinal barrier rapidly repairs to prevent translocation of gut bacteria and their products and ensure survival of the patient. Age-related disparities in survival have been noted in many species, including horses, humans, and pigs, with younger patients suffering poorer clinical outcomes. Maintenance and repair of the intestinal barrier is regulated by a complex mucosal microenvironmen...
Wada S, Yoshinari M, Mizuno Y.Therapeutic soft contact lenses (TSCL) were applied to a thoroughbred racehorse with corneal ulcer refractory to topical medication. The insertion of the TSCL was conducted on day 36 using a nose twitch under sedation, auriculopalpebral nerve block, and topical anesthesia. The lens was retained, with the duration of wear lasting 114 days. Ocular pain improved immediately and fluorescein tests were negative 17 days after insertion. The horse was able to undergo training and ran in two races while wearing the TSCL. Thus a TSCL was found to be clinically useful for treating corneal ulcers in race...
Loynachan AT, Williams NM, Freestone JF.A 5-day-old Thoroughbred foal was submitted to the necropsy service at the University of Kentucky Livestock Disease Diagnostic Center. The foal had a clinical history of seizure activity and severe icterus. A complete blood count and serum chemistry analysis indicated that the foal was anemic (hematocrit, 16%), hyperbilirubinemic (45 mg/dl), and hypoglycemic. At necropsy, all tissues were discolored various shades of yellow. Microscopically, there was degeneration and necrosis of cerebral neurons and cerebellar Purkinje cells; severe hepatocellular degeneration and necrosis; and deposition of ...
Long JR, Mitchell L.Aspergillosis, caused by species of Aspergillus, is primarily a respiratory infection but may
occasionally be generalized (1). This genus is
distributed widely in nature and almost any
substrate supplying organic matter and moisture will support growth of the fungus. It grows
especially well on damp hay, straw and grain
that has heated during storage. Aspergillus
fumigatus is responsible for the majority of
cases of aspergillosis in animals and birds.
This organism causes acute respiratory infection
when susceptible animals are exposed to heavy
concentrations of airbqrne conidia. Alt...