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.
Simpson CF, Neal FC.Four splenectomized ponies were infected with Babesia equi. Two ponies were not treated, and two were treated with 5 mg of imidocarb/kg of body weight when 20% of their erythrocytes were parasitized. The nucleus of the parasite in erythrocytes from blood smears of nontreated ponies was roundish, deep red-staining, and usually composed two-thirds of the organism. The parasite in erythrocytes from blood smears of treated ponies was swollen and vacuolated except for an area just beneath the plasma membrane where the compressed nucleus was marginated, elongated, and clumpy. Parasites in erythrocyt...
Swerczek TW.Toxicoinfectious botulism was proved to be the cause of a neuromuscular paralytic syndrome in foals and adult horses. In eight successive cases, Clostridium botulinum type B was isolated at necropsy. Foals were either found dead without premonitory signs of illness or, most often, they had signs of progressive and symmetric motor paralysis. Stilted gait, muscular tremors, and the inability to stand longer than 4 to 5 minutes were the salient clinical signs. Other clinical manifestations included dysphagia, constipation, mydriasis, and frequent urination. As the disease progressed, dyspnea with...
Dabernat HJ, Tainturier D, Delmas C, Ferney J, Lareng MB.The cultural, biochemical, antigenic and antibiotic susceptibility characteristics of 17 strains of Haemophilus equigenitalis, the causative organism of contagious equine metritis (CEM), were studied. Biochemical characteristics were investigated using both conventional method and the API ZYM system of enzyme detection. The biochemical profile of the H. equigenitalis strains was unique and differed from the other bacterial species studied under the same experimental conditions (H. influenzae and H. parainfluenzae, B. abortus and B. melitensis, P. multocida, A. calcoaceticus). The required X an...
Nyaga PN, Wiggins AD, Priester WA.Three hundred and sixty cases of diagnosed equine influenza reported to the Veterinary
Medical Data Program (VMDP) of the National Cancer Institute, U.S.A., were tested for the
independent effects of age, breed and sex, relative to a reference clinic-hospital population of 84,562
equine patients. Horses of age category 2-6 months showed a significant risk above unity for
infection with equine influenza virus whereas, horses in age category 7-10 yr showed a significant,
low and sparing risk. Horses under two months or over 10 years, as well as those in ages from 6
months to 7 yr had non-s...
Coffman JR, Hammond LS, Garner HE, Thawley DG, Selby LA.A COMMON progression of chronic laminitis is ischaemic
necrosis with secondary infection a frequent complication.
For 6 years we have performed a complete blood count
(CBC) on all hospitalised horses (at the University of Missouri
Veterinary Hospital) every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
Preliminary scrutiny of the results indicated that persistent
elevation of the total white blood cell count (WBC) and
neutrophilia was consistent with poor prognosis in horses
affected with laminitis. Because of these considerations we
decided to perform a retrospective examination of the blood
cell d...
Turner WH, Pickard DJ.A new haemolysin from Staphylococcus aureus produced opaque zones of haemolysis on horse blood agar but did not lyse equine erythrocytes suspended in phosphate-buffered saline. The haemolysin was not neutralized by normal rabbit serum and was distinct from alpha-, beta- and delta-haemolysins as well as human leucocidin. Partially purified preparations produced erythema when injected intradermally into rabbit skin.
Clayton HM, Duncan JL, Dargie JD.The mechanisms involved in the pathophysiological disturbances associated with the presence of mature Parascaris equorum in the small intestine were investigated with radioisotopic techniques. The results suggested that, compared with worm-free controls, infected foals had a reduction in gut motility, an increase in the body solids ratio, a lowering of the body pool of albumin and a decreased ability to incorporate dietary methionine into plasma protein.
Sharp AJ, Wachtel SS, Benirschke K.The presence of significantly reduced levels of H-Y antigen in the blood of an XY mare is consistent with the view that H-Y genes comprise a system of testis determinants. Loss or suppression of a critical portion of H-Y genes and subthreshold expression of H-Y antigen could account for a failure of testicular differentiation, thereby allowing a measure of ovarian development in an XY embryo.
Harcourt M, Smith C, Bell R, Young A.We describe the radiographic and magnetic resonance imaging findings associated with a case of bilateral forelimb bipartite navicular disease in a 7-year-old Warmblood gelding used for eventing. In addition to the radiographically evident partitioned navicular bones, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) also detected other concurrent abnormalities occurring within the foot that have not been described before in other cases of navicular bone partition. MRI not only revealed soft tissue lesions of the podotrochlear apparatus, but also allowed for more detailed characterisation of the recently diagno...
Okladnikov GI.The main clinical varieties of spinal cord and equine tail tumors are reviewed. Of 221 cases, the progressive course of the disease was recorded in 76,9%, slow-progressive course was observed in 68,1% and rapid-progressive in 8,8% of cases. It is stressed that in the presence of the progressive course of the disease there may occur different manifestations of the tumorous process of the spinal cord, the examination of which makes it possible to improve the diagnosis, particularly in the early stage of the spinal oncological process.
Puchol JL, Herrán R, Durall I, López J, Díaz-Bertrana C.A 13-month-old female Andalusian was evaluated because of a congenital left deviation of the maxilla and nasal septum, which had resulted in a gross malocclusion of the maxillary incisor teeth. Surgical correction of a deviated nasal septum and premaxilla in a horse was first reported in 1978 and involved a pre-maxilla osteotomy and use of an autogenous rib graft, with a nasal septum osteotomy performed in a second surgery; to the authors' knowledge, no alternative surgical treatments have since been described. In this horse, a new surgical treatment by distraction osteogenesis without nasal s...
Dixon PM, Brown R.Equine blood containing different levels of methaemoglobin was stored under varying conditions and the methaemoglobin content was monitored during the storage period. Only under aerobic storage at 4 degrees C did the methaemoglobin content of all samples appear to remain stable.
Jacobsen B, Venner M, Gerdwilker A, Wohlsein P.A ventral meningomyelocele was found in a five week old, male German warmblood foal which exhibited central nervous symptoms. This rare malformation in horses may be caused by absent or defective fusion of vertebral bodies leading to herniation of the spinal cord and meninges with subsequent degenerative alterations of the spinal cord.
Davies PC.An 11-year-old mare presented with neuromuscular deficits and what resembled shivering in the left hind limb. On necropsy, there was no evidence of denervation atrophy of the left hind gastrocnemius muscle. The spinal cord had a small, right-sided lesion at C3-C4 and C4-C5. Tests for equine herpesvirus-1 and Sarcocystis spp. were negative.