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.
Buntain B, Greig WA, Thompson H.The clinical and pathological features of a case of chronic nephritis in a 17-year-old pony was described. Measurement of fluid intake and laboratory analysis of sequential blood and urine samples helped in establishing an accurate diagnosis. The case demonstrates that although chronic renal disease is not well documented in the horse it should nevertheless be considered in the differential diagnosis of conditions characterised by progressive loss of weight.
Roberts MC.Two young ponies had the prescrotal portion of their penises accidentally amputated during castration. They both developed ascending urinary tract infections over the next 4 weeks. One pony had a necrotising cystitis and pyelonephritis, the other improved markedly after a urethrostomy had been performed but was destroyed several months later.
MacKay RJ, Urquhart KA.Eight mature horses which had been affected with a moist cough for six weeks were found to have large numbers of eosinophils in tracheal mucus samples taken by transtracheal washing. These horses were kept on irrigated pasture and fed a hay-free diet. A companion yearling donkey was found to be passing Dictyocaulus arnfieldi larvae in its faeces. Two oral treatments with a dose of thiabendazole (440 mg/kg) resulted in the resolution of the clinical signs and the disappearance of eosinophils from transtracheal washings. The eosinophilic bronchitis seen in these horses was presumed to be a manif...
Reynolds BL, Stedham MA, Lawrence JM, Heltsley JR.A space-occupying intracranial mass was diagnosed in a horse. The clinical findings included blindness, circling to the right, apprehension, anorexia, weight loss, and leaning against the stall. On ophthalmoscopic examination, the most striking observation was complete bilateral devascularization of the retinas. The horse was euthanatized and necropsied. Necroscopy revealed the mass to occupy the olfactory and frontal areas of the left hemisphere of the brain and part of the left frontal sinus. Microscopically, the mass was an adenocarcinoma and probably arose from the lining epithelium of the...
Fernie DS, Cayzer I, Chalmers SR.A passive haemagglutination test (PHT) which has been developed for the detection of antibodies to the contagious equine metritis organism (CEMO) in serum is described. Samples from each of 30 mares with metritis were positive with titres in the range 256 to 4096. Samples from each of 239 clinically normal mares and 30 colts and fillies believed not to have been exposed to CEMO were negative with titres of less than 256, the majority of samples (97 per cent) showing a titre of 32 or less.
Blue MG.Four cases of enterolith obstruction in horses aged from six to 14 years are reported. All four cases had symptoms of persistent low grade abdominal pain and anorexia with an absence of defaecation. Examination revealed reduced gut motility and accumulation of gas, but heart and respiratory rates, rectal temperatures and complete blood counts were all within normal limits. Enteroliths of varying sizes were removed from the region of the transverse colon in all four horses.
Slauson DO, Lewis RM.Glomerulonephritis constitutes an important category of renal diseases in animals and has been recognized with increasing frequency in the last decade. We report here the comparative morphologic aspects of glomerulonephritis as a naturally occurring disease of animals. We briefly review the immunopathogenesis of glomerulonephritis. The morphology of renal lesions occurring in glomerulonephritis in dogs, cats, cattle, sheep, horses and swine has been reviewed with emphasis on the range and specificity of various glomerular lesions and on the comparison of lesions between various species. A dist...
Moore JN, Steiss J, Nicholson WE, Orth DN.In the horse, a syndrome of hirsutism, hyperglycemia, glucosuria, polydipsia, polyuria, polyphagia, and progressive debilitation has been recognized. Most often the syndrome has been associated with adenomas of the pars intermedia of the pituitary and bilateral adrenal hyperplasia or nodular hyperplasia involving primarily the zona fasciculata. Previously, the syndrome has been ascribed to compression of the hypothalamus by an expanding but functionally inactive pituitary neoplasm. In the present case, with RIA determination of plasma ACTH concentrations, the syndrome was ascribed to pituitary...
Hughes JP.Contagious Equine Metritis (CEM) is a highly contagious venereal disease of horses caused by a fastidious, Gram-negative coccobacillus which grows best on chocolate agar under microaerophilic conditions (5-10% CO2). Clinically, the disease is characterized by a copious watery-to-mucopurulent, vaginal discharge two to ten days after breeding by an infected stallion (11, 13). Shortened estrous cycle lengths are common and may be the only indication of endometritis in some instances (7). Inapparent carriers of the disease in both the mare and stallion make control of the disease more difficult. O...
Allen WE.The situations and conditions that can disrupt the mares normal oestrous cycle are described. Season of the year is a major influence; maximum reproductive efficiency does not totally coincide with the artificially defined "breeding season". Other abnormalities are associated with spontaneously persistent luteal function, psychological influences over behavioural activity, the presence of endometritis, multiple ovulation, reproductive behavior after pregnancy failure and granulosa cell tumours.
van der Molen EJ.The causes of neonatal mortality in foals were studied over a period of two years. The total number of foals studied was 121. Bacterial infection was found to be an important factor. Infection caused by A. equuli (1.6%) which previously was the most important one, has been superseded by E. coli infection (56%). E. coli infections particularly occur during the first weeks of life and, depending on the course of the disease, give rise to various pathological changes. Infections running an acute course are mainly marked by pathological changes of the lung and lymphoid organs. Infections running a...
Perryman LE, Buening GM, McGuire TC, Torbeck RL, Poppie MJ, Sale GE.Six young horses with combined immunodeficiency were given liver cells intravenously or intraperitoneally and thymuses subcutaneously from equine fetuses ranging from 68 to 110 days of gestational age. Three of four horses given cells from fetuses over 90 days of age developed lesions compatible with graft versus host reactions. One horse given cells from an 80-day fetus developed mitogen-responsive lymphocytes, synthesized immunoglobulins of the four major equine classes, and survived to 11.5 months of age. The sixth foal receiving cells from a 68-day fetus showed no discernable effects from ...
Sano Y, Kuwajima H, Kanai H, Baba C, Azami K, Matsuda K.A 24-year-old, Thoroughbred gelding presented with difficulty breathing for a few days and intermittent nose bleeding before dying. At necropsy, the bronchoesophageal artery and the bronchial artery that flowed into the left anterior lobe were tortuous and dilated, and it was found that dilated tortuous branches of the bronchial artery ran over the dorsal and ventral surfaces of the left anterior lobe. Histopathologically, an anastomosis between a muscular artery and an elastic artery were demonstrated, which were identified as bronchial and pulmonary arteries, respectively. Based on the gross...
Wilkins CA, Bergh N.An examination of the sera of 329 horses for L. pneumophila antibodies revealed a much lower exposure rate than that reported in the United States of America. Further serological investigations of persons closely associated with a sero-positive horse indicated that the horse could not be considered to be a source of infection but that both humans and animals were probably exposed to a common source of infection. The results showed that 192/329 (58.4%) of the sera tested negative, 114/329 (34.7%) had end-point titres of 1/2, 22/329 (6.7%) end-points of 1/16 and one an end point of 1/256 (0.3%)....
Pye J, Spriet M, Dow P, Katzman S, Murphy BG.To describe clinical, imaging, gross, and histopathological abnormalities associated with osteochondral necrosis of the femoral condyles in foals and identify features suggestive of a common pathogenesis. 8 Thoroughbred foals euthanized with a presumptive diagnosis of necrosis of the femoral condyles. Postmortem CT was performed on all distal femoral epiphyseal samples. The articular epiphyseal cartilage complex (AECC) of affected distal femurs was examined grossly and histologically, focusing on lesions of interest identified on CT images. 7 foals were between 9 and 23 days old at the time of...