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.
Hülskötter K, Aurich C, Köhne M, Baumgärtner W, Wohlsein P.Adenomatous hyperplasia of the equine allantoic epithelium (EAAH) is an infrequently observed nodular or plaque-like change in the placenta of the mare which is presented as a case description. EAAH is most frequently diagnosed in cases of aborted fetuses and is associated with inflammatory changes of the placenta. Histologically, different degrees of EAAH may be distinguished; however, these are not associated with specific clinical signs, degree of inflammation, a particular pathogen, or the frequency of abortions. It is assumed that EAAH represents a secondary, reactive change and has per s...
Rutherford DJ, Textor J, Fretz PB.A 4-week-old Thoroughbred filly presented with lameness of acute, severe onset of the left foreleg (LF) of 3 days' duration. Results: Diffuse swelling was present around the distal radius and carpus of the LF. Carpal varus that could be reduced manually was present. Radiographs revealed an intra- articular frontal-plane fracture in the distal radial epiphysis, which continued cranially through the distal radial physis (DRP). The lateral aspect of the DRP was wider than expected. Latero-medial carpal instability was resolved by placement of a lag screw from the dorsal midline through the epiphy...
Hobo S, Niwa H, Anzai T, Jones JH.In this study, to evaluate the influence of strangles vaccination on serological test results, we investigated the changes in strangles serum antibody levels in horses after vaccination and subsequent intranasal challenge with S. equi. The horses were vaccinated for strangles with either a component vaccine (Group C) or a live vaccine (Group L). We measured changes in strangles serum antibody levels weekly for 20 weeks after vaccinating horses twice for strangles over a 3-week interval, and for 7 weeks after intranasal challenge with S. equi in the same horses. Serum antibody responses to the ...
Bowling AT, Ewalt-Evans R.Family data are presented for a new allele (Aabdg) in the A system of horse erythrocyte alloantigens which includes factors Aa and Ab traditionally thought to be products of allelic genes. Evidence for incorrect assignment of the codominant factor Ae in the presence of Ab and Ac and the absence of Aa is discussed.
Gupta AK, Kaur D, Rattan B, Yadav MP.Three abortigenic Indian isolates of equine herpesvirus-1 (EHV-1) (Tohana, Hisar and Bikaner), along with two exotic abortigenic isolates (AB4 and V592) and another EHV-1 isolate (Jind) obtained from a case of perinatal foal mortality, were studied for variability. For this purpose, PCR and restriction endonuclease (RE) digestion techniques were used simultaneously as a DNA fingerprinting system. Nine different regions of EHV-1 virus were amplified by PCR using primer pairs specific for the regions and the products obtained from these regions were subsequently subjected to various restriction ...
Raulo SM, Maisi P.To determine whether gelatinolytic activity in tracheal epithelial lining fluid (TELF), blood neutrophils, and blood lymphocytes from horses was metalloprotease activity, and to compare, for healthy horses and horses with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, gelatinolytic activity in neutrophils, lymphocytes, and serum with activity in TELF. Methods: 7 horses with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and 4 healthy control horses. Methods: Neutrophils and lymphocytes were obtained by means of Percoll separation. Zymography was used to detect gelatinolytic activity; EDTA inhibition and...
Timoney PJ, Dillon PB, Geraghty VP, McArdle JF.Aspects of experimental transmission of the causal bacterium of contagious equine metritis (CEM) to albino Swiss mice were investigated. Whereas infection was established in the majority of female mice, the organism was recovered from only a limited number of male mice after challenge. No clinical evidence of infection was observed in the experimental mice. There was only one instance of presumptive venereal transmission of the CEM bacterium. One third of infected females conceived and had normal litters.
Suminda GGD, Ghosh M, Son YO.For more than a decade, next-generation sequencing (NGS) has been emerging as the mainstay of agrigenomics research. High-throughput technologies have made it feasible to facilitate research at the scale and cost required for using this data in livestock research. Scale frameworks of sequencing for agricultural and livestock improvement, management, and conservation are partly attributable to innovative informatics methodologies and advancements in sequencing practices. Genome-wide sequence-based investigations are often conducted worldwide, and several databases have been created to discover ...
Kalck KA, Frank N, Elliott SB, Boston RC.To ascertain whether laminitis can be induced via administration of oligofructose (OF) at doses of 5.0 and 7.5 g/kg in horses and to assess glucose and insulin dynamics before and after treatment. Methods: 19 adult horses. Methods: Horses were fed OF (1.0 g/kg) mixed with oats for 6 days. Oligofructose at doses of 5.0 and 7.5 g/kg was then mixed with 4 L of water and administered (0 hours) to 8 (group A) and 4 (group B) horses, respectively, via nasogastric intubation; 8 horses received water alone. One horse in group A that did not develop laminitis was subsequently treated again and included...
Knubben JM, Gygax L, Staﾬher M.A survey of 2559 stables, representative for Switzerland, was conducted in the year 2004, with questions related to age, sex, breed, housing conditions, social contact, use, feeding, ability to move freely on the one hand, and health prophylaxis and health disorders in the past 12 months on the other. With a respond rate of 30.9% to the questionnaire, data for 2912 horses and ponies were recorded. The data were compared to a previous survey of 1997 (Bachmann & Stauffacher, 2002). In this study, data on population, housing and use were analysed. The proportion of horses kept individually, e...
Hunt RJ, Allen D, Mueller PO.Heterotopic polyodontia is typically associated with a sinus and a fistulous tract with a secreting membrane which extends to an ectopic tooth attached to the temporal bone. Recommendations for treatment include complete excision of the tract, the dental component, and the lining of the alveolar socket. Iatrogenic cerebral trauma was encountered during surgical extraction of an ectopic tooth. At post-mortem examination a second ectopic tooth was found compressing the right side of the cerebellum.
Dik KJ.Radiographically, joint ill in foals is subdivided into four different types: Type P - osteomyelitis in the meta- and/or epiphysis adjacent to the physis. Type E - osteomyelitis in the epiphyseal subchondral bone. Type S - synovitis confined to the joint itself. Type T - osteomyelitis in the small tarsal bones. The radiographical features corresponding with the different types, the relationship between the radiological, pathological, bacterial and clinical findings, and the recommended radiographic procedure are discussed in detail.
Dyson DA, Smith GR.When incorporated in solid medium at a concentration of 15 per cent, the defibrinated blood of certain horses strongly suppressed the growth of some, but not all, strains of Mycoplasma mycoides subsp mycoides so that many colonies failed to develop to a visible size. Blood from a single rabbit was tested and found to exert a similar effect. There was striking variation in the degree of inhibition produced by different samples of horse blood and, of five strains of the organism examined, the T1 vaccine strain was the most susceptible. The results suggested that the effect was not due to antibod...
Satorov SS, Orzuev MI.Staphylococci occur in donkeys more frequently than in other animals, and only from donkeys coagulase-negative staphylococci, characteristic of humans (S. hominis, S. capitis, S. cohnii), were isolated. Least frequently staphylococcal carrier state was registered in cats; in these animals only coagulase-negative strains were found to occur. From 30 donkeys coagulase-positive staphylococci belonging to 47 S. aureus strains were isolated. These strains differed from known ecological variants in their biological properties, thus suggesting the existence of S. aureus ecovar specific for donkeys. T...
Liberatori J, Morisio Guidetti L, Conti A.By double diffusion in agarose gel, in well defined experimental conditions, cross reactions were observed between porcine beta-lactoglobulins and anti-bovine beta-lactoglobulin antisera. The immunological reactivity between these beta-lactoglobulins from a monogastric and the ruminant anti beta-lactoglobulin antiserum thus implies a certain degree of similarity between the monomeric beta-lactoglobulins examined and the dimeric of the ruminants. With the same antisera it also proved possible to demonstrate the presence of beta-lactoglobulins in the mammary secretions of another monogastric, na...
Barakzai SZ, Kane-Smyth J, Lowles J, Townsend N.To examine 2 rostral maxillary sinus (RMS) trephine sites for safety and efficacy using skulls of horses of varying age. Methods: Descriptive study. Methods: Cadaveric equine skulls (n=40). Methods: Two RMS trephination sites (rostral, caudal) were made in each skull. Radiographic projections using markers at each site were used to determine if sites were within the RMS and directly overlying a cheek tooth. Sinusotomy in 14 skulls was used to determine correlation between radiographic and anatomic location of trephine sites, and of the rostrolateral aspect of the maxillary septum. Age-related ...
Reynolds DJ, Nicholl TK.A 5 month old colt foal with recurrent pyrexia and a loud pansystolic murmur later developed signs of cardiac failure. Peritoneal fluid and blood samples both demonstrated an extreme leucocytosis and neutrophilia. At post-mortem both a cranial mesenteric arteritis and the congenital cardiac anomaly, Tetralogy of Fallot were found. The detailed clinical and post-mortem findings contributing to the case are described.
Timoney PJ, O'Reilly PJ, Harrington AM, McCormack R, McArdle JF.The ability of Haemophilus equigenitalis, the causal agent of contagious equine metritis 1977, to survive in various antibiotic-containing semen extenders was studied at different environmental temperatures. Gentamicin sulphate was found to be markedly superior to ampicillin or a combination of sodium benzyl penicillin and polymyxin B sulphate, Semen treated with the former antibiotic was either sterile at cultural examination or else yielded appreciably fewer colonies of H. equigenitalis than the untreated semen control. Ampicillin had no observable effect on the survival of this organism. Ge...
Magnuson NS, Perryman LE.The effect of adenosine on the mitogenic response of peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) and on the nucleotide pools of erythrocytes from normal horses, horses heterozygous for the combined immunodeficiency (CID) trait (carriers), and foals with CID was studied. When PBL from normal, carrier, and CID horses were stimulated by phytohemagglutinin (PHA), concanavalin A, or pokeweed mitogen, [3H]thymidine uptake was inhibited by adenosine (0.1 microM) to 1.0 mM) in a dose-dependent manner. Adenosine (100 microM) mediated inhibition of [3H]thymidine uptake was prevented in both normal and carrier ho...
Massey CA, Walmsley GL, Gliddon TP, Piercy RJ.Histopathological interpretation of semimembranosus muscle samples from an adult Warmblood mare with clinical signs suggestive of exertional rhabdomyolysis and intermittent mild elevations in muscle enzyme activities revealed abundant sarcoplasmic vacuoles in all fibre-types containing fine, apparently proteinaceous debris. Vacuolar contents stained lightly with PAS, but did not appear to contain amylopectate, lipid or acid phosphatase and their periphery was unstained with dystrophin immunohistochemistry. Electron microscopy revealed that vacuoles were not membrane bound. No vacuoles were det...
Sarma PN, Tang YJ, Prindiville TP, Osborne PD, Jang S, Silva J, Cohen SH.In order to determine genetic relatedness of Bacteroides fragilis isolates from different clinical sources, arbitrarily primed polymerase chain reaction (PCR) (AP-PCR) was used to compare 17 strains isolated from patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and 20 strains isolated from foals with diarrhea. Three reference ATCC strains were also analyzed. Eighteen unique types were identified with a 22-mer arbitrary primer (ERIC-2) among the 20 patient isolates. Types 1 (enterotoxigenic) and 9 (nonenterotoxigenic), were each found in the stools of two patients. All other isolates showed a dis...
Romantsov MG, Galimzianov KhM, Lokteva OM, Kovalenko AL, Stepanov AV.Search for drugs efficient in prophylaxis and treatment of dangerous infections (especially arboviral ones) is rather actual, since no specific therapy is available. Many-year investigations of interferon inductors showed that they had immunomodulating, antiviral and antiinflammatory effects and were low toxic. The present study demonstrated that the protective effect was the following: Venezuelan equine encephalitis (VEE)--cycloferon > amixin = ridostin, Rift Valley fever (RVF)--cycloferon > amixin > ridostin, predator pox (PP)--cycloferon > amixin = ridostin, that was obvious tha...
Wijnberg ID, van der Kolk JH.Atrial fibrillation is a disorder of cardiac rhythmicity, and its importance in the horse depends on the underlying cause and the function of the horse. Before the decision is taken to start treatment, it has first to be ascertained whether treatment is worthwhile and whether the horse is an appropriate candidate for treatment. This article gives a short overview of current opinion on the cause and treatment of atrial fibrillation in the horse. The most used treatment at the moment, oral chinidine sulphate, is discussed. The hemodynamic consequences of atrial fibrillation and the response of a...
Zbanyszek M, Procajło A, Stopyra A, Sobiech P, Rajski K.Colic in horses very often induces changes in the coagulation system causing the development of disseminated intravascular clotting. It is promoted by blood concentration and an increase in exposition of coagulation activators with a simultaneous decrease in coagulation inhibitors activity, mainly antithrombin III. Progressing blood platelets aggregation supports production of microthromboses and plugging capillary vessels. The progression of this processes causes complications in basic disease and becomes the reason for therapeutic failure. Determination of coagulation system indexes such as ...
Pfeiffer CJ, Spurlock S, Ball M.Pemphigus foliaceus is an uncommon dermatologic disorder occurring in several species and has been reported in horses during the past decade. An ultrastructural analysis of affected skin of horses presenting to our clinics has revealed early cytopathologic features of pemphigus-like disease, some of which closely resemble pemphigus foliaceus in the human, calve, and guinea pig. Prior to complete acantholysis and bullae formation, the intercellular spaces enlarged, but intercellular bridges and desmosomes remained intact. A novel finding was presence of aggregates of electron dense granular mat...
Zhang L, Franchini M, Wehrli Eser M, Jackson EK, Dip R.Several reports have suggested a role for adenosine in the pathogenesis of chronic airway conditions and this has led to new therapeutic strategies to limit airway inflammation. In this study, detectable levels of adenosine in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) samples from 11 horses with non-infectious lower-airway inflammation and 14 healthy controls are reported, with significantly higher values in horses with airway inflammation. Although these increased levels did not correlate with changes in neutrophil percentage in BAL, a positive association between adenosine levels and signs of lower airwa...
Gretener P.On the basis of an examination carried out on 41 healthy horses, a correlation was established between the average breath stream strength (Vol./Time) during both inspiration and expiration and the breath volume per minute. In the range of breath volume between 45 and 200 liters per minute, it was found that there was a close linear correlation between the breath stream strength, both inspiratory and expiratory, and the breath volume per minute. Comparative examinations, carried out on 56 horses suffering from obstructive lung diseases, have shown that such diseases resulted in a reduction of t...
Aref S.A study of the migration of fourth stage larvae of the parasite Strongylus vulgaris in the intestinal arteries of the horse is presented. It is established, that the larvae migrate along the arteries in almost straight lines. It is suggested that this is primarily due to their ability to sense the curvature of the vessel wall, and not, as might have been expected, because of an ability to sense the direction of blood flow. A larva will sometimes alter its direction of motion when encountering a small off-branching artery. This behaviour suggests, that the migration of S. vulgaris larvae can be...
Watson ED.The mechanisms that permit maternal tolerance of the conceptus allograft during early pregnancy in the mare have not been investigated. Embryos and endometria were collected from mares 14 days after ovulation and cultured for 20.5 h. The effect of addition of culture supernatant on incorporation of [3H]thymidine by equine peripheral blood lymphocytes was studied. Culture supernatant from endometrium of nonpregnant mares did not affect lymphocyte blastogenesis, but supernatant from both embryos and endometrium of pregnant mares reduced concanavalin A (Con A)- and phytohemagglutinin-induced blas...
