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.
Potier JFN, Durham AE.Responsible use of antimicrobials in equine practice relies on knowledge of common bacterial isolates and their antimicrobial sensitivities. Objective: To assess the frequency of bacterial resistance to a combination of parenteral penicillin and gentamicin and to trimethoprim and sulfamethoxazole for PO use in a selection of clinical isolates, and subsequently to determine the prevalence of resistance to antimicrobials that might then be used as alternatives to first-line antimicrobials for the same isolates. Methods: Retrospective analysis of minimal inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of antimi...
Shnaiderman-Torban A, Navon-Venezia S, Dahan R, Dor Z, Taulescu M, Paitan Y, Edery N, Steinman A.An eighteen-hour-old Tennessee walking horse foal was referred due to weakness and abdominal pain. Physical examination revealed dehydration, distended abdomen, and uveitis. Blood analysis revealed leukopenia, neutrophils' toxicity and left shift. The foal developed bloody diarrhea, gastric reflux, and was diagnosed with sepsis and enterocolitis. The foal was treated with intravenous fluids, plasma, antibiotics (ceftriaxone and metronidazole), partial parenteral nutrition (dextrose and amino acids), flunixin meglumine, and ophthalmic drops. Umbilical ultrasound revealed a fluid pocket adjacent...
Leng J, Walton G, Swann J, Darby A, La Ragione R, Proudman C.The intestinal microbiota of the horse, an animal of huge economic and social importance worldwide, is essential to the health of the animal. Understanding the intestinal ecosystem and its dynamic interaction with diet and dietary supplements currently requires the use of experimental animals, with consequent welfare and financial constraints. Here, we describe the development and assessment, using multiple analytical platforms, of a three-vessel, continuous-flow, model of the equine hindgut. After inoculation of the model with fresh horse feces, the bacterial communities established in each ...
Volokhov DV, Gao Y, Davidson MK, Chizhikov VE.We describe two novel species of Acholeplasma sp. strain N93 and Mycoplasma sp. strain LR5794 which were isolated from the nasopharynx of a horse from the United Kingdom and from the oral cavity of a North American raccoon from Canada, respectively. These strains were phenotypically and genetically characterized and compared to other established Mycoplasma and Acholeplasma species. Both strains are facultative anaerobes, resistant to penicillin, and produce acid from glucose but do not hydrolyze arginine and urea. Both strains grew well in microaerophilic and anaerobic atmospheric conditions a...
Fernandez NJ, Gilroy CV, Wagg CR, Kwong GPS, Roy MF.The detection of band neutrophils and toxic change via microscopic blood smear review is vitally important, as their presence indicates systemic inflammation. However, in-clinic evaluation of WBC morphology is often limited. Objective: We aimed to determine the agreement between expert raters in the detection of bands and toxic change. Methods: Three board-certified clinical pathologists each evaluated 109 blood smears from horses with acute disease, and 19 control smears from healthy horses. The pathologists determined if bands were present, and if so, the percentage of bands present. They a...
Farahi S, Shishehbor P, Nemati A, Witaliński W.A new mite species, Trachygamasus karuni sp. nov. is described from buffalo, sheep and horse manure at several locations north of Ahvaz city, Khuzestan, Iran. A key to 14 world species of Trachygamasus with described adults is also provided.
Kachrimanidou M, Tzika E, Filioussis G. is ubiquitous in the environment and is also considered as a bacterium of great importance in diarrhea-associated disease for humans and different animal species. Food animals and household pets are frequently found positive for toxigenic without exposing clinical signs of infection. Humans and animals share common ribotypes (RTs) suggesting potential zoonotic transmission. However, the role of animals for the development of human infection due to remains unclear. One major public health issue is the existence of asymptomatic animals that carry and shed the bacterium to the environment, an...
Schürmann C, Loose M, Failing K, Wehrend A.The aim of this study was to analyze data concerning history, clinical course, and prognosis of retained fetal membranes in mares. Methods: Patient records of 121 hospitalized mares with retained placenta were evaluated. In 82 cases, additional blood examinations were performed and analyzed. Results: There was no significant correlation between age, parity or course of parturition and retained placenta. Eighty-one mares (66.9 %) were presented solely with retained fetal membranes, 40 mares (33.1 %) had additional diseases at presentation, most commonly injuries of the labia, followed by perine...
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...
Pronost S, Fortier C, Marcillaud-Pitel C, Tapprest J, Foursin M, Saunier B, Pitel PH, Paillot R, Hue ES.(1) Background: Equine hepacivirus (EqHV), also referred to as non-primate hepacivirus (NPHV), infects horses-and dogs in some instances-and is closely related to hepatitis C virus (HCV) that has infected up to 3% of the world's human population, causing an epidemic of liver cirrhosis and cancer. EqHV also chronically infects the liver of horses, but does not appear to cause serious liver damages. Previous studies have been looking to identify route(s) of EqHV transmission to and between horses. (2) Methods: In this retrospective study, we sought to evaluate the prevalence of vertical transmis...
Hammons V, Brooks SA, Wickens C.Genetic testing offers precise and accurate data to horse owners concerning their horse's health and offers potential economic value increases of foal crops via genome-assisted selection. Despite availability of at least 96 commercially available markers, fewer than 20 are commonly used. This project seeks to identify the barriers to the incorporation of genomic tools in diverse equine operations. Based on studies examining public opinion of human medical testing, we expected that lack of genetic education and few industry requirements for testing may contribute to neutral or negative opinions...
Xie J, Tong P, Zhang A, Yan Y, Zhang L, Song X, Chen J, Zhai S, Shaya N, Wang D, Su Z, Kuang L.In May 2018, a 8 year old thoroughbred mare died at an equestrian club in Changji, Xinjiang, China. The horse had been imported from the United States in 2013. She became pregnant in December 2016 but, after foaling, gradually lost weight and died in May 2018. This study aim to identify the pathogen, who cause of horse death, using virome. Results: We have identified an Equ1-like virus from the fecal virome of a dead thoroughbred mare in China. Full genomic sequencing and phylogenetic analysis of the virus, tentatively named "kirkovirus Cj-7-7", showed that it was closely related to kirkovirus...
Rutkowska DA, Mokoena NB, Tsekoa TL, Dibakwane VS, O'Kennedy MM.African horse sickness (AHS) is a severe arthropod-borne viral disease of equids, with a mortality rate of up to 95% in susceptible naïve horses. Due to safety concerns with the current live, attenuated AHS vaccine, alternate safe and effective vaccination strategies such as virus-like particles (VLPs) are being investigated. Transient plant-based expression systems are a rapid and highly scalable means of producing such African horse sickness virus (AHSV) VLPs for vaccine purposes. Results: In this study, we demonstrated that transient co-expression of the four AHSV capsid proteins in agroin...
Zhao S, Smits C, Schuurman N, Barnum S, Pusterla N, Kuppeveld FV, Bosch BJ, Maanen KV, Egberink H.Equine coronavirus (ECoV) is considered to be involved in enteric diseases in foals. Recently, several outbreaks of ECoV infection have also been reported in adult horses from the USA, France and Japan. Epidemiological studies of ECoV infection are still limited, and the seroprevalence of ECoV infection in Europe is unknown. In this study, an indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method utilizing ECoV spike S1 protein was developed in two formats, and further validated by analyzing 27 paired serum samples (acute and convalescent sera) from horses involved in an ECoV outbreak and 1...
Denys M, Thomas-Cancian A, Tortereau A, Josson-Schramme A, Buff S.Premature udder development constitutes an alarm signal in pregnant mares. The objective of this clinical case report is to highlight the importance of transabdominal ultrasound examination of the fetus in these cases and to report a unique case of prenatal diagnosis of obstructive uropathy based on the observation of severe fetal hydronephrosis and megacystitis in utero. A 4-year-old French chaser primiparous mare was referred for evaluation of premature udder development during the ninth month of pregnancy. The mare had clinical signs within normal limits, a developed and sensitive udder wit...
Domanska-Kruppa N, Venner M, Bienert-Zeit A.Class II malocclusion is the most frequently occurring congenital malocclusion in horses. Radiographic cephalometric procedures adopted from human dentistry were used to study the development of overjet in a population of 650 Warmblood foals. Thirteen foals were diagnosed with measurable overjet at the beginning of the study. The malocclusion in nine foals resolved spontaneously and four foals without overjet at 2 weeks of age developed the condition during the first year of life. A cephalostat used in human orthodontics to immobilize the patient's head while being radiographed was replaced by...
da Silveira BP, Gressler LT, Cargnelutti JF, Bordin AI, de Vargas AC.The ability of Rhodococcus equi to survive in macrophages and cause pneumonia in foals depends on vapA and rhbC genes, which produce the virulence-associated protein A (VapA) and the rhequichelin siderophore, respectively. Virulent R. equi acquires Fe from transferrin by unknown mechanisms. Our objectives were to determine the role of GAPDH in Fe homeostasis, to further characterize GAPDH, rhbC, and vapA expression under iron homeostasis, and to document the occurrence of rhbC gene in R. equi isolates. Therefore, vapA + R. equi was cultured under excessive, physiologic, and restricted iron c...
Ducheyne KD, Rizzo M, Cuervo-Arango J, Claes A, Daels PF, Stout TAE, de Ruijter-Villani M.Invitro embryo production is an increasingly popular means of breeding horses. However, success is limited by a high incidence of early embryo loss. Although there are various possible causes of pregnancy failure, chromosomal abnormalities, including aneuploidy, are important potential contributors. This study evaluated the frequency of micronucleus formation as a proxy for aneuploidy in invitro-produced (IVP) and invivo-derived horse blastocysts. Associations between IVP embryo morphology, frequency of nuclear abnormalities and the likelihood of pregnancy were investigated. IVP blastocysts ex...
Rossi TM, Moore A, O'Sullivan TL, Greer AL.Infectious respiratory disease is common in young horses and can impact athletic performance and long-term health. Significant variation in the duration of clinical disease has been observed, even in the absence of secondary complications. The determination of factors associated with disease chronicity may facilitate clinical decision-making and the development of improved biosecurity protocols. Objective: To investigate contact network characteristics, and demographic variables associated with time to clinical recovery from Equine Rhinitis A virus respiratory disease. Methods: Prospective coh...
Fingerhut L, Ohnesorge B, von Borstel M, Schumski A, Strutzberg-Minder K, Mörgelin M, Deeg CA, Haagsman HP, Beineke A, von Köckritz-Blickwede M....Equine recurrent uveitis (ERU) is considered one of the most important eye diseases in horses and typically appears with relapsing inflammatory episodes without systemic effects. Various disorders have been described as an initial trigger, including infections. Independent of the initiating cause, there are numerous indications that ERU is an immune-mediated disease. We investigated whether neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) are part of the ERU pathogenesis. Therefore, vitreous body fluids (VBF), sera, and histological sections of the eye from ERU-diseased horses were analyzed for the prese...
Kinoshita Y, Niwa H, Uchida-Fujii E, Nukada T.Here, we describe the complete genome assembly of subsp. strain JP-H-1, collected from an equine abortion case in Japan. JP-H-1 has a 5,491,452-bp circular chromosome and 3 plasmids.
Hensel M, Meason-Smith C, Plumlee QD, Myers AN, Coleman MC, Lawhon S, Rodrigues Hoffmann A, Rech RR.Pulmonary mycosis secondary to enterocolitis is an uncommon diagnosis in equine medicine, but is thought to result from mucosal compromise and translocation of enteric fungi. The aetiological agent associated with translocation is often identified based on fungal culture or hyphal features in histological sections. In order to understand better the aetiological agents involved, six horses diagnosed with Salmonella enteritis and concurrent pulmonary mycosis were identified retrospectively through a database search of veterinary teaching hospital records. Samples from these cases were subjected ...
Egerton JR.Until the latter part of the nineteenth century, there were no domestic animals other than pigs, dogs and poultry in the island of New Guinea. From 1889 onwards, occupying authorities, missionaries and settlers from Germany, the UK, Japan and Australia imported ruminants, pigs and horses. Some of these importations were from Asia. This paper describes some outcomes of those importations and the potential hazards for Australia entailed in them.
Yoshimura S, Barber SM, Tucker ML, Bracamonte JL, Mund SJK, Thomas KL.To describe a new technique to repair a sinocutaneous fistula with a masseter muscle transposition flap. Methods: Case report. Methods: One 13-year-old thoroughbred stallion. Methods: One 13-year-old stallion with a 3.5 × 6-cm sinocutaneous fistula over the right caudal maxillary sinus was treated with a transpositional masseter muscle flap. This repair consisted of a commercial wound matrix dressing placed directly over the hole in the maxilla and secured with suture material; a cancellous bone graft collected from the right tuber coxa placed on the dressing; and a portion of the superfi...
Vermedal H, Strand E.To report dynamic laryngeal collapse (DLC) associated with poll flexion as a potential complication of the laryngeal tie-forward procedure (LTFP) in harness racehorses. Methods: Short case series. Methods: Three harness racehorses. Methods: Preoperative and postoperative medical records of all harness racehorses that underwent the LTFP were reviewed, as were high-speed treadmill videoendoscopy recordings of 35 horses that returned for upper airway evaluation postoperatively. Results: One standardbred and two Norwegian coldblooded trotters in which dorsal displacement of the soft palate had bee...
Ikhuoso OA, Monroy JC, Rivas-Caceres RR, Cipriano-Salazar M, Barbabosa Pliego A.Although the strangles disease of Streptococcus equi was discovered many decades ago in 1,251 by Jordanus Ruffus, it has still remained a major frequently diagnosed infection in horses all over the world. The S. equi subspecies pathogen is known to be often resistant to antibiotic treatment, and it makes the antibiotics inefficient; hence, this review was conducted to study how the disease can be managed. The age-long sign of this infection is the oozing of pus through the mucous and skin membranes. Affected horses lose appetite, develop fever, and become depressed, which result in them losin...
Li J, Li Y, Moumouni PFA, Lee SH, Galon EM, Tumwebaze MA, Yang H, Huercha , Liu M, Guo H, Gao Y, Benedicto B, Zhang W, Fan X, Chahan B, Xuan X.Q fever, spotted fever rickettsioses and equine piroplasmosis, are some of the most serious equine tick-borne diseases caused by Coxiella burnetii, Rickettsia spp., Babesia caballi and/or Theileria equi. This study surveyed and molecularly characterized these pathogens infecting horses in ten ranches from XUAR, China using molecular technology. Among 200 horse blood samples, 163 (81.5%) were infected with at least one of the pathogens. Rickettsia spp. was the most prevalent pathogen (n = 114, 57.0%), followed by C. burnetii (n = 79, 39.5%), T. equi (n = 79, 39.5%) and B. caballi (n = 4...
Songsermsakul P, Böhm J, Aurich C, Zentek J, Razzazi-Fazeli E.Concentration profile of zearalenone (ZON) and its metabolites in plasma, urine and faeces samples of horses fed with Fusarium toxin-contaminated oats is described. In plasma, β-zearalenol (β-ZOL) was detected at high levels on day 10 of the study (3.21-6.24 μg/l). β-Zearalenol and α-zearalenol were the major metabolites in urine. Zearalenone, α-ZOL and β-ZOL were predominantly found in faeces. Zearalanone could also be detected in urine (1.34-5.79 μg/l) and faeces (1 μg/kg). The degree of glucuronidation was established in all sample types, approximately 100% in urine and plasm...
Eriksson S, Grandinson K, Fikse WF, Lindberg L, Mikko S, Broström H, Frey R, Sundquist M, Lindgren G.There is a lack of knowledge about the genetic background of eczema due to insect bite hypersensitivity, also called summer eczema, in horses. The condition is known in several horse breeds and countries and it causes reduced welfare of the horse and economic losses to the owner. The aim of this study was to estimate genetic parameters for summer eczema in Swedish-born Icelandic horses. A questionnaire was sent to owners of horses sired by stallions with more than 50 offspring born in Sweden between 1991 and 2001. Variance components of summer eczema classified as healthy, mild, moderate or se...
Tzipori S, Walker M.A rotavirus, morphologically similar to other known rotaviruses, was demonstrated in the faeces of 5 foals with diarrhoea on two properties. Four of these 5 samples produced specific intracytoplasmic fluorescence in cell culture when reacted with calf rotavirus antiserum conjugate. Sixteen affected foals from both properties were depressed, did not suckle and became recumbent. Most had a watery diarrhoea which lasted for 3 days and resulted in some dehydration and loss of body condition. Sick foals were separated from their mothers following the onset of diarrhoea and given fluid therapy and a...
Elce YA.This article addresses the pathophysiology, diagnosis, management, and prognosis of several different infections within the equine abdomen and pelvic region. The latest advances in the diagnosis and treatment of perirectal abscesses, umbilical infections, and local and diffuse peritonitis are discussed. Emphasis is placed on recent advances in diagnostics and therapeutics with reference to human literature that may be useful in equine practice.
Krecek RC, Reinecke RK, Horak IG.Between 1980 and 1982, the gastrointestinal tracts of 17 horses which had been grazing on mixed grassveld at Potchefstroom and bushveld at Onderstepoort in the province of Transvaal, Republic of South Africa, were examined at necropsy and processed for parasite recovery. The large strongyles and their prevalences were as follows: Strongylus vulgaris and associated lesions (88-94%), Strongylus edentatus (24%), Strongylus equinus (30%), Triodontophorus nipponicus (35%) and Craterostomum acuticaudatum (18%). The seven most prevalent and abundant cyathostomes collected were Cylicostephanus longibu...
Ghosh S, Taniguchi K, Aida S, Ganesh B, Kobayashi N.Equine group A rotaviruses (RVA) are a major cause of severe diarrhea in foals. The whole genomes of only six common and three unusual equine RVA strains have been analyzed so far. To date, there are no reports on whole genomic analyses of equine RVAs from Asian countries. We report here the whole genomic analyses of three common (strains RVA/Horse-tc/JPN/BI/1981/G3P[12], RVA/Horse-tc/JPN/HH-22/1989/G3P[12] and RVA/Horse-tc/JPN/CH-3/1987/G14P[12]) and an unusual (RVA/Horse-tc/JPN/OH-4/1982/G6P[5]) equine RVA strains isolated from diarrheic foals in Japan. Strains BI, HH-22 and CH-3 shared a la...
Reubel GH, Barlough JE, Madigan JE.We report on the production and characterization of Ehrlichia risticii, the agent of Potomac horse fever (PHF), from snails (Pleuroceridae: Juga spp.) maintained in aquarium culture and compare it genetically to equine strains. Snails were collected from stream waters on a pasture in Siskiyou County, Calif., where PHF is enzootic and were maintained for several weeks in freshwater aquaria in the laboratory. Upon exposure to temperatures above 22 degrees C the snails released trematode cercariae tentatively identified as virgulate cercariae. Fragments of three different genes (genes for 16S rRN...
Ball BA, Almeida J, Conley AJ.Endocrinological assays are important for evaluation of mares with granulosa-cell tumours (GCTs), and our research in mares indicates that anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) may be a good biomarker for this type of ovarian tumour. Objective: To evaluate the use of serum AMH concentrations for endocrine diagnosis of GCTs in mares. Methods: Archived serum samples (n = 403) previously assayed for determination of serum inhibin, testosterone and progesterone concentrations (GCT panel) were assayed for serum AMH concentrations using a heterologous enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay previously validated b...
Sironi G, Riccaboni P, Mertel L, Cammarata G, Brooks DE.The expression of p53 protein was investigated in eight formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded conjunctival squamous cell carcinomas of five horses and one cow, dog and cat each by an immunohistochemical procedure in order to evaluate protein overexpression. Anti-human p53 protein mouse monoclonal antibodies known to be cross-reactive with p53 protein of the animal species examined were used. Positive p53 nuclear immunostaining was detected in five equine, one bovine and one feline cases. Conversely, no p53 immunostaining was found in the only canine case examined. These results demonstrate a frequ...
Darnaud SJ, Southwood LL, Aceto HW, Stefanovski D, Tomassone L, Zarucco L.It is our clinical impression that age and incision length are more strongly associated with surgical site infection (SSI) following colic surgery than skin closure or wound protection method. Therefore, the objective of this observational clinical cohort study was to identify the risks for SSI in horses undergoing colic surgery. Data collection included pre-, intra-, and postoperative variables. Variables with P < 0.2 following univariable analysis were used in a logistic regression multivariable model. Variables with P <0.05 were included in the final model. Odds ratios (OR; 95% confid...
Johnson AL, McAdams-Gallagher SC, Aceto H.The laboratory diagnosis of botulism in horses traditionally has relied upon the mouse bioassay (MBA). The accuracy of this test for the diagnosis of botulism in horses is unknown. Objective: Our goal was to determine the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of the MBA on laboratory-processed fecal and gastrointestinal samples for foals and adult horses. Methods: Cases included all horses with a final clinical diagnosis of botulism that were admitted between 1986 and 2011 and had MBA testing performed. Controls included horses without botulism that...
Brown K, Moreton J, Malla S, Aboobaker AA, Emes RD, Tarlinton RE.The recently released draft horse genome is incompletely characterised in terms of its repetitive element profile. This paper presents characterisation of the endogenous retrovirus (ERVs) of the horse genome based on a data-mining strategy using murine leukaemia virus proteins as queries. 978 ERV gene sequences were identified. Sequences were identified from the gamma, epsilon and betaretrovirus genera. At least one full length gammaretroviral locus was identified, though the gammaretroviral sequences are very degenerate. Using these data the RNA expression of these ERVs were derived from RNA ...
Darlington RW, James C.Darlington, R. W. (St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, Tenn.), and C. James. Biological and morphological aspects of the growth of equine abortion virus. J. Bacteriol. 92:250-257. 1966.-The growth of equine abortion virus (EAV) was studied by bioassay and electron microscopy in L-cell monolayer and suspension cultures, and in HeLa and BHK 21/13 cell monolayers. Results of virus assay (plaque-forming units) indicated that production of cell-associated virus (CAV) began at 6 to 9 hr after infection in all of the cell strains used. Virus release occurred 1 to 2 hr later. By 15 to 20 h...
Shin J, Ahn KS, Suh GH, Kim HJ, Jeong HS, Kim BS, Choi E, Shin SS.Ocular setariases of cattle were reported but those of equine hosts have never been reported in the Republic of Korea (Korea). We found motile worms in the aqueous humor of 15 horses (Equus spp.) from 12 localities in southern parts of Korea between January 2004 and November 2017. After the affected animals were properly restrained under sedation and local anesthesia, 10 ml disposable syringe with a 16-gauge needle was inserted into the anterior chamber of the affected eye to successfully remove the parasites. The male worm that was found in 7 of the cases showed a pair of lateral appendages n...
Go YY, Bailey E, Timoney PJ, Shuck KM, Balasuriya UB.We investigated the correlation between in vitro susceptibility of CD3(+) T lymphocytes to equine arteritis virus (EAV) infection and establishment of persistent infection among 14 stallions following natural infections. The data showed that carrier stallions with a CD3(+) T lymphocyte susceptibility phenotype to in vitro EAV infection may be at higher risk of becoming carriers than those that lack this phenotype (P = 0.0002).
Black WD, Wilcox RS, Stevenson RA, Hartley CA, Ficorilli NP, Gilkerson JR, Studdert MJ.The objective of this study was to determine the incidence of serum neutralising (SN) antibody to ERAV, ERBV1 and ERBV2 in a population of horses from birth to 22 years of age. The prevalences of ERAV, ERBV1 and ERBV2 SN antibodies in 381 sera obtained from 291 horses were 37%, 83% and 66%, respectively. ERAV, ERBV1 and ERBV2 maternal antibody was present in foals 12 h postsuckling but by 10-12 months, ERAV SN antibody was not detected in any of the horses, while ERBV1 and ERBV2 SN antibodies were common (83% and 100%, respectively). Sera were obtained from 44 Thoroughbred horses when they wer...
Hamza E, Doherr MG, Bertoni G, Jungi TW, Marti E.Equine insect bite hypersensitivity (IBH) is an immediate-type hypersensitivity reaction provoked by insect-derived allergens. Icelandic horses living in Iceland do not have IBH due to absence of relevant insects, but acquire it at high frequency after being imported to mainland Europe. In contrast, their offspring born in mainland Europe has reduced IBH incidence. T helper 1 (Th1) and Th2 cells and cytokines were determined in Icelandic horses born in Iceland and on the continent and which either have IBH or are healthy. Methods: Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from these horses wer...
Lyons ET, Tolliver SC.Critical tests were performed in 2011 in four weanling horses (L-1, L-2, L-29, and L-30) treated with ivermectin paste at 200 μg/kg. They were born in 2011 and raised together on a farm (MC) in Central Kentucky. The horses had not been treated previously with an antiparasitic drug. However, ivermectin had been administered repeatedly to the horse herd for several years and strongyle eggs per gram of feces (EPGs) returned sooner posttreatment than after initial usage. Critical tests in a recent previous study in this horse herd indicated that the reason for the early return of strongyle EPGs a...
Lawton KOY, Arthur RM, Moeller BC, Barnum S, Pusterla N.More and more studies are reporting on the natural transmission of SARS-CoV-2 between humans with COVID-19 and their companion animals (dogs and cats). While horses are apparently susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 infection based on the homology between the human and the equine ACE-2 receptor, no clinical or subclinical infection has yet been reported in the equine species. To investigate the possible clinical role of SARS-CoV-2 in equids, nasal secretions from 667 horses with acute onset of fever and respiratory signs were tested for the presence of SARS-CoV-2 by qPCR. The samples were collected from...
Parreira DR, Jansen AM, Abreu UG, Macedo GC, Silva AR, Mazur C, Andrade GB, Herrera HM.Equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV) and Trypanossoma evansi are endemic in Brazilian Pantanal Biome, an important area for livestock production. In this sense, we evaluated the epidemiological single and co-infection effects of T. evansi and EIAV in naturally infected horses in the southern Pantanal wetland by serological tests and hematological assays. Both higher seroprevalence and heath poor condition of the sampled animals were associated with differences in horse management between farms. We found that the negative animals for both infectious agents (NN) represented the major group in F...
Katz JB, Evans LE, Hutto DL, Schroeder-Tucker LC, Carew AM, Donahue JM, Hirsh DC.To characterize clinical, serologic, bacteriologic, cytologic, and pathologic endometrial responses of mares to 2 donkey-origin atypical bacterial isolates resembling Taylorella equigenitalis. Methods: Prospective in vivo study. Methods: 10 healthy mares. Methods: Mares in estrus (2/group) were inoculated by intrauterine infusion with 2 isolates of classic T equigenitalis or 2 isolates of atypical Taylorella sp or were sham-inoculated. Bacteriologic, serologic, clinical, uterine, cytologic, and pathologic endometrial responses were assessed 4, 11, 21, 35, and 63 days after inoculation and on d...
Di Pietro R, Arroyo LG, Leclere M, Costa MC.All current studies have used Illumina short-read sequencing to characterize the equine intestinal microbiota. Long-read sequencing can classify bacteria at the species level. The objectives of this study were to characterize the gut microbiota of horses at the species level before and after trimethoprim sulfadiazine (TMS) administration and to compare results with Illumina sequencing. Nine horses received TMS (30 mg/kg) orally for 5 days twice a day to induce dysbiosis. Illumina sequencing of the V4 region or full-length PacBio sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene was performed in fecal samples co...
Dunowska M, Howe L, Hanlon D, Stevenson M.The significance of infection with Equid herpesvirus 2 (EHV-2) remains unresolved, mainly due to its widespread distribution, and frequent isolation of the virus not only from diseased animals, but also from clinically normal horses. It has been suggested that EHV-2 exerts its effects on the host indirectly, through predisposition to secondary infections. The aim of this study was to determine kinetics of EHV-2 infection among foals and to investigate the role that EHV-2 may play in development of Rhodococcus equi pneumonia on one farm. Serial blood samples were collected from 43 foals over a ...
Kim SK, Kim S, Dai G, Zhang Y, Ahn BC, O'Callaghan DJ.The equine herpesvirus 1 (EHV-1) negative regulatory IR2 protein (IR2P), an early 1,165-amino acid (aa) truncated form of the 1487-aa immediate-early protein (IEP), lacks the trans-activation domain essential for IEP activation functions but retains domains for binding DNA, TFIIB, and TBP and the nuclear localization signal. IR2P mutants of the N-terminal region which lack either DNA-binding activity or TFIIB-binding activity were unable to down-regulate EHV-1 promoters. In EHV-1-infected cells expressing full-length IR2P, transcription and protein expression of viral regulatory IE, early EICP...
Lawrence GL, Gilkerson J, Love DN, Sabine M, Whalley JM.Sets of primers were designed which enabled specific amplification of homologous regions of the glycoprotein C and gene 76 genetic loci of equine herpesviruses 1 and 4 (EHV-1 and EHV-4). The resultant virus-specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR) products arising from each loci could be discriminated easily on the basis of size on an agarose gel, allowing rapid differentiation of the two equine herpesviruses. Specificity of the amplifications were confirmed by Southern hybridization and restriction endonuclease digestion. The PCR test was applied to nasal swab samples from weanling foals and ...
Egenvall A, Lönnell C, Roepstorff L.The incidence of disease, mortality and survival of horses, focusing on locomotor problems, at riding schools were studied, using data from an animal insurance database during 1997-2002. In total 5140 horses from 136 riding schools were included in the analysis. The overall yearly incidence rate (IR) was 1584 events of veterinary care per 10,000 horse-years at risk (HYAR). The total and diagnostic mortalities were 790 and 763 deaths per 10,000 HYAR. Rates varied substantially among riding schools. For locomotor problems the rates were 1116 events of veterinary care and 524 deaths per 10,000 HY...
Roy MF.Sepsis develops in horses when the host response to the invading pathogens is not properly balanced according to the severity of the insult. Several clinical conditions frequently encountered in equine practice may be associated with the development of sepsis and have the potential to progress to more severe forms, such as severe sepsis, MODS, and septic shock. Consequently, it is important for equine practitioners to be aware of the manifestations,pathophysiology, and treatment of sepsis. Although enormous progress has been made in recent years in our understanding of the pathophysiology of s...
Caston SS, McClure SR, Martens RJ, Chaffin MK, Miles KG, Griffith RW, Cohen ND.This study evaluated the prophylactic effectiveness of hyperimmune plasma (HIP) as an aid in the prevention of pneumonia caused by experimental infection with Rhodococcus equi. Thirty neonatal foals were administered R. equi HIP or saline at 2 days of age and were infected with virulent R. equi at 7 days. All foals developed signs or symptoms of respiratory disease. Radiographic scores on day 28 and neutrophil concentrations on day 49 were significantly greater in control foals, and time to respiratory effort score of 2 or higher was significantly shorter for control foals. Three foals, all in...
Ntafis V, Fragkiadaki E, Xylouri E, Omirou A, Lavazza A, Martella V.Severe outbreaks of diarrhoeic syndrome occurred in young foals at the same stud farm during two consecutive breeding periods namely spring 2006 and 2007. Rotavirus-like particles were detected by electron microscopy in the faeces of the affected foals and group A rotavirus infection was confirmed by Reverse-Transcription (RT)-PCR with selected sets of rotavirus-specific primers. Sequence analysis of the genes encoding the outer capsid rotavirus proteins VP7 and VP4 enabled classification of the viruses as G3AP[12] and revealed that the viruses were highly similar to recently reported equine r...
Franzén P, Berg AL, Aspan A, Gunnarsson A, Pringle J.A 19-year-old horse that was one of a group of six horses infected experimentally with Anaplasma phagocytophilum for a study of the pathogenesis of equine granulocytic ehrlichiosis died suddenly two days after first showing clinical signs of disease. The clinical signs and laboratory findings observed before its death were similar to all those of the other infected horses, and to previous reports of this disease. A postmortem examination revealed widespread haemorrhaging in its internal organs, and vasculitis and thrombosis in the kidneys. These changes are consistent with disseminated intrava...
