The study and analysis of "Domestic Animals" and horses examines the historical domestication, breeding, and management practices that have shaped the role of horses in human society. It also explores the anatomical, physiological, and behavioral characteristics that differentiate horses from other domestic species. Comparative studies often focus on aspects such as nutrition, health management, and the economic and cultural importance of horses relative to other domesticated animals. This page aggregates peer-reviewed research studies and scholarly articles that explore the various dimensions of equine domestication, including genetic studies, welfare considerations, and the impact of domestication on horse behavior and physiology.
Mangombi JB, Roqueplo C, Sambou M, Dahmani M, Mediannikov O, Comtet L, Davoust B.Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) is a tick-borne disease that can be contracted by direct contact with viremic animals or humans. In West Africa, recurrent CCHF outbreaks have been constantly observed in Mauritania and Senegal. Moreover, acquisition and epidemiology of the infection in humans are correlated with the occurrence and the seroprevalence of the virus in livestock. The main objective of this study is to provide updated information on the local spread of CCHF in animals in the northern region of Senegal. Out of a total of 283 animal sera collected, CCHF-specific antibodies were...
Salek Ardestani S, Aminafshar M, Zandi Baghche Maryam MB, Banabazi MH, Sargolzaei M, Miar Y.Natural selection and domestication have shaped modern horse populations, resulting in a vast range of phenotypically diverse breeds. Horse breeds are classified into three types (pony, light, and draft) generally based on their body type. Understanding the genetic basis of horse type variation and selective pressures related to the evolutionary trend can be particularly important for current selection strategies. Whole-genome sequences were generated for 14 pony and 32 light horses to investigate the genetic signatures of selection of the horse type in pony and light horses. In the overlappin...
Lilly ML, Gonçalves Arruda A, Proudfoot KL, Herron ME.To survey first-year veterinary students' knowledge of companion animal (dog, cat, and horse) behavior and popular-culture (ie, pop-culture) behavior myths related to animal body language, motivations, and learning prior to participation in an introductory animal behavior course; evaluate potential associations between sources of prior behavior knowledge and knowledge on the preclass survey; and determine whether postclass scores on the same survey were predictive of final examination score for the behavior class. Methods: 156 first-year veterinary students. Methods: Students were invited to p...
Pinzon-Arteaga C, Snyder MD, Lazzarotto CR, Moreno NF, Juras R, Raudsepp T, Golding MC, Varner DD, Long CR.Phenotypic selection during animal domestication has resulted in unwanted incorporation of deleterious mutations. In horses, the autosomal recessive condition known as Glycogen Branching Enzyme Deficiency (GBED) is the result of one of these deleterious mutations (102C > A), in the first exon of the GBE1 gene (GBE1). With recent advances in genome editing, this type of genetic mutation can be precisely repaired. In this study, we used the RNA-guided nuclease CRISPR-Cas9 (clustered regularly-interspaced short palindromic repeats/CRISPR-associated protein 9) to correct the GBE1 mutation in a...
Seo MG, Kwon OD, Kwak D.Lyme borreliosis is one of the most prevalent tick-borne infectious zoonotic diseases caused by spirochetes of the sensu lato group. The present study assessed the risk factors and prevalence of Lyme borreliosis in ticks parasitizing domestic and wild animals. A total of 589 ticks (329 tick pools) collected from animals were identified as , (85.7%), (10.0%), and (4.3%) using morphological and molecular methods in South Korea. In this study, the 5S-23S gene sequences of (6/329, 1.8%) were detected in ticks taken from mammals, including ticks from horses (2/147 pools, 1.4%), wild boar (1/19 ...
Šandlová K, Komárková M, Ceacero F.Different forms of direct paternal investment have been described in mammals. One such species where paternal care was noticed, but remains poorly understood, is the horse (Equus caballus), where the male keeps a long-term relationship with several females and offspring. Therefore, the aim of this study was to analyse the interactions between the harem stallion and his foals. Two herds of Exmoor ponies living under semi-feral conditions in two separate reserves within Czech Republic were studied, each during one of the two consecutive breeding seasons (in 2016 and 2017). Both herds consisted o...
Frantz LAF, Bradley DG, Larson G, Orlando L.The domestication of animals led to a major shift in human subsistence patterns, from a hunter-gatherer to a sedentary agricultural lifestyle, which ultimately resulted in the development of complex societies. Over the past 15,000 years, the phenotype and genotype of multiple animal species, such as dogs, pigs, sheep, goats, cattle and horses, have been substantially altered during their adaptation to the human niche. Recent methodological innovations, such as improved ancient DNA extraction methods and next-generation sequencing, have enabled the sequencing of whole ancient genomes. These gen...
Kuzmina ТА, Zvegintsova NS, Yasynetska NI, Kharchenko VA.Resistance of strongylids in domestic horses to benzimidazole anthelmintics (BZ) has been detected worldwide; however, information on the presence of BZ-resistance in wild equids has not been published to date. The purpose of this study was to analyze the manifestations of the BZ resistance in strongylids in domestic and wild equids kept in the Askania Nova Biosphere Reserve, Ukraine. Four species of equids: domestic horses and Shetland ponies (Equus caballus), donkeys (E. asinus), plains zebras (E. burchelli) and Grévy’s zebras (E. grevyi) kept under semi-free conditions were examined usin...
Benfodil K, Büscher P, Abdelli A, Van Reet N, Mohamed-Herif A, Ansel S, Fettata S, Dehou S, Bebronne N, Geerts M, Balharbi F, Ait-Oudhia K.Trypanosoma evansi (T. evansi) is a hemoflagellate parasite that affects a broad range of mammalian hosts and that causes a disease called surra. Diagnosis of surra based on clinical symptoms alone is inaccurate. Therefore, a variety of serological and molecular diagnostic tests are used to assist in the detection of T. evansi infections. The aim of this study was to compare the diagnostic performance of four serological tests (CATT/T.evansi, immune trypanolysis, ELISA with purified variant surface glycoprotein RoTat 1.2 and with whole cell lysate) and two molecular PCR tests targeting sequenc...
Gérard C, Valenchon M, Poulin N, Petit O.In collective movements, some individuals are more effective and attractive leaders than others. Parameters such as social network, personality, and physiologic needs failed to explain why group members follow one leader more than another. In this study in the domestic horse, we propose to focus on the leader's attitude and its impact to the followers' recruitment during two conditions: spontaneous group departures or experimentally induced departures. We postulate that the expressiveness of the leader could enhance its attractiveness and thus produce a successful followership. We found that a...
Höfner L, Luther AM, Waberski D.Ongoing progress in proteomic characterization of seminal plasma has stimulated research on the identification of biomarkers for male fertility and sperm preservability. So far, many studies have evaluated the benefits of reconstituting cryopreserved or sex-sorted semen with seminal plasma. Less information is available about the effect of remaining or added seminal plasma in liquid preserved semen. The interaction between seminal plasma and spermatozoa is species -specific, and within species often complex and ambiguous. This article aims to review the action of seminal plasma on sperm functi...
Schrimpf A, Single MS, Nawroth C.Dogs and cats use human emotional information directed to an unfamiliar situation to guide their behavior, known as social referencing. It is not clear whether other domestic species show similar socio-cognitive abilities in interacting with humans. We investigated whether horses ( = 46) use human emotional information to adjust their behavior to a novel object and whether the behavior of horses differed depending on breed type. Horses were randomly assigned to one of two groups: an experimenter positioned in the middle of a test arena directed gaze and voice towards the novel object with eith...
Hammerschmitt ME, Henker LC, Lichtler J, da Costa FVA, Soares RM, Llano HAB, Pavarini SP.Sarcocystis neurona is the main agent associated with equine protozoal myeloencephalitis (EPM). Apart from horses, S. neurona has been occasionally described causing neurologic disease in several other terrestrial animals as well as mortality in marine mammals. Herein, we describe the clinical, pathological, and molecular findings of a fatal case of S. neurona-associated meningoencephalitis in a domestic cat. The causing agent was analyzed by multilocus genotyping, confirming the presence of S. neurona DNA in the tissue samples of the affected animal. Significant molecular differences were fou...
Tarazona AM, Ceballos MC, Broom DM.Excessive human population growth, uncontrolled use of natural resources, including deforestation, mining, wasteful systems, biodiversity reduction by agriculture, and damaging climate change affect the existence of all animals, including humans. This discussion is now urgent and people are rethinking their links with the animals we use for clothing, food, work, companionship, entertainment, and research. The concepts of one health, one welfare, and one biology are discussed as a background to driving global change. Nothing should be exploited without considering the ethics of the action and t...
Wu DD, Yang CP, Wang MS, Dong KZ, Yan DW, Hao ZQ, Fan SQ, Chu SZ, Shen QS, Jiang LP, Li Y, Zeng L, Liu HQ, Xie HB, Ma YF, Kong XY, Yang SL, Dong XX....Abundant and diverse domestic mammals living on the Tibetan Plateau provide useful materials for investigating adaptive evolution and genetic convergence. Here, we used 327 genomes from horses, sheep, goats, cattle, pigs and dogs living at both high and low altitudes, including 73 genomes generated for this study, to disentangle the genetic mechanisms underlying local adaptation of domestic mammals. Although molecular convergence is comparatively rare at the DNA sequence level, we found convergent signature of positive selection at the gene level, particularly the gene in these Tibetan domest...
Orlando L.The horse was essential to past human societies but became a recreational animal during the twentieth century as the world became increasingly mechanized. As the author reviews here, recent studies of ancient genomes have revisited the understanding of horse domestication, from the very early stages to the most modern developments. They have uncovered several extinct lineages roaming the far ends of Eurasia some 4000 years ago. They have shown that the domestic horse has been significantly reshaped during the last millennium and experienced a sharp decline in genetic diversity within the last...
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.
He Y, Nadeau J, Reed S, Hoagland T, Bushmich S, Aborn S, Jones AK, Martin D.Our objective was to determine the influence of season (winter, spring, summer, and fall) on travel patterns, hoof growth, and longissimus dorsi muscle (LM) height and fat thickness between 13th and 14th ribs in 16 horses aged <4 years (eight males and eight females) of Morgan, Quarter Horse, and Moriesian breeds. Real-time ultrasound images of LM height and fat thickness as well as measures of hoof growth were obtained at the end of each season. Global positioning system tracking was conducted for four randomly selected days and one storm day in each season. Data were analyzed using a linear...
Yang F, Shao Q, Jiang Z.Using the Yellow-River-Source National Park (YRSNP) as a study site, an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) remote sensing and line transect method was used to investigate the number of wild herbivorous animals and livestock, including the kiang () and Tibetan gazelle (). A downscaling algorithm was used to generate the forage yield data in YRSNP based on a 30-m spatial resolution. On this basis, we estimated the forage-livestock balance, which included both wild animals and livestock, and analyzed the effects of functional zone planning in national parks on the forage-livestock balance in YRSNP. Th...
Khalili M, Sakhaee E, Bagheri Amiri F, Safat AA, Afshar D, Esmaeili S.Leptospirosis is a neglected infectious zoonotic disease that affects domestic animals and wildlife as well as humans. Although leptospirosis is known as an endemic disease in Iran, there is no accurate information on the overall prevalence of this disease in humans and animals. The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to estimate the seroprevalence of leptospirosis among human and domestic and wild animals in Iran. A systematic review of English and Persian articles (since 1998 to December 2017) was conducted using Google Scholar, Medline/PubMed, Science Direct, Scopus, Web of ...
Davis E.Donkeys and mules have been critical to the development of human civilization, since being domesticated some 6000 years ago. However, they suffer from being undervalued or ignored by development agencies and animal protection nongovernmental organizations. Where they are recognized as affecting agriculture and the economy it is often because they are seen as being either invasive pests or an anachronism in the developing countries of the twenty-first century. Even in the wealthier societies of the world, donkeys suffer from ignorance about their proper management or a booming industry in heal...
Trösch M, Cuzol F, Parias C, Calandreau L, Nowak R, Lansade L.Over the last few years, an increasing number of studies have aimed to gain more insight into the field of animal emotions. In particular, it is of interest to determine whether animals can cross-modally categorize the emotions of others. For domestic animals that share a close relationship with humans, we might wonder whether this cross-modal recognition of emotions extends to humans, as well. In this study, we tested whether horses could recognize human emotions and attribute the emotional valence of visual (facial expression) and vocal (non-verbal vocalization) stimuli to the same perceptua...
Budiono NG, Satrija F, Ridwan Y, Handharyani E, Murtini S.Schistosomiasis is endemic in Indonesia and is found in three remote areas in Central Sulawesi Province. Non-human mammals serve as reservoir hosts, meaning the disease is zoonotic. The previous schistosomiasis studies in animals from the Lindu Subdistrict did not determine which domestic animal species can serve as the primary source of transmission. No animals have been treated in Indonesia to control the disease; therefore, the parasite's life cycle is not blocked entirely. This study aimed to determine the prevalence and identify the risk factors associated with, infection in animals, and...
The Journal of heredityOctober 20, 2019
Volume 110, Issue 7 769-781 doi: 10.1093/jhered/esz032
Han H, Bryan K, Shiraigol W, Bai D, Zhao Y, Bao W, Yang S, Zhang W, MacHugh DE, Dugarjaviin M, Hill EW.The Mongolian horse is one of the oldest extant horse populations and although domesticated, most animals are free-ranging and experience minimal human intervention. As an ancient population originating in one of the key domestication centers, the Mongolian horse may play a key role in understanding the origins and recent evolutionary history of horses. Here we describe an analysis of high-density genome-wide single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) data in 40 globally dispersed horse populations (n = 895). In particular, we have focused on new results from Chinese Mongolian horses (n = 100) that ...
Hybridization has been widely practiced in plant and animal breeding as a means to enhance the quality and fitness of the organisms. In domestic equids, this hybrid vigor takes the form of improved physical and physiological characteristics, notably for strength or endurance. Because the offspring of horse and donkey is generally sterile, this widely recognized vigor is expressed in the first generation (F1). However, in the absence of recombination between the two parental genomes, F1 hybrids can be expected to be phenotypically intermediate between their parents which could potentially restr...
Gür S, Gürçay M, Seyrek A.Bovine enteroviruses (BEV) are members of Enterovirus genus of the family Picornaviridae. BEV1 has a broad host spectrum, including humans. The virus usually causes subclinical infection, but fatal/severe cases have also been reported in different animal species. There is quite limited data regarding BEV1 in humans. The purpose of this study is to investigate human infection and to identify possible risk factors for viral exposure. For this purpose, blood serum samples (n=1,526) were collected from a city center and nearby villagers simultaneously from humans and farm animals in Elazig provinc...
Bosco-Lauth AM, Bowen RA.West Nile virus (WNV) (Flaviviridae: Flavivirus) was discovered in Africa more than 80 yr ago and became recognized as an avian pathogen and a cause of neurologic disease in horses largely during periodic incursions into Europe. Introduction of WNV into North America stimulated great anxiety, particularly in the equine industry, but also for pet owners and livestock producers concerned about the effect of WNV on other domestic animals. Numerous subsequent studies of naturally occurring and experimentally induced disease greatly expanded our understanding of the host range and clinical conseque...
Hatam-Nahavandi K, Ahmadpour E, Carmena D, Spotin A, Bangoura B, Xiao L.Cryptosporidium spp. are causative agents of gastrointestinal diseases in a wide variety of vertebrate hosts. Mortality resulting from the disease is low in livestock, although severe cryptosporidiosis has been associated with fatality in young animals. Methods: The goal of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to review the prevalence and molecular data on Cryptosporidium infections in selected terrestrial domestic and wild ungulates of the families Bovidae (bison, buffalo, cattle, goat, impala, mouflon sheep, sheep, yak), Cervidae (red deer, roe deer, white-tailed deer), Camelidae (al...
Baba C, Kawai M, Takimoto-Inose A.Emotions are important for social animals because animals' emotions function as beneficial cues to identify valuable resources such as food or to avoid danger by providing environmental information. Emotions also enable animals to predict individuals' behavior and determine how to behave in a specific context. Recently, several studies have reported that dogs are highly sensitive to not only conspecific but also human emotional cues. These studies suggest that domestication may have affected such sensitivity. However, there are still few studies that examine whether other domesticated animals,...
Orlando L, Librado P.Domestication has changed the natural evolutionary trajectory of horses by favoring the reproduction of a limited number of animals showing traits of interest. Reduced breeding stocks hampered the elimination of deleterious variants by means of negative selection, ultimately inflating mutational loads. However, ancient genomics revealed that mutational loads remained steady during most of the domestication history until a sudden burst took place some 250 years ago. To identify the factors underlying this trajectory, we gather an extensive dataset consisting of 175 modern and 153 ancient genome...
Uehlinger FD, Wilkins W, Godson DL, Drebot MA.Cache Valley virus, an orthobunyavirus, is an important cause of ovine neonatal malformations. Information on the seroprevalence of this virus in Saskatchewan livestock populations is lacking. The objectives of this study were to determine the seroprevalence of Cache Valley virus and closely related viruses in sheep, cattle, goats, horses, and mule deer in Saskatchewan by performing a plaque-reduction neutralization test using Cache Valley virus. In total, sera from 130 sheep from 50 flocks were tested. Seroprevalence in sheep was 64.6% (84/130) and 94.0% (47/50) of flocks had 1 or more seropo...
Goodwin D.Domestication has provided the horse with food, shelter, veterinary care and protection, allowing individuals an increased chance of survival. However, the restriction of movement, limited breeding opportunities and a requirement to expend energy, for the benefit of another species, conflict with the evolutionary processes which shaped the behaviour of its predecessors. The behaviour of the horse is defined by its niche as a social prey species but many of the traits which ensured the survival of its ancestors are difficult to accommodate in the domestic environment. There has been a long asso...
Onder Z, Yildirim A, Pekmezci D, Duzlu O, Pekmezci GZ, Ciloglu A, Simsek E, Kokcu ND, Yetismis G, Ercan N, Inci A.A total of 1340 fresh fecal samples from farm and pet animals in Central Anatolia and the Middle Black Sea Region of Turkey were investigated using a PCR assay targeting the SSU rRNA of Blastocystis sp. An overall Blastocystis sp. prevalence of 19.4% (183/940) was found in farm animals, including cattle, sheep, water buffaloes, and chickens. Fecal samples of dogs, cats, and horses were negative. The highest prevalence of Blastocystis sp. was found in sheep (38.2%) among the farm animals. The SSU rRNA sequence analysis revealed two animal-specific subtypes, including ST10 in cattle and sheep an...
Horak IG, Heyne H, Halajian A, Booysen S, Smit WJ.The aim of the study was to determine the species spectrum of ixodid ticks that infest horses and donkeys in South Africa and to identify those species that act as vectors of disease to domestic livestock. Ticks were collected opportunistically from 391 horses countrywide by their owners or grooms, or by veterinary students and staff at the Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Pretoria. Ticks were also collected from 76 donkeys in Limpopo Province, 2 in Gauteng Province and 1 in North West province. All the ticks were identified by means of a stereoscopic microscope. Horses were infest...
MacLachlan NJ.The histologic appearance of the ovaries and persistence of corpora lutea vary considerably among domestic animals, particularly between spontaneous and induced ovulators. The seasonally polyestrous mare has a variety of unique characteristics in ovarian structure and general reproductive function. Among the anomalies of ovarian development is the bovine freemartin with gonads containing a mixture of male and female elements. A variety of ovarian cysts occur in domestic animals, and persistent corpora lutea with associated reproductive perturbations occur in several species. Ovarian tumors are...
Lillini E, Macrì G, Proietti G, Scarpulla M.Ixodes ricinus (I. ricinus) is one of the vectors of Anaplasma phagocytophilum (A. phagocytophilum) in Europe, in which rates of infection range from 1.9% to 34%. In 1998, human granulocytic ehrlichiosis-like (HGE-like) Ehrlichia DNA was detected in Italy, by PCR technique in one I. ricinus nymph out of 55 ticks that were examined. In 1996, 6.3% of 310 human sera in high-risk subjects from Italy were found positive for antibodies to Ehrlichia phagocytophila (E. phagocytophila). In the same year, the authors reported the first case of equine granulocytic ehrlichiosis. In 1997, only 2 out of 563...
Hybridization has been widely practiced in plant and animal breeding as a means to enhance the quality and fitness of the organisms. In domestic equids, this hybrid vigor takes the form of improved physical and physiological characteristics, notably for strength or endurance. Because the offspring of horse and donkey is generally sterile, this widely recognized vigor is expressed in the first generation (F1). However, in the absence of recombination between the two parental genomes, F1 hybrids can be expected to be phenotypically intermediate between their parents which could potentially restr...
Peiffer RL, Wilcock BP, Yin H.Histologic examination was made of 1,419 globes from domestic animals (964 dogs, 374 cats, 41 horses, and 40 cattle) with ocular disease; pre-iridal membranes (rubeosis iridis) were found in 98. The membranes originated as endothelial budding from the anterior iridal stroma and seemed to mature into fibrous or fibrovascular membranes that were often followed by hyphema or, occasionally, glaucoma. Pre-existent disease in the 98 affected globes included chronic endophthalmitis (27/98), chronic glaucoma (24/98), anterior uveal melanoma (15/98), ciliary body adenoma (14/98), neoplasms metastatic t...
Stoica G, Tasca SI, Kim HT.Thirty-four peripheral nerve sheath tumors of four domesticated animal species were characterized and assayed for point mutation of the neu oncogene. Based on their morphoimmunophenotype, 32 tumors were classified as schwannomas. Schwannoma morphology was characterized by the presence of Antoni type A and B pattern and immunoreactivity for S-100 protein and vimentin. Two anaplastic and metastatic tumors originating from spinal cord root, immunonegative for S-100 protein and positive for vimentin, were classified as malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumors (MPNSTs). Four malignant schwannomas a...
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...
Li X, Buzzard P, Chen Y, Jiang X.Alleviating human-carnivore conflict is central to large carnivore conservation and is often of economic importance, where people coexist with carnivores. In this article, we report on the patterns of predation and economic losses from wild carnivores preying on livestock in three villages of northern Baima Xueshan Nature Reserve, northwest Yunnan during a 2-year period between January 2010 and December 2011. We analyzed claims from 149 households that 258 head of livestock were predated. Wolves (Canis lupus) were responsible for 79.1 % of livestock predation; Asiatic black bears (Selenarctos ...
Maigrot AL, Hillmann E, Briefer EF.Discrimination and perception of emotion expression regulate interactions between conspecifics and can lead to emotional contagion (state matching between producer and receiver) or to more complex forms of empathy (e.g., sympathetic concern). Empathy processes are enhanced by familiarity and physical similarity between partners. Since heterospecifics can also be familiar with each other to some extent, discrimination/perception of emotions and, as a result, emotional contagion could also occur between species. Here, we investigated if four species belonging to two ungulate Families, Equidae (d...
Ai S, Zhang Z, Wang X, Zhang Q, Yin W, Duan Z.Protozoans of Entamoeba spp. are globally distributed zoonotic parasites that infect diverse animal hosts and humans. Prevalence and species/genotypes distribution of Entamoeba spp. in domestic animals are not fully investigated on Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP), an animal husbandry and agriculture region of China. In a survey, 528 fecal samples were collected from 7 species of domestic animals on multiple locations across QTP region and analyzed by PCR and sequencing analysis. The overall prevalence of Entamoeba spp. infection in all examined animals was 97.9 %. Four Entamoeba species, E. bovi...
Egberink H, Horzinek MC.Feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) has morphological, physical and biochemical characteristics similar to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the cause of AIDS in man. However, it is antigenically and genetically distinct from HIV; an antigenic relatedness with equine infectious anaemia virus has been demonstrated. FIV has been molecularly cloned and sequenced. Diagnostic tests are commercially available and attempts at preparing inactivated, subunit and molecularly engineered vaccines are being made in different laboratories. During FIV infection a transient primary illness can be recognized...
Bromfield JJ.Artificial insemination has been a landmark procedure in improving animal agriculture over the past 150 years. The utility of artificial insemination has facilitated a rapid improvement in animal genetics across agricultural species, leading to improvements of growth, health and productivity in poultry, swine, equine and cattle species. The utility of artificial insemination, as with all assisted reproductive technologies side-steps thousands of years of evolution that has led to the development of physiological systems to ensure the transmission of genetics from generation to generation. The ...
Górecka-Bruzda A, Fureix C, Ouvrard A, Bourjade M, Hausberger M.Yawning is rare in herbivores which therefore may be an interesting group to disentangle the potential function(s) of yawning behaviour. Horses provide the opportunity to compare not only animals living in different conditions but also wild versus domestic species. Here, we tested three hypotheses by observing both domestic and Przewalski horses living in semi-natural conditions: (i) that domestic horses may show an elevated rate of yawning as a result of the domestication process (or as a result of life conditions), (ii) that individuals experiencing a higher level of social stress would yawn...
Priester WA, Glass AG, Waggoner NS.A mass survey of the distribution of congenital defects in various types of livestock was made possible by the processing by the Veterinary Medical Data Program (VMPD) of standard observations collected on 137, 717 patients seen at veterinary college clinics between Mar. 1964 and Jan. 1969. A total of 6455 animals with 1 or more congenital defects was found. The data were analysed according to species, institution and organ system. Pigs had the highest proportion of congenital defects, cats the lowest. Over all, the systems most frequently involved were the musculo-skeletal and urogenital. The...
Caddey B, Fisher S, Barkema HW, Nobrega DB.SUMMARYNumerous questions persist regarding the role of companion animals as potential reservoirs of antimicrobial-resistant organisms that can infect humans. While relative antimicrobial usage in companion animals is lower than that in humans, certain antimicrobial-resistant pathogens have comparable colonization rates in companion animals and their human counterparts, which inevitably raises questions regarding potential antimicrobial resistance (AMR) transmission. Furthermore, the close contact between pets and their owners, as well as pets, veterinary professionals, and the veterinary clin...
Waran NK.DELETE:
The last known ‘wild’ horse was the Przewalski (e.f. prezewalskii), which lived until fairly recently in its natural state in Mongolia. Although little is known of their social organisation in the wild, a number of studies have been carried out of their behaviour in captive conditions. Attempts are now being made to reintroduce them into more natural conditions than the zoos and private collections in which most of them are currently maintained (Keiper and Receveur 1992). Although there is a lack of information about truly wild horse behaviour, a number of studies, such as that d...
Ventresca Miller AR, Wilkin S, Hendy J, Turbat T, Batsukh D, Bayarkhuu N, Giscard PH, Bemmann J, Bayarsaikhan J, Miller BK, Clark J, Roberts P....The initial movement of herders and livestock into the eastern steppe is of great interest, as this region has long been home to pastoralist groups. Due to a paucity of faunal remains, however, it has been difficult to discern the timing of the adoption of domesticated ruminants and horses into the region, though recent research on ancient dairying has started to shed new light on this history. Here we present proteomic evidence for shifts in dairy consumption in the Altai Mountains, drawing on evidence from sites dating from the Early Bronze to the Late Iron Age. We compare these finds with e...
Littlewood KE, Beausoleil NJ, Stafford KJ, Stephens C, Collins T, Quain A, Hazel S, Lloyd JF, Mallia C, Richards L, Wedler NK, Zito S.This study set out to explore how euthanasia decision-making for animals was taught to students in eight Australasian veterinary schools. A questionnaire-style interview guide was used by a representative at each university to interview educators. Educators were interviewed about their teaching of euthanasia decision-making for four categories of animals: livestock, equine, companion and avian/wildlife. Using thematic analysis, the terms provided by participants to describe how (mode of teaching) and what (specific content) they taught to students were categorised. Information about content wa...
Salek Ardestani S, Aminafshar M, Zandi Baghche Maryam MB, Banabazi MH, Sargolzaei M, Miar Y.Natural selection and domestication have shaped modern horse populations, resulting in a vast range of phenotypically diverse breeds. Horse breeds are classified into three types (pony, light, and draft) generally based on their body type. Understanding the genetic basis of horse type variation and selective pressures related to the evolutionary trend can be particularly important for current selection strategies. Whole-genome sequences were generated for 14 pony and 32 light horses to investigate the genetic signatures of selection of the horse type in pony and light horses. In the overlappin...
Steyn J, Fourie I, Steyl J, Williams J, Stivaktas V, Botha E, van Niekerk S, Reininghaus B, Venter M.Alphaviruses from Africa, such as Middelburg virus (MIDV), and Sindbis virus (SINV), were detected in horses with neurologic disease in South Africa, but their host ranges remain unknown. We investigated the contribution of alphaviruses to neurologic infections and death in wildlife and domestic animals in this country. During 2010-2018, a total of 608 clinical samples from wildlife and nonequine domestic animals that had febrile, neurologic signs or unexplained deaths were tested for alphaviruses. We identified 32 (5.5%) of 608 alphavirus infections (9 SINV and 23 MIDV), mostly in neurotissue...
Baserisalehi M, Bahador N, Kapadnis BP.A total of 455 domestic animals (cow, horse and camel) and poultry from south of Iran were surveyed for fecal carriage of Campylobacter spp. Out of all collected fecal samples, the highest isolation rate of Campylobacter was recorded among poultry (35%), followed by horse (27%) and cow (21%) while, lowest isolation rate was recorded among camel. Of the 85 Campylobacter strains isolated, 76 were classified as catalase positive Campylobacter. Out of them, high frequency of occurrence was belonged to Campy. jejuni. Furthermore, catalase positive Campylobacter spp. were isolated from all the sourc...
Kozytska T, Bassiouny M, Chechet O, Ordynska D, Galante D, Neubauer H, Wareth G.Anthrax is an acute infectious zoonotic disease caused by Bacillus anthracis that mostly affects grazing livestock and wildlife. Furthermore, B. anthracis is considered one of the most important biological agents of bioterrorism that could also be potentially misused in biological weapons. The distribution of anthrax in domestic animals and wildlife in Europe with a particular focus on Ukraine as a country of war was analyzed. Between 2005 and 2022, 267 anthrax cases were registered at the World Organization of Animal Health (WOAH) in animals in Europe, including 251 cases in domestic animals ...
Hagiwara K, Asakawa M, Liao L, Jiang W, Yan S, Chai J, Oku Y, Ikuta K, Ito M.To investigate the animals infected with Borna disease virus (BDV) in Xinjiang, China, we examined for BDV antibodies in the sera from groups of 20 horses, sheep and cattle, and from 165 wild rodents (18 species) by ELISA and immunoblot. The serological study disclosed the presence of antibodies to both BDV-p24 and -p40 in the horses (20%) and sheep (25%), whereas no apparent positive reaction was detected either in cattle or rodents. The results suggested that BDV is prevalent in horses and sheep in the district investigated.
Reissmann M, Musa L, Zakizadeh S, Ludwig A.Considering the hidden mode of inheritance of some coat-color-associated alleles, we investigated the presence/absence of coat-color-associated alleles in 1093 domestic horses of 55 breeds and 20 specimens of Przewalski's horse. For coat-color genotyping, allele specific PCR, pyrosequencing and Li-Cor analyses were conducted on 12 coat-color-associated alleles of five genes. Our data provide deep insight into the distribution of coat-color-associated alleles within breeds. We found that the alleles for the basic colorations (bay, black, and chestnut) are widely distributed and occur in nearly ...
