Epidemiology in horses involves the study of the distribution and determinants of health-related states and events in equine populations. It encompasses the investigation of patterns, causes, and effects of diseases and health conditions within horse populations. This field of study aims to identify risk factors for disease and targets for preventive healthcare. Key components of equine epidemiology include disease surveillance, outbreak investigation, and the study of disease dynamics within herds or regions. Research in this area often focuses on infectious diseases, zoonotic diseases, and the impact of environmental factors on equine health. This page compiles peer-reviewed research studies and scholarly articles that explore various aspects of epidemiology in horses, including disease prevalence, transmission pathways, and strategies for disease prevention and control.
Knowles EJ, Mair TS, Butcher N, Waller AS, Wood JL.Thirty horses with no external signs of strangles were tested for exposure to Streptococcus equi subspecies equi (S equi) using a new, commercially available serological test. The horses were also tested for persistent carriage of S equi by endoscopy of the guttural pouches and PCR analysis of lavage samples. The owners were questioned about the recent medical history of the horses. Serology suggested that four horses had been recently exposed to S equi. None of the horses had a known history of strangles but three of the four seropositive horses had recently shown non-specific signs of respir...
Becher AM, Mahling M, Nielsen MK, Pfister K.For 9 consecutive months (March-November 2008), faecal samples were collected monthly from 129 horses residing within 40 km of Salzburg, Austria. Samples were analysed quantitatively using a modified McMaster egg counting technique. Whenever a faecal egg count (FEC) result exceeded 250 eggs per gram (EPG), the horse was treated with pyrantel, ivermectin or moxidectin. In 52 of 129 horses (40.3%), no strongyle eggs were ever detected over the course of 9 months. In 39 horses (30.2%), strongyle eggs were detected in at least 1 sample, but the egg count never exceeded 250 EPG. The remaining 38 (2...
Sharma S, Davies Morel MC, Dhaliwal GS.Decreased reproductive performance due to summer stress is a well known phenomenon in farm livestock. Whether this occurs in the mare and specifically how this might affect postpartum reproductive activity and performance, especially at Foal Heat (FH), is unknown. This study, therefore, aims to investigate this and the factors that might affect postpartum reproductive activity. Reproductive records of 228 Thoroughbred mares (694 mare years) bred in subtropical north-western India were retrospectively analysed. Overt oestrous activity occurred within 21 d postpartum in 92.94% (645/694) of mares...
Merwyn S, Kumar S, Agarwal GS, Rai GP.Glanders is highly contagious disease of equines, caused by Burkholderia mallei. The disease though rare, can be transmitted to humans. Here, we report a strategy for rapid detection of B. mallei from environmental samples. Different bacteriological media were evaluated and brain heart infusion broth medium with selective supplements (BHIB-SS) of penicillin (200 U/ml) and crystal violet (1:10,00000) was found to support the maximum growth of B. mallei even in the presence of other bacteria like Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. A polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and a DNA hybridizatio...
Preziuso S, Laus F, Tejeda AR, Valente C, Cuteri V.Streptococcus (S.) dysgalactiae subsp. equisimilis is responsible for severe diseases in humans, including primary bacteraemia, pneumonia, endocarditis, and toxic shock syndrome. Infection in some animal species can also occur, although a few studies have looked into cross-species infectivity. In horses, S. equisimilis is generally considered infrequent or opportunistic, but has recently been isolated from cases of strangles-like disease. Rapid and sensitive diagnostic techniques could enable epidemiological studies and effective investigation of outbreaks involving these bacteria. In this stu...
Sloet van Oldruitenborgh-Oosterbaan MM, van Poppel M, de Raat IJ, van den Boom R, Savelkoul HF.Intradermal tests using a Culicoides nubeculosus extract have proven unreliable for diagnosis of equine insect bite hypersensitivity (IBH) in the Netherlands. The aim of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic value of an extract derived from the Dutch species C. obsoletus and C. pulicaris. Thirteen pairs of horses were tested, each pair consisting of one horse with IBH and the other a healthy control. Each horse was injected intradermally with 0.1 mL of three concentrations of Culicoides whole body extract (1 : 1000 w/v, 1 : 10,000 w/v and 1 : 25,000 w/v), histamine solution (0.01 mg/mL, po...
Solbrig MV.Borna disease (BD), caused by the neurotropic RNA virus, Borna Disease virus, is an affliction ranging from asymptomatic to fatal meningoencephalitis across naturally and experimentally infected warmblooded (mammalian and bird) species. More than 100 years after the first clinical descriptions of Borna disease in horses and studies beginning in the 1980's linking Borna disease virus to human neuropsychiatric diseases, experimentally infected rodents have been used as models for examining behavioral, neuropharmacological, and neurochemical responses to viral challenge at different stages of lif...
Hayama Y, Kobayashi S, Nishida T, Nishiguchi A, Tsutsui T.For determining surveillance programs or infectious disease countermeasures, risk evaluation approaches have been recently undertaken in the field of animal health. In the present study, to help establish efficient and effective surveillance and countermeasures for equine infectious diseases, we evaluated the potential risk of equine infectious disease transmission in non-race horses from the viewpoints of horse movements and health management practices by conducting a survey of non-race horse holdings. From the survey, the non-race horse population was classified into the following five secto...
Viljoen A, Saulez MN, Donnellan CM, Bester L, Gummow B.Medical records of equine after-hours admissions from 1998 to 2007 are reviewed. Data extracted from the medical records included signalment, reason for admission, pre-admission treatment, clinical presentation, procedures performed, final diagnoses, complications occurring in hospital, length of stay and outcome. Eight hundred and twenty after-hours admissions were available of which 75% were classified as emergencies. Most horses originated from Gauteng province (82%), with Thoroughbred, Arabian, and Warmbloods representing 46%, 10% and 7% of horses. Horses had a median age of 7 years and we...
Chevalier V, Dupressoir A, Tran A, Diop OM, Gottland C, Diallo M, Etter E, Ndiaye M, Grosbois V, Dia M, Gaidet N, Sall AA, Soti V, Niang M.In 2005, a serological study was carried out on horses in five ecologically contrasted zones of the Senegal River basin (Senegal) to assess West Nile virus (WNV) transmission and investigate underlying environmental risk factors. In each study zone, horses were randomly selected and blood samples taken. A land-cover map of the five study areas was built using two satellite ETM+ images. Blood samples were screened by ELISA for anti-WNV IgM and IgG and positive samples were confirmed by seroneutralization. Environmental data were analysed using a principal components analysis. The overall IgG se...
Matayoshi M, Kudaka J.Between 1992 and 2007, a total of 86 isolates of Salmonella enterica Weltevreden were obtained from clinical human samples (n = 41), 45 farm animals and their environment on 20 farms, including poultry (n = 25), beef cattle (n = 5), swine (n = 5), dairy cattle (n = 3), mice (n = 2), pony (n = 1), fly (n = 1) and feed samples (n = 3), in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. Only seven isolates (8.1%) of the isolates were resistance to one or more antimicrobial agents tested; six streptomycin (7.0%), six oxytetracycline (7.0%), two ampicillin (2.3%), two kanamycin, (2.3%), two chloramphenicol (2.3%), two ...
Güiris AD, Rojas HN, Berovides AV, Sosa PJ, Pérez EM, Cruz AE, Chávez HC, Moguel AJ, Jimenez-Coello M, Ortega-Pacheco A.A cross sectional survey was performed to identify gastrointestinal helminths and protozoans in naturally infected horses from the biosphere reserve known as "La Sierra Madre de Chiapas", Mexico (El Triunfo and La Sepultura). During a three-year survey, fecal samples from 90 horses and parasites from 2 necropsied animals were collected. Five families from the Nematoda class: Ascaridae, Kathlanidae, Oxyuridae, Strongylidae and Trichostrongylidae were found, whereas, only one family from the class Cestoda, was observed: Anoplocephalidae. One family from the class Insecta, was observed: Gasteroph...
Sigg L, Gerber V, Gottstein B, Doherr MG, Frey CF.In Switzerland, the prevalence and incidence of equine piroplasma parasite (EPP) infections are unknown. In order to obtain a first insight into the prevalence, a representative sample of 689 sera of horses from Switzerland was serologically tested for the presence of antibodies directed against T. equi and B. caballi using the Indirect Fluorescence Antibody Test (IFAT). A total of 50 (7.3%) horses were seropositive for EPP: overall, the seroprevalence of T. equi was significantly higher than that of B. caballi (p=0.002). The seropositivities in indigenous horses (animals bred and raised in Sw...
Katić I, Bajt VV.Transport of animals by water is a very old way of transport because it is relatively cheap and safe, with a minimum loss of animals. Waterways have been used for the transport of living animals and various goods from ancient times, for example in Ancient Egypt and the Roman Empire. Later, Vikings were so successful in their conquests because they always had trained horses aboard. It is believed that the colonization of America was possible because Spaniards were also bringing many horses with them. Danish possessions in the Caribbean owe much of their economic success in the period between 18...
Ramzan PH, Palmer L.Fissures of the occlusal surface of the equine cheek tooth are poorly understood and their association with dental disease is unknown. Objective: To describe the prevalence and location of occlusal fissures in the cheek teeth (CT) of a group of horses referred for dental investigation/treatment, and determine association with intercurrent dental disease. Methods: Digital video recordings of oral endoscopic examinations for all horses referred to the Rossdales Equine Hospital for dental investigation from November 2006 to June 2009 were reviewed. Location of occlusal fissures in relation to bot...
Wright A, Beard L, Bawa B, Bras J.Equine dysautonomia, also known as equine grass sickness (EGS), is a well documented disease in several countries. To the authors' knowledge, EGS has not been reported previously in North America. This report describes EGS in a 6-year-old female mule in the USA. Failure initially to consider EGS resulted in a delayed diagnosis. EGS should be considered as a differential diagnosis and appropriate diagnostic tests performed in similar cases in North America.
Collins JA, Hanlon A, More SJ, Wall PG, Kennedy J, Duggan V.Significant potential threats to the health and welfare of horses exist in Ireland when supply exceeds demand and the identification system for horses is not yet robust. Objective: To secure engagement with stakeholder groups and determine their perception of equine welfare in Ireland and encourage the development of inclusive, rather than imposed, policy solutions. Methods: A 3 round, web-based Policy Delphi incorporating novel vignette methodology was conducted from November 2007-March 2008 to canvass opinion (in both quantitative and qualitative forms) on the perceived most significant equi...
Quinlivan M, Maxwell G, Lyons P, Arkins S, Cullinane A.Equine rhinitis viruses (ERV) cause respiratory disease and loss of performance in horses. It has been suggested that the economic significance of these viruses may have been underestimated due to insensitive methods of detection. Objective: To develop a sensitive, rapid, real-time RT-PCR (rRT-PCR) assay suitable for the routine diagnosis and epidemiological surveillance of the A and B variants of ERV. Methods: TaqMan primer probe sets for ERAV and ERBV were designed from conserved regions of the 5' UTR of the ERV genome. Over 400 samples from both clinically affected and asymptomatic horses w...
Thorpe CT, Clegg PD, Birch HL.Tendon injury is one of the most common causes of wastage in the performance horse; the majority of tendon injuries occur to the superficial digital flexor tendon (SDFT) whereas few occur to the common digital extensor tendon. This review outlines the epidemiology and aetiology of equine tendon injury, reviews the different functions of the tendons in the equine forelimb and suggests possible reasons for the high rate of failure of the SDFT. An understanding of the mechanisms leading to matrix degeneration and subsequent tendon gross failure is the key to developing appropriate treatment and p...
Lotfollahzadeh S, Mokhber-Dezfouli MR, Tajik P, Bokaie S, Watson DG.The present survey evaluated the use of prohibited substances cases in the first 2 years of medication regulation in horseracing in Iran so that the impact of these regulations on the level of positive cases over the period could be assessed. Objective: To determine the prevalence of positive tests for prohibited substances in horse races during 2 years of a drugs testing programme in Iran. Methods: A total of 656 horses that were winners or second in races were tested during the 2 year study. In the first year 354 horses (209 males and 145 females) and in the second year 302 horses (155 males...
Moura I, Radhouani H, Torres C, Poeta P, Igrejas G.Lusitano horses were investigated in order to detect the presence of vancomycin-resistant enterococci. vanA isolates showed high level vancomycin (Minimum inhibitory concentration; MIC > or = 128 mg/l) and teicoplanin resistance (MIC 64 mg/l), as well as resistance to ciprofloxacin, erythromycin and tetracycline. The tet(L) and erm(B) genes, associated with tetracycline and erythromycin resistance, respectively, were found in all vanA isolates. The intestinal tract of Lusitano horses can be a potential reservoir for vanA-containing enterococci.
Nemoto M, Imagawa H, Tsujimura K, Yamanaka T, Kondo T, Matsumura T.Reverse transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP) was applied to detection of equine rotavirus. Because equine rotavirus of the single P genotype, P[12], is predominant in the equine population worldwide, an RT-LAMP primer set was designed to target the genotype P[12] sequence and thus detect equine rotavirus. The detection limit of the RT-LAMP assay was 10(3) copies of viral RNA, whereas that of semi-nested RT-PCR for genotype P[12] was 10(5) copies. The RT-LAMP assay specifically amplified genotype P[12] but did not amplify the other P genotype strains. The RT-LAMP assay...
Kouam MK, Diakou A, Kanzoura V, Papadopoulos E, Gajadhar AA, Theodoropoulos G.The role of horses in the transmission of parasitic zoonoses either as a source of infection to vectors or through contamination of definitive hosts is gaining importance worldwide. For this reason sera from 773 equids including 753 horses, 13 mules and seven ponies in four regions of Greece were investigated by ELISA for the presence of IgG antibodies against Toxoplasma, Leishmania, Echinococcus and Trichinella. Anti-Toxoplasma antibodies were detected in all regions with an overall prevalence of 1.8%. In contrast, antibodies to Leishmania, Echinococcus, and Trichinella were present only in h...
Rejmanek D, Miller MA, Grigg ME, Crosbie PR, Conrad PA.Sarcocystis neurona is a significant cause of neurological disease in horses and other animals, including the threatened Southern sea otter (Enhydra lutris nereis). Opossums (Didelphis virginiana), the only known definitive hosts for S. neurona in North America, are an introduced species in California. S. neurona DNA isolated from sporocysts and/or infected tissues of 10 opossums, 6 horses, 1 cat, 23 Southern sea otters, and 1 harbor porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) with natural infections was analyzed based on 15 genetic markers, including the first internal transcribed spacer (ITS-1) region; the...
Haridy FM, Shoukry NM, Hassan AA, Morsy TA.Toxoplasma gondii is one of the important zoonotic parasites of worldwide. In this paper the seroprevalence of T. gondii in draught horses (3-15 years) including 90 males and 10 females in the first half of the year 2009 was studied. The result showed that the overall ELISA-T. gondii antibodies were 25% of the horses in Greater Cairo, 50% (females) and 22.2% (males).
Chung TH, Park GB, Lim CY, Park HM, Choi GC, Youn HY, Chae JS, Hwang CY.Identification of the species and strain of dermatophyte can play an effective role in control of disease outbreaks by establishing the source of infection. Current methods of identification are based on cultural and microscopic methods, often involving weeks before a positive identification are made. A rapid molecular diagnostic method would therefore be an important laboratory technique, but requires confirmation in equine clinical practice. Objective: To test the sensitivity and specificity of molecular diagnostic methods applied to a racehorse herd from the Korean Racehorse Authority (KRA)...
Casey MB, Tremaine WH.With the advent of detailed oral examination in horses using dental mirrors and rigid endoscopy, secondary dentinal lesions are observed more frequently. More information regarding the association of secondary dentinal defects with apical dental disease would improve the sensitivity of oral examination as a diagnostic aid for pulpitis. Objective: To assess prevalence and severity of secondary dentinal defects observed on examination of occlusal surfaces of cheek teeth (CT) from horses showing clinical signs of pulpitis compared to asymptomatic controls. Methods: Records from all cases of equin...
Kimble KM, Gomez G, Szule JA, Dubey JP, Buchanan B, Porter BF.An adult American Quarter Horse gelding with a history of weight loss presented with an acute onset of colic, fever, soft faeces and elevated liver enzymes. At necropsy, there were gastric mucosal masses and evidence of caecal necrosis. Histologically, the masses were lymph nodes with granulomatous inflammation and areas of liquefactive necrosis. Within and surrounding necrotic areas were free and intrahistiocytic clusters of protozoal tachyzoites. Similar but milder inflammation was evident in the spleen, lungs and liver. Necrotizing typhlitis was also evident. Immunolabelling for Toxoplasma ...
Muscatello G, Browning GF.Selective agar media have been used for many years to facilitate the isolation of Rhodococcus equi from environmental and clinical samples. However, characterisation of R. equi still requires the use of immunochemical or polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis to differentiate between virulent and avirulent isolates. Here, we describe a novel method to detect and differentiate between R. equi isolates using colony blotting and DNA hybridization. Radiolabelled PCR product derived from the R. equi rrnA gene and specific hybridization conditions enabled differentiation of colonies of R. equi fro...
Odoi A, Carter CN, Riley JW, Smith JL, Dwyer RM.To develop an early-warning automated surveillance-data-analysis system for early outbreak detection and reporting and to assess its performance on an abortion outbreak in mares in Kentucky. Methods: 426 data sets of abortions in mares in Kentucky during December 2000 to July 2001. Methods: A custom software system was developed to automatically extract and analyze data from a Laboratory Information Management System database. The software system was tested on data on abortions in mares in Kentucky reported between December 1, 2000, and July 31, 2001. The prospective space-time permutations sc...
Dutta SK, Campbell DL.Blastic transformation of peripheral blood mononuclear cells and serum neutralization antibody levels for equine herpesivurs type 1 were measured in 19 mares from three farms at the time of termination of their pregnancy by normal foaling or viral abortion. The stimulation indexes of lymphocytes obtained from the mares from two farms (Farm 1 and 2) which had virus abortions, ranged from 2.1 to 10.8. But there was no significant difference in stimulation index levels between the aborting and normal foaling mares on these two farms. Equine herpesvirus type 1 was isolated from the mononuclear cel...
Graham H, van Kalsbeek P, van der Goot J, Koene MGJ.Equine piroplasmosis (EP) is a tick-borne disease affecting horses, donkeys, mules and zebras, caused by the intracellular apicomplexan protozoa and . The geographical distribution of EP is closely related to the distribution of its vector tick species belonging to the genera of and . Since the discovery of ticks in 2007 and the first reported autochthonous cases in the South of the Netherlands in 2012, no data on the (sero)prevalence of EP in horses in the Netherlands have been reported and it remains unclear whether and have been able to establish themselves in the Netherlands. This stu...
Drogemuller M, Failing K, Schnieder T, von Samson-Himmelstjerna G.This study was designed to investigate the effect of repeated treatments with increasingly high fenbendazole (FBZ) dosages on the phenotype and genotype of a benzimidazole (BZ)-resistant cyathostomin population. An experimentally infected horse was treated repeatedly with FBZ dose rates between 7.5 and 30.0 mg/kg body weight (bw) over approximately 2 years. Faecal egg counts (FECs) and larval cultures were performed weekly. A total of 45 faecal egg count reduction tests (FECRTs) were analysed, revealing a high variability during the course of experiment with a mean value in faecal egg count re...
von Samson-Himmelstjerna G, Janssen IJI, Ramünke S, Goday C, Borges FA, Koudela B, Niedźwiedź A, Tomczuk K, Studzińska MB, Kornas S, Krücken J.Equines were over decades considered to be infected by two morphologically virtually indistinguishable ascarid species, Parascaris univalens and Parascaris equorum. Reliable species discrimination is only possible using enzyme isoelectric focussing and karyotyping with P. univalens having one and P. equorum two chromosome pairs. However, presumably the complexity of both methods prevented their routine use in nearly all previous studies about prevalence and drug resistance of Parascaris spp. These have barely been performed on the species level although most studies stated presence of one or t...
van Gennip RGP, van de Water SGP, Potgieter CA, van Rijn PA.The Reoviridae family consists of nonenveloped multilayered viruses with a double-stranded RNA genome consisting of 9 to 12 genome segments. The Orbivirus genus of the Reoviridae family contains African horse sickness virus (AHSV), bluetongue virus, and epizootic hemorrhagic disease virus, which cause notifiable diseases and are spread by biting Culicoides species. Here, we used reverse genetics for AHSV to study the role of outer capsid protein VP2, encoded by genome segment 2 (Seg-2). Expansion of a previously found deletion in Seg-2 indicates that structural protein VP2 of AHSV is not essen...
Guidolin FR, Tambourgi DV, Guidolin R, Marcelino JR, Okamoto CK, Magnoli FC, Queiroz GP, Dias da Silva W.Crotalus durissus terrificus, C. d. collilineatus, C. d. cascavella and C. d. marajoensis are responsible minor but severe snake bites in Brazil. The venoms of these snakes share the presence of crotoxin, a neurotoxin comprising of two associated components, crotapotin and phospholipase A2 (PLA2). Treatment of the victims with specific antiserum is the unique effective therapeutic measure. The ability of anti-Crotalus antisera produced by the routine using crude venom to immunize horses or purified crotoxin and PLA2 as individual immunogens was compared. Antisera obtained from horses immunized...
Considering the course of the current SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, it is important to have serological tests for monitoring humoral immune response against SARS-CoV-2 infection and vaccination. Herein we describe a novel bridge enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (b-ELISA) for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies detection in human and other species, employing recombinant Spike protein as a unique antigen, which is produced at high scale in insect larvae. Eighty two human control sera/plasmas and 169 COVID-19 patients' sera/plasmas, confirmed by rRT-PCR, were analyzed by the b-ELISA assay. In addition, a total of 27 a...
Nagy P, Huszenicza G, Reiczigel J, Juhász J, Kulcsár M, Abaváry K, Guillaume D.Factors influencing plasma progesterone concentration were investigated in seven mares. Two-phase logistic curves were fitted (r=0.98) to plasma progesterone concentrations of blood samples collected once daily. In addition to the effect of time (P<0.001), there were differences (P<0.01) among mares in the peak height of the progesterone plateau and in the (area under the curve) AUC. Plasma progesterone concentrations were higher (P<0.001) after a multiple versus single ovulation. There was an effect of season (P<0.001), but no significant effect of luteal morphology. The retrospec...
Spence KL, Rosanowski SM, Slater J, Cardwell JM.Exotic diseases pose a significant risk to horse health and welfare. Several stakeholder groups, including primary care veterinarians, share responsibility for maintaining freedom from pathogens that cause exotic diseases. However, little is known about the current state of exotic disease preparedness within the British horse industry. Objective: The aim of this study was to explore equine veterinarians' experiences of, and attitudes towards, exotic disease preparedness in Great Britain. Methods: This is a qualitative interview-based study. Methods: Semistructured interviews were conducted wit...
Savage VL, Christley R, Pinchbeck G, Morrison LJ, Hodgkinson J, Peachey LE.Trypanosomosis is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in working equids in The Gambia. Recently, a progressive, severe neurological syndrome characterised by a diffuse lymphoplasmacytic meningoencephalitis has been identified and associated with Trypanosoma brucei infection of the central nervous system. The pathogenesis of cerebral trypanosomosis is unclear and the clinical syndrome not well described. This observational cross-sectional study aimed to identify host and parasite related risk factors associated with the development of cerebral trypanosomosis and to describe the neurologica...
Theelen MJP, Luiken REC, Wagenaar JA, Sloet van Oldruitenborgh-Oosterbaan MM, Rossen JWA, Schaafstra FJWC, van Doorn DA, Zomer AL.Hospitalisation and antimicrobial treatment are common in horses and significantly impact the intestinal microbiota. Antimicrobial treatment might also increase levels of resistant bacteria in faeces, which could spread to other ecological compartments, such as the environment, other animals and humans. In this study, we aimed to characterise the short- and long-term effects of transportation, hospitalisation and trimethoprim-sulfadiazine (TMS) administration on the faecal microbiota and resistome of healthy equids. In a longitudinal experimental study design, in which the ponies served as the...
Wilde H, Chutivongse S.Four hundred nineteen patients exposed to rabies in Thailand were treated with equine rabies immune globulin (ERIG) manufactured by Sclavo of Italy, a product also licensed in the United States of America. They were followed for a minimum of 1 month after ERIG injection and rabies vaccine administration. Adverse serum sickness-like reactions were noted in 15 patients (3.58%). These were clinically acceptable and only 1 of these patients required corticosteroid therapy and short term hospitalization for serum sickness. ERIG is approximately 1/10 of the cost of human rabies immune globulin (HRIG...
Ackerson LK, Viswanath K.Previous research has found that members of the public have a skewed sense of health risk. The purpose of this research was to investigate how mass media use influences perceptions of threat from cancer and eastern equine encephalitis (EEE). Investigators performed a media content analysis of 253 health-related articles from 11 Massachusetts newspapers, then used logistic regression to analyze responses to a health communication survey of 613 Massachusetts adults. A greater proportion of cancer articles compared to those about EEE mentioned progress in combating the disease (61.0% vs. 16.2%, P...
Carminatti A, Chitolina MB, Ribeiro AB, Forest M, Collet SG, Prestes AM, Camillo G.To facilitate exploration of the immense range of gastrointestinal parasites in horses and the impact of parasitism on equine health, the present study aimed to evaluate the occurrence and risk factors associated with these infections in horses reared in different management systems in the state of Santa Catarina, Brazil. Samples were collected from 208 horses: 91 from extensive, 64 from semi-extensive, and 53 from intensive rearing systems. The identified helminths included those of the Strongylida order (80.29%), Parascaris equorum (3.36%), Oxyuris equi (4.33%), and Anoplocephala spp. (1.92%...
Xie J, Tong P, Zhang L, Ren M, Song X, Jia C, Palidan N, Zhang L, Kuang L.In November 2018, an outbreak of respiratory disease occurred in foals at an equestrian club in Changji, northern Xinjiang, China. We applied viral metagenomics to investigate this outbreak and identify potential pathogens involved in this equine respiratory syndrome. The metagenomics data revealed the presence of sequences matching those of equid herpesvirus (EHV) 2, 4, and 5. PCR with specific primers targeting ORF33 of EHV-4 and ORF8 of EHV-2 and EHV-5 revealed coinfection with these viruses in this respiratory syndrome. To investigate the prevalence of these viruses in China, 453 nasal swa...
Savill MG, Murray SR, Scholes P, Maas EW, McCormick RE, Moore EB, Gilpin BJ.Rhodococcus coprophilus, a natural inhabitant of herbivore faeces, has been suggested as a good indicator of animal (as opposed to human) faecal contamination of aquatic environments. However, conventional detection methods limit its use for this as they require up to 21 days to obtain a result. In this paper an optimised method for extracting R. coprophilus DNA from faecal samples is described. PCR and 5'-nuclease (TaqMan) PCR methods were developed to allow the detection and enumeration of R. coprophilus in faecal samples within 2-3 days. Both PCR methods targeted the 16S rRNA gene, producin...
Dauphin G, Legay V, Pitel PH, Zientara S.For over two centuries, Borna disease (BD) has been described as a sporadically occurring infectious meningoencephalomyelitis affecting horses and sheep in Central Europe. Over the last decade, the BD epidemiology has been discussed. Firstly, its geographical distribution seems larger than what was previously thought. Secondly, the disease can affect a large number of warm-blooded animal species, including humans. The aetiological agent is the Boma disease virus (BDV), an enveloped, nonsegmented negative-stranded RNA virus classified in the new virus family Bornaviridae (Mononegavirales order)...
Lyons ET, Bolin DC, Bryant UK, Cassone LM, Jackson CB, Janes JG, Kennedy LA, Loynachan AT, Boll KR, Burkhardt AS, Langlois EL, Minnis SM, Welsh SC....Parasite infections are more quantifiable postmortem than antemortem in horses. Thus a study was carried out examining dead horses for specific parasite species. Most of the weanling and older horses submitted to the University of Kentucky Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory (UKVDL) for postmortem examination between November 22, 2016 and March 23, 2017 were examined for certain species of internal parasites. The stomach and duodenum from 69 horses were examined for bots (Gasterophilus spp.). Combined data for both Thoroughbred and non-Thoroughbred (16 other than Thoroughbred breeds/mixed breeds)...
Studdert MJ, Crabb BS, Ficorilli N.The restriction endonuclease DNA fingerprints of 57 isolates of equine herpesvirus 1 (EHV1; equine abortion virus) from abortion, perinatal foal mortalities and encephalitis from 15 epidemics that occurred in Australasia between 1975 and 1989 were examined using the enzymes Bam HI, EcoRI and Bgl II. There was a remarkable degree of uniformity in the restriction patterns; mobility differences were observed in only 14 of 52 (27%) of the fragments. Twelve of these 14 fragments were located within the repeat structures that bracket the unique short region of the genome or were located at the left ...
Borchers K, Frölich K, Ludwig H.In blood samples of seven captive equid species from four German zoos EHV-1 specific antibodies were detected in 76% and EHV-4 specific antibodies in 73% of the 55 animals, whereas 93% were tested positive for EHV-2 and EHV-5, respectively. In only one blood sample from a Przewalski's wild horse EHV-4 DNA was amplified by PCR. From seven Przewalski's wild horses EHV-2, and from another one EHV-5 was isolated by cocultivation. The identity of the virus isolates was verified by PCR and restriction enzyme digestion.
Flash ML, Crabb HK, Hitchens PL, Firestone SM, Stevenson MA, Gilkerson JR.The number of horses leaving the Australian Thoroughbred (TB) racing industry each year is of concern to animal welfare advocates, public and regulators. A horse's previous athletic performance is a significant driver of retirement from racing. Racehorse performance can be measured in terms of the total number of starts, duration of racing and prize money earned. This study investigated Australian racing records for the 2005 and 2010 Victorian TB foal crops to identify factors associated with total number of starts, racing career duration, prize money earned and age of last race start-up to th...
Šenica P, Žele Vengušt D, Vengušt G, Kuhar U.Rotaviruses A (RVA) are a major cause of acute viral gastroenteritis in humans worldwide and are responsible for about two million hospitalizations per year. They can also infect other mammals such as pigs, calves, goats, lambs, and horses, in which they are also considered a major cause of viral diarrhea. While RVA is well studied in humans and domestic animals, its occurrence in wild ruminants is not well known. The RVA genome is a double-stranded RNA consisting of 11 segments, and genotyping is based on the VP7 (G) and VP4 (P) segments. Currently, there are 42G genotypes and 58P genotypes. ...
Hüttl J, Reitt K, Meli ML, Meili T, Bönzli E, Pineroli B, Ginders J, Schoster A, Jones S, Tyson GB, Hosie MJ, Pusterla N, Wernike K....Horses and cattle have shown low susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2, and there is no evidence of experimental intraspecies transmission. Nonetheless, seropositive horses in the US and seropositive cattle in Germany and Italy have been reported. The current study investigated the prevalence of antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 in horses and cattle in Switzerland. In total, 1940 serum and plasma samples from 1110 horses and 830 cattle were screened with a species-specific ELISA based on the SARS-CoV-2 receptor-binding domain (RBD) and, in the case of suspect positive results, a surrogate virus neutralizat...
West Nile virus (WNV) is a globally significant mosquito-borne Flavivirus that causes West Nile disease (WND). In Libya, evidence of WNV circulation has been reported in humans but never in animals. The aim of this study was to determine the seroprevalence of WNV infection in horses and dogs in Libya. In total, 574 and 63 serum samples were collected from apparently healthy, unvaccinated horses and dogs, respectively, between 2016 and 2019. A commercially available competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (c-ELISA) kit was initially used to test the collected samples for the presence of W...
Carbonara M, Mendoza-Roldan JA, Bezerra-Santos MA, de Abreu Teles PP, Lia RP, Locantore F, Iatta R, Volf P, Otranto D.Equids may be infected by zoonotic Leishmania spp., including Leishmania infantum, in regions where canine leishmaniasis (CanL) is endemic, and Leishmania martiniquensis, which has been reported in horses from Central Europe. This study was designed to evaluate the occurrence of both Leishmania spp. among equids living in CanL endemic areas of Italy, as well as to identify dipteran vectors from the same habitats. From March to October 2023, blood, serum and tissue samples from skin lesions were collected from equids (n = 98; n = 56 donkeys and n = 42 horses) living in Italy, as well as sand fl...
Holguin-Rocha AF, Calle-Tobon A, Vásquez GM, Astete H, Fisher ML, Tobon-Castano A, Velez-Tobon G, Maldonado-Ruiz LP, Silver K, Park Y....Ticks are obligatory hematophagous ectoparasites that transmit pathogens among various vertebrates, including humans. The microbial and viral communities of ticks, including pathogenic microorganisms, are known to be highly diverse. However, the factors driving this diversity are not well understood. The tropical horse tick, Dermacentor nitens, is distributed throughout the Americas and it is recognized as a natural vector of Babesia caballi and Theileria equi, the causal agents of equine piroplasmosis. In this study, we characterized the bacterial and viral communities associated with partial...
Gonzálvez M, Franco JJ, Barbero-Moyano J, Caballero-Gómez J, Ruano MJ, Martínez R, Cano-Terriza D, García-Bocanegra I.The largest epidemic of West Nile virus (WNV) reported ever in Spain in both humans and equines occurred in 2020, affecting 77 humans and 139 equine herds. Here, we aimed to monitor the outbreaks detected in equid herds in Andalusia (southern Spain), the Spanish region where 89.9% of the outbreaks were reported, and to evaluate the virus circulation and risk factor associated with WNV exposure in the affected herds. The first WNV case was detected in mid-July 2020, the number of outbreaks peaked in mid-August and the last one was confirmed on 26th October 2020. WNV lineage 1 was detected in 12...
