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.
Hancock K, Zajac AM, Elvinger F, Lindsay DS.Equine protozoal myeloencephalitis is the most important protozoan disease of horses in North America and is usually caused by Sarcocystis neurona. Natural and experimentally induced cases of encephalitis caused by S. neurona have been reported in raccoons (Procyon lotor) and raccoons are an intermediate host for this parasite. A 3-yr-long serological survey was conducted to determine the prevalence of agglutinating antibodies to S. neurona in raccoons collected from Fairfax County, Virginia, a suburban-urban area outside Washington, D.C. Samples from 469 raccoons were examined, and agglutinat...
Landman MA, de Blaauw JA, van Weeren PR, Hofland LJ.A population of 805 horses (70 per cent dressage, 20 per cent show jumpers and 10 per cent trotters) with orthopaedic problems was examined for signs of lameness and back problems, irrespective of their original complaints. In the horses with a back problem the prevalence of lameness was 74 per cent, and back problems were diagnosed in 32 per cent of the lame horses. These percentages were significantly higher than those recorded in a control population of 399 horses, of which 20 per cent were lame and 12 per cent had back problems. In the group of horses with orthopaedic problems there was a ...
Elsheikha HM, Mansfield LS.Sarcocystis neurona has become recognized as the major causative agent of equine protozoal myeloencephalitis (EPM) in the Americas. At least 3 pathogenic species of Sarcocystis, including S. neurona, can be isolated from opossums. Methods are needed to ascertain whether these isolates are viable and capable of causing infections. In this study, the nuclear stain propidium iodide (PI) was used to differentiate between live (viable) and heat-killed (nonviable) S. neurona sporocysts. PI was excluded by live sporocysts but penetrated compromised sporocyst membrane and stained sporozoite nuclei of ...
Drogemuller M, Schnieder T, von Samson-Himmelstjerna G.The molecular mechanism of benzimidazole (BZ) resistance in cyathostomins of horses is still unclear. Previous studies revealed that the TTC or TAC polymorphism in codon 200 of the beta-tubulin isotype 1 gene is not as strictly correlated with BZ resistance as in trichostrongyles in sheep. To identify further sites of polymorphism within the beta-tubulin gene related to BZ resistance, complete complementary DNAs (cDNAs) encoding beta-tubulin of adult worms of Cylicocyclus nassatus, Cyathostomum pateratum, Cyathostomum coronatum, Cyathostomum catinatum, Cylicostephanus longibursatus, and Cylico...
Duarte PC, Conrad PA, Wilson WD, Ferraro GL, Packham AE, Bowers-Lepore J, Carpenter TE, Gardner IA.To estimate risk of exposure and age at first exposure to Sarcocystis neurona and Neospora hughesi and time to maternal antibody decay in foals. Methods: 484 Thoroughbred and Warmblood foals from 4 farms in California. Methods: Serum was collected before and after colostrum ingestion and at 3-month intervals thereafter. Samples were tested by use of the indirect fluorescent antibody test; cutoff titers were > or = 40 and > or = 160 for S neurona and N hughesi, respectively. Results: Risk of exposure to S neurona and N hughesi during the study were 8.2% and 3.1%, respectively. Annual rate...
Salazar P, Traub-Dargatz JL, Morley PS, Wilmot DD, Steffen DJ, Cunningham WE, Salman MD.To determine outcome of equids in the western United States with clinical signs of West Nile virus (WNV) infection and identify factors associated with risk of death in infected equids. Methods: Cross-sectional study. Methods: 484 equids in Nebraska and Colorado. Methods: Owners of 484 equids with laboratory-confirmed West Nile virus infection in Nebraska and Colorado were contacted by telephone, and a questionnaire was used to obtain information on signalment, management, clinical signs, date of disease onset, duration of disease, WNV vaccination status, and health status at the time of the i...
Blitvich BJ, Fernández-Salas I, Contreras-Cordero JF, Loroño-Pino MA, Marlenee NL, Díaz FJ, González-Rojas JI, Obregón-Martínez N....West Nile virus RNA was detected in brain tissue from a horse that died in June 2003 in Nuevo Leon State, Mexico. Nucleotide sequencing and phylogenetic analysis of the premembrane and envelope genes showed that the virus was most closely related to West Nile virus isolates collected in Texas in 2002.
Murrell KD, Djordjevic M, Cuperlovic K, Sofronic Lj, Savic M, Djordjevic M, Damjanovic S.A discovery in 2002 of a Trichinella spiralis-infected horse in Serbia offered an opportunity to conduct needed epidemiological studies on how horses, considered herbivores, acquire a meat-borne parasite. This enigma has persisted since the first human outbreaks from infected horse meat occurred in then 1970s. The trace back of the infected horse to a farm owner was carried out. Interviews and investigations on the farm led to the conclusion that the owner had fed the horse food waste in order to condition the horse prior to sale. Further investigations were then carried out to determine the f...
Ernst NS, Hernandez JA, MacKay RJ, Brown MP, Gaskin JM, Nguyen AD, Giguere S, Colahan PT, Troedsson MR, Haines GR, Addison IR, Miller BJ.To estimate prevalence of and identify risk factors for fecal Salmonella shedding among hospitalized horses with signs of gastrointestinal tract disease. Methods: Cross-sectional study. Methods: 465 hospitalized horses with gastrointestinal tract disease. Methods: Horses were classified as positive or negative for fecal Salmonella shedding during hospitalization by means of standard aerobic bacteriologic methods. The relationship between investigated exposure factors and fecal Salmonella shedding was examined by means of logistic regression. Results: The overall prevalence of fecal Salmonella ...
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...
Mealey RH, Leib SR, Pownder SL, McGuire TC.Equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV) is a lentivirus that causes persistent infection in horses. The appearance of antigenically distinct viral variants during recurrent viremic episodes is thought to be due to adaptive immune selection pressure. To test this hypothesis, we evaluated envelope SU cloned sequences from five severe combined immunodeficient (SCID) foals infected with EIAV. Within the SU hypervariable V3 region, 8.5% of the clones had amino acid changes, and 6.4% had amino acid changes within the known cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) epitope Env-RW12. Of all the SU clones, only 3.1% ...
Park AW, Wood JL, Daly JM, Newton JR, Glass K, Henley W, Mumford JA, Grenfell BT.We assess the effects of strain heterology (strains that are immunologically similar but not identical) on equine influenza in a vaccinated population. Using data relating to individual animals, for both homologous and heterologous vaccinees, we estimate distributions for the latent and infectious periods, quantify the risk of becoming infected in terms of the quantity of cross-reactive antibodies to a key surface protein of the virus (haemagglutinin) and estimate the probability of excreting virus (i.e. becoming infectious) given that infection has occurred. The data suggest that the infectio...
Mancianti F.Feline leishmaniasis (FL) is a quite uncommon feature. Clinical disease has been described in cats since nineties begin. More than 40 reports in world literature have been referred, but the clinical cases have been only recently well defined. Most of the reports focus on infected cats living in endemic areas, even if, more recently FL due to Leishmania infantum was found in Sao Paulo State, in Brazil where autochthonous human or canine leishmaniasis cases have never reported. In Europe clinical cases of FL have been described from Portugal, France, Spain and Italy from 1996 to 2002. When a typ...
Szabó MP, Castagnolli KC, Santana DA, de Castro MB, Romano MA.Since host immune reaction to ticks interferes with tick-borne pathogen transmission, it is important to recognize naturally occurring tick-host immune relationships to better understand the epidemiology of such infectious diseases. Amblyomma cajennense is an important tick-borne disease vector in the Neotropical region and horses maintain it in domestic environments. In the present work intradermal testing of A. cajennense tick exposed horses and donkeys using crude tick antigens was used to evaluate the type of hypersensitivity induced by infestations. Animals sensitized by A. cajennense inf...
Westermann CM, Boerma S, van Nieuwstadt RA.Since the only registrated anti-ectoparasiticum for horses (foxim) is no longer available in The Netherlands, some cases of amitraz intoxication of the horse have occurred. In this article the literature concerning amitraz intoxications and experiments will be discussed and some cases will be described.
Traversa D, Giangaspero A, Galli P, Paoletti B, Otranto D, Gasser RB.Gastric or cutaneous habronemosis caused by Habronema microstoma Creplin, 1849 and Habronema muscae Carter, 1865 is a parasitic disease of equids transmitted by muscid flies. There is a paucity of information on the epidemiology of this disease, which is mainly due to limitations with diagnosis in the live animal and with the identification of the parasites in the intermediate hosts. To overcome such limitations, a molecular approach, based on the use of genetic markers in the second internal transcribed spacer (ITS-2) of ribosomal DNA, was established for the two species of Habronema. Charact...
Hall RA, Khromykh AA.West Nile virus (WNV) is a mosquito-borne flavivirus that is emerging as a global pathogen. In the last decade, virulent strains of the virus have been associated with significant outbreaks of human and animal disease in Europe, the Middle East and North America. Efforts to develop human and veterinary vaccines have taken both traditional and novel approaches. A formalin-inactivated whole virus vaccine has been approved for use in horses. DNA vaccines coding for the structural WNV proteins have also been assessed for veterinary use and have been found to be protective in mice, horses and birds...
Ciaramella P, Corona M, Cortese L, Piantedosi D, Santoro D, Di Loria A, Rigato R.One hundred and fifty horses from Italy were tested for serum antibodies to Neospora caninum by indirect fluorescence antibody test (IFAT). Antibodies were present in 42 horses (28%). The positive titres were: 1:50 (16/150-10.5%), 1:100 (26/150-17%), 1:200 (8/150-5.3%) and 1:800 (1/150-0.6%). No neurological anomalies were observed in the seropositive horses. This is the first serologic survey for Neospora spp. antibodies performed on horses born and raised in Italy.
Pinchbeck GL, Clegg PD, Proudman CJ, Morgan KL, French NP.A concurrent case-control study of 12 UK racecourses was made between March 1, 2000, and August 31, 2001, to identify and quantify the factors associated with the risk of horses falling in steeplechase races. Cases were defined as a jumping effort at a steeplechase fence that resulted in a fall and controls were defined as a successful jumping effort over any steeplechase fence at any of the 12 racecourses within 14 days before or after the case fall. Information on the horse, the jockey and the race were collected and all the fences on all the courses were surveyed. Conditional logistic regre...
Nagore D, García-Sanmartín J, García-Pérez AL, Juste RA, Hurtado A.Specific oligonucleotide probes were designed to develop a new and highly sensitive reverse line blot assay to detect and identify simultaneously different Theileria and Babesia species in horses. The amplified hypervariable V4 region of the 18S rRNA gene was hybridised against different generic and species-specific probes. The survey was conducted over 243 samples of equine blood divided into three different groups: group 1, 24 horses presented as possible clinical piroplasmosis; group 2, 181 clinically healthy free-ranging horses exposed to ticks; group 3, 38 riding horses with unrelated pat...
Durand JP, Simon F, Tolou H.West Nile virus (WNV) is a common arbovirosis, transmitted by mosquitoes mainly Culex. WNV is commonly responsible for equine epizootics and epidemics in humans in sub-Saharan Africa. It has been occasionally described in Southern Europe and in some Mediterranean countries. Since 1994, WNV clinical aspects seem to change with an increase of central neurological involvement and a higher mortality, especially among people older than 50 years. In 1999, WNV reached New York, being responsible for severe clinical manifestations. It spread all over North America in less than four years Four (only fo...
Pinchbeck GL, Clegg PD, Proudman CJ, Morgan KL, French NR.Falls during racing present a risk of injury to both horse and jockey and a risk of fatality to horses. Objective: To use video recordings of races to describe the circumstances surrounding horse falls at hurdle and steeplechase fences and to identify and quantify within-race risk factors for horse falls in National Hunt racing in the UK. Methods: A retrospective, matched, nested case-control study using video recordings of races was conducted on 6 UK racecourses. Cases and controls were matched on both race type and jump number at which the fall occurred. Conditional logistic regression analy...
Smith LJ, Marr CM, Payne RJ, Stoneham SJ, Reid SW.Septic arthritis is a serious problem in the neonate, with a poor prognosis being reported for recovery. The impact of neonatal septic arthritis on the likelihood that Thoroughbred (TB) foals will start on a racecourse is not known. Objective: The development of septic arthritis in a TB foal significantly reduces the likelihood that it will race when compared to foals from the same dam. Methods: Medical records of 69 foals treated for septic arthritis were reviewed. The dam's foaling records were reviewed and lifetime racing records were then retrieved for both the affected foals and at least ...
Hopper BJ, Steel C, Richardson JL, Alexander GR, Robertson ID.Sclerosis of the third carpal bone is a common radiographic finding in both lame and sound racehorses, but there are no guidelines correlating degree of sclerosis and incidence of lameness. Objective: To develop a protocol for describing subchondral bone sclerosis in C3 on dorsoproximal-dorsodistal oblique (DPr-DDiO) radiographs of the carpus and to correlate these changes with exercise history and carpal lameness. Methods: One hundred and six Standardbreds entering their first year of training (exercise group) and 7 age-matched Standardbreds at pasture (controls) were examined at approximatel...
Minke JM, Audonnet JC, Fischer L.The increasing international movement of horses combined with the relaxation of veterinary regulations has resulted in an increased incidence of equine infectious diseases. Vaccination, along with management measures, has become the primary method for the effective control of these diseases. Traditionally modified live and inactivated vaccines have been used and these vaccines have proven to be very successful in preventing disease. However, there are a number of equine infectious diseases for which conventional technology has shown its limitations. The advent of recombinant technology has sti...
Ward MP, Levy M, Thacker HL, Ash M, Norman SK, Moore GE, Webb PW.To describe an outbreak of encephalomyelitis caused by West Nile virus (WNV) in horses in northern Indiana. Methods: Case series. Methods: 170 horses. Methods: Horses with clinical signs suggestive of encephalomyelitis caused by WNV were examined. Date, age, sex, breed, and survival status were recorded. Serum samples were tested for anti-WNV antibodies, and virus isolation was attempted from samples of brain tissue. Climate data from local weather recording stations were collected. An epidemic curve was constructed, and case fatality rate was calculated. Results: The most common clinical sign...
Castillo-Olivares J, Wood J.West Nile virus (WNV) is a flavivirus closely related to Japanese encephalitis and St. Louis encephalitis viruses that is primarily maintained in nature by transmission cycles between mosquitoes and birds. Occasionally, WNV infects and causes disease in other vertebrates, including humans and horses. West Nile virus has re-emerged as an important pathogen as several recent outbreaks of encephalomyelitis have been reported from different parts of Europe in addition to the large epidemic that has swept across North America. This review summarises the main features of WNV infection in the horse, ...
Daly JM, Newton JR, Mumford JA.Influenza A viruses of the H3N8 subtype are a major cause of respiratory disease in horses. Subclinical infection with virus shedding can occur in vaccinated horses, particularly where there is a mismatch between the vaccine strains and the virus strains circulating in the field. Such infections contribute to the spread of the disease. Rapid diagnostic techniques are available for detection of virus antigen and can be used as an aid in control programmes. Improvements have been made to methods of standardising inactivated virus vaccines, and a direct relationship between vaccine potency measur...
Horta MC, Labruna MB, Sangioni LA, Vianna MC, Gennari SM, Galvão MA, Mafra CL, Vidotto O, Schumaker TT, Walker DH.In serum samples obtained from all the healthy humans, horses, dogs, and donkeys present on three farms in the Pedreira Municipality, an endemic area for Brazilian spotted fever, an indirect immunofluorescence assay (IFA) detected antibodies against Rickettsia rickettsii in 17 (77.3%) horses, 5 (31.3%) dogs (titers ranging from 64 to 4,048), and none of 4 donkeys or 50 humans. Five canine and eight equine sera with high antibody titers to R. rickettsii were also tested by IFA against R. bellii, R. akari, and R. africae antigens. Sera from two horses and two dogs that showed similar high antibo...
Rocha T.Contagious equine metritis (CEM), a highly contagious bacterial venereal infection of equids, caused by Taylorella equigenitalis, is of major international concern, causing short-term infertility in mares. Portugal has a long tradition of horse breeding and exportation and until recently was considered CEM-free. However, in 2008, T. equigenitalis was isolated at our laboratory from a recently imported stallion and 2 mares from the same stud. Following this first reported outbreak, the Portuguese Veterinary Authority (DGVA) performed mandatory testing on all remaining equines at the stud (n=30)...
Bugno-Poniewierska M, Stefaniuk-Szmukier M, -Kajtoch AP, Fornal A, Piórkowska K, Ropka-Molik K.The highly selective breeding of Arabian horses results in inbreeding depression and genetic disorders, thereby causing significant economic loss. The Polish population of Arabians has a great impact on many breeding programmes. The aim of the current study was to monitor genetic variants involved in the most common genetic disorders of this breed. A total of 808 elite Arabian horses were screened for cerebellar abiotrophy (CA), severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) and lavender foal syndrome (LFS) genetic disorders by Sanger sequencing and allelic discrimination methods. The investigated po...
Dorph K, Haughan J, Robinson M, Redding LE.To characterize antimicrobial use on four racetracks in the eastern US during the peak racing 2017-2018 seasons. Handwritten daily treatment sheets provided by attending veterinarians who listed treatments administered to horses stabled at the racetrack were obtained. Information contained in the treatment sheets included the date, name of the horse and its trainer, type of treatment, and a brief (usually 1-word) indication for treatment. The handwritten data listed on the racetrack treatment sheets were manually transcribed and analyzed. A total of 2,684 antimicrobial prescriptions were recor...
Veronesi F, Passamonti F, Moretti A, Morganti G, Vardi DM, Laus F, Marenzoni ML, Spaterna A, Coletti M, Fioretti DP.The aim of this study was to evaluate the performance of a commercially available rapid enzyme-linked immonosorbent assay, the Snap® 4Dx test, in the detection of Anaplasma phagocytophilum antibodies in horses. Two hundred apparently healthy horses (asymptomatic) and 244 animals showing clinical symptoms (symptomatic), were tested for A. phagocytophilum immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies using both the Snap® 4Dx kit and an indirect fluorescence antibody test (IFAT), with the latter serving as a comparative test. Horses belonging to the symptomatic group were also tested for evidence of active...
Luthersson N, Ýr Þorgrímsdóttir Ú, Harris PA, Parkins T, Bennet ED.To investigate equine squamous gastric disease (ESGD) and equine glandular gastric disease (EGGD) in Icelandic horses moving from pasture into training. 81 horses (median age, 3 years; interquartile range, 1 year) from 10 farms representing 4 different Icelandic regions. Initial gastroscopy was undertaken within 2 weeks of moving from pasture into a training establishment. A total of 71 horses underwent endoscopic examination again 8 weeks later. Various management and behavioral factors were assessed through face-to-face questionnaires with the owners or trainers. Multivariable logistic regre...
Tarr CJ, Thompson PN, Guthrie AJ, Harper CK.The carrier prevalence of severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID), lavender foal syndrome (LFS) and cerebellar abiotrophy (CA) in Arabian foals in South Africa was determined in order to quantify the potential impact of these conditions locally. Furthermore, the carrier prevalence of SCID prior to and following the introduction of a genetic test was compared to evaluate the effect of testing in the population. Objective: To estimate the carrier prevalence of SCID, LFS and CA in registered purebred Arabians born in South Africa in the 2004/5 and 2009/10 foaling seasons and compare the changes i...
Ravary B, Fecteau G, Higgins R, Paré J, Lavoie JP.Bacteriologic detection of Salmonella spp. from feces of animals admitted to Veterinary Teaching Hospital of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Montréal, in Saint-Hyacinthe was carried out during a 1-year period to estimate the prevalence of bovine and equine salmonellosis. Prevalence at the time of hospitalization was quite low: 1.4% in cattle and 1.7% in horses. Incidence was 15.1 cases/100 animal/year in cattle and 38.7 cases/100 animal/year in horses. Serotype typhimurium was the most prevalent in both species. In cattle, cases were evenly distributed over the year. In hors...
Laus F, Corsalini J, Mandara MT, Bazzano M, Bertoletti A, Gialletti R.Equine grass sickness (EGS) has been reported in several European and extra-European countries. Despite this, no scientific paper about clinical cases of EGS in Italy has been published. EGS is a disease affecting almost exclusively horses kept on pasture, characterized by clinical signs related to lesions in autonomic nervous system (ANS), particularly in the enteric nervous system (ENS). According to clinical presentation, acute, subacute and chornic syndromes can be observed, with various sympthoms including dullness, anorexia, dysphagia, drooling of saliva, tachycardia, ptosis, patchy swea...
Dogan F, Bilge Dagalp S, Dik B, Farzani TA, Alkan F.Bovine leukemia virus (BLV) is known as the etiological agent of Enzootic bovine leukosis (EBL), which is the most common neoplastic disease of cattle. While the major route of virus transmission is believed to be iatrogenic, BLV proviral DNA has been identified in biological materials, including nasal secretions, saliva, milk, colostrum, and semen, and in several insect species, including horses flies. However, insects' role in the natural transmission of BLV has not been clearly demonstrated. This study assessed the possible role of midges - Culicoides spp. - in BLV transmission. BLVs were g...
Lemon AV, Goddard A, Hooijberg EH.The accessibility of thromboelastography (TEG) to general practitioners is limited by short sample storage times (30 minutes) and storage temperatures (20-23°C). Objective: We aimed to evaluate the stability of canine and equine citrated blood samples when stored for extended periods of time, both at room temperature (RT) (20-23°C) and refrigerator temperature (FT) (2-7.5°C). Methods: Citrated whole blood samples from healthy dogs and horses (n = 10 for each) were stored for 30 minutes (baseline) at RT before TEG analysis. Baseline values for TEG variables R, K, α, MA, LY30, and LY60 w...
Attia MM, Khalifa MM, Mahdy OA. larvae are of veterinary and medical importance caused specific equine intestinal myiasis. (Botfly larvae) had a wide geographical distribution. The present study explores the prevalence rate of 3 stage larvae in Egypt from January- December 2017; besides, in vitro trials to control of this larvae and evaluation of this trial using Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and histopathology of treated larvae. In the present study, the 3 larval stage of was found in clusters in the epithelium of the investigated stomach and infested with prevalence rate 97.2%. The highest collected numbers of lar...
Singh S, Dohre SK, Kamthan A, Pal V, Karothia BS, Singha HS, Kumar S.Glanders is a contagious and highly fatal disease of equines with zoonotic potential. It is caused by a Gram-negative, nonmotile bacterium Burkholderia mallei. Complement fixation test (CFT) is one of the most commonly used tests for diagnosis of glanders; however, it has some limitations. A recombinant-truncated Burkholderia intracellular motility A (BimA) protein-based indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (iELISA) was previously reported by us for glanders diagnosis, which has been re-optimized in this study using a panel of glanders positive (n = 75) and glanders negative (n = 227...
Souza JRM, Gonçalves PBD, Bertolin K, Ferreira R, Ribeiro ASS, Ribeiro DB, Rechsteiner SMDEF, Araújo RR, Pimentel CA, Pimentel AMH.The aim of the present study was to evaluate the correlation of age and heat cycle to determine reproductive efficiency in young and aged Thoroughbred mares bred on foal heat (FH) or on second heat (SH) after foaling. Embryo mortality (EmbM) was determined every time a mare was found open after a positive pregnancy diagnosis. Parturition to breeding interval, pregnancy rate (PregR) and EmbM rate were the dependent variables and the treatments were breeding on the FH or on SH. The cutoff age to obtain above-average probability for the EmbM was 10 years old. PregR in mares bred on FH was lower ...
Bastianello SS.A survey was carried out on the neoplasms of horses, donkeys and mules which are recorded in the registration files of the Section of Pathology of the Veterinary Research Institute, Onderstepoort, in the Republic of South Africa, over a 40-year period from 1935 to 1974. A total of 378 tumours are recorded, 339 of which were in horses, 32 in mules and 7 in donkeys. Sarcoids (38%), squamous cell carcinomas (23,5%), fibromas (8,2%), melanomas (8,0%), papillomas (4,5%), fibrosarcomas (3,4%) and lymphosarcomas (3,0%) accounted for 88,6% of the total. Of the 58 sarcoids for which the site or origin ...
Physick-Sheard PW, Russell M.The objective of the study was to examine the career profile of the average racehorse in order to establish normal values for performance. Records of race performance for a population of 762 horses randomly selected from the 1972 registrations of the Canadian Standardbred Horse Society were summarized and the pattern of racing by year and month from 1974 to 1983 inclusive recorded. Results were analyzed to determine the influence of sex, gait, age, and year of first race (starting year). The transformation log (1 + X) was used to achieve normality where necessary. Of the 762 horses, 507 raced,...
Pessoa V, Ramilo DW, Pereira da Fonseca I, Ferreira MB, Marti E, Tilley P.Insect Bite Hypersensitivity (IBH) is a common cutaneous disease, affecting a large number of horses worldwide. Several studies have identified Culicoides spp. saliva as a clinically relevant allergen source. The prevalence of IBH in Portugal, particularly in Lusitano horses, is still not known. However, the environmental characteristics of the national territory are favorable to the activity of Culicoides, and several species of this genus can be found, namely C. imicola and C. obsoletus/C. scoticus. In this study we characterized the Culicoides population present in Lusitano stud farms with ...
Langsjoen RM, Key A, Shariatzadeh N, Jackson CR, Mahmood F, Arkun K, Alexandrescu S, Solomon IH, Piantadosi A.Eastern equine encephalitis virus (EEEV) is a relatively little-studied alphavirus that can cause devastating viral encephalitis, potentially leading to severe neurological sequelae or death. Although case numbers have historically been low, outbreaks have been increasing in frequency and scale since the 2000 s. It is critical to investigate EEEV evolutionary patterns, especially within human hosts, to understand patterns of emergence, host adaptation, and within-host evolution. To this end, we obtained formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue blocks from discrete brain regions from five contem...
Scheurer L, Bachofen C, Hardmeier I, Lechmann J, Schoster A.Equid Gamma herpesvirus (eGHV) infections have been reported worldwide and may be correlated with clinical signs, e.g., affecting the respiratory tract in young horses. eGHV are shed by healthy horses as well as horses with respiratory tract disease. The prevalence in healthy Swiss horses is unknown to date but this data would provide valuable information for causal diagnosis in clinical cases and formulation of biosecurity recommendations. Nasal swabs from 68 healthy horses from 12 Swiss stables and 2 stables near the Swiss border region in Germany were analyzed by panherpes nested PCR. Posit...
Sairanen J, Katila T, Virtala AM, Ojala M.Racing and fertility are connected with each other in many ways. Stress and increased body temperature induced by racing may have negative effects on fertility, but on the other hand, high quality nutrition and management of racing horses may have positive effects. Fertility may also be genetically associated with racing performance. The analysed data consisted of Finnish mating records of Standardbreds (n=33,679) and Finnhorses (n=32,731), from 1991 to 2005, and the harness racing records of both mares and stallions. Fertility was measured by foaling outcome, and racing performance was measur...
Journal of medical entomologyFebruary 21, 2008
Volume 45, Issue 1 115-124 doi: 10.1603/0022-2585(2008)45[115:hdcfah]2.0.co;2
Gerry AC, Nawaey TM, Sanghrajka PB, Wisniewska J, Hullinger P.Hematophagous Diptera landing on a horse were removed by vacuum, and their numbers were related to a paired carbon dioxide-baited suction trap at three locations in southern California where West Nile virus activity was high during the preceding year. Insects collected from the horse included mosquitoes (nine species), biting midges (Culicoides sonorensis Wirth & Jones), and black flies (Simulium bivittatum Malloch). Mosquitoes were predominantly collected from the head, crest, withers, neck, chest, and shoulders of the horse, whereas biting midges and black flies were predominantly collected ...
Neamat-Allah AN, Damaty HM.Respiratory tract infections are considered the major problem of equine worldwide. Strangles is an infectious and highly contagious respiratory bacterial disease of equine caused by Streptococcus equi. This study is aimed to evaluate some clinical and epidemiological investigation associated with strangles and to study the hematological and biochemical changes in 20 Arabian horse naturally infected with S. equi during the disease and after 10 days from treatment by procaine penicillin with benzathine penicillin. Methods: A total of 490 Arabian horses have been examined, 120 (24.5%) have been c...
Szeredi L, Hornyák A, Pálfi V, Molnár T, Glávits R, Dénes B.The occurrence of equine arteritis virus (EAV) induced equine abortions was studied with different laboratory methods during a 3-year period. Tissue samples from 96 aborted equine foetuses or newborn foals were collected from 57 farms located in different parts of Hungary. Virus isolation, polymerase chain reaction (PCR), immunohistochemistry and serology were used for the detection of EAV infection. The overall seroprevalence of EAV infection in mares was 65%. EAV induced abortion was diagnosed in eight (8.3%) cases from six (10.5%) herds. Abortion was sporadic in all herds except for one, wh...
Butler AJ, Greenbank H, Parrish R, Nielsen MK, Stoughton WB.Cyathostomins are the most common parasites of adult horses worldwide. Currently, the three classes of anthelmintics used to treat cyathostomin infections includes benzimidazoles, pyrimidines and macrocyclic lactones. However, due to widespread overuse, cyathostomins have developed varying degrees of resistance to all classes of anthelmintics. Fecal egg count reduction tests (FECRT) are currently used to determine the presence of anthelmintic resistance (AR), while egg reappearance periods (ERP) are used to investigate early macrocyclic lactone resistance. The objective of this study was to in...
Cohen D, Bosler EM, Bernard W, Meirs D, Eisner R, Schulze TL.A serologic survey of horses in the New Jersey-Pennsylvania area demonstrated that about 10% (6.2-14.2%) have significant levels of serum antibody to Borrelia burgdorferi. However, in a highly endemic area of central New Jersey, up to 60% of the mares and yearlings samples on one farm were seropositive. In 1983, sera from this same farm exhibited only 12% positives in mares and 35% positives in yearlings. Longitudinal studies of paired sera obtained from individual yearlings over a 6-month period in 1985 showed that 34% of them declined during the period. A new clinical syndrome associated wit...
Santos EM, Cardoso R, Souza GR, Goulart LR, Heinemann MB, Leite RC, Reis JK.Equine infectious anemia caused by equine infectious anemia virus is an important disease due to its high severity and incidence in animals. We used a phage display library to isolate peptides that can be considered potential markers for equine infectious anemia diagnosis. We selected peptides using IgG purified from a pool comprised of 20 sera from animals naturally infected with equine infectious anemia virus. The diagnostic potential of these peptides was investigated by ELISA, Western blot and dot blot with purified IgG and serum samples. Based on the results, we chose a peptide mimetic fo...
Söderroos D, Ignell R, Haubro Andersen P, Bergvall K, Riihimäki M.Insect bite hypersensitivity (IBH) associated with biting midges is a common allergic skin disease in horses, reducing the welfare of affected horses. This study investigated the effect of IBH on animal welfare and behaviour and assessed a new prophylactic insect repellent. In total, 30 horses were recruited for a prospective cross-over and case-control study. Clinical signs of IBH, inflammatory markers in skin biopsies and behavioural data (direct observations, motion index) were scored longitudinally during two consecutive summers. No differences were observed in the total number of itching...
Norris JW, Pratt SM, Hunter JF, Gardner IA, Tablin F.To measure the frequency and magnitude of reduced fibrinogen binding in a population of horses from a Thoroughbred breeding farm. Methods: 444 Thoroughbred horses, 1 to 27 years old, including 316 females, 72 geldings, and 56 sexually intact males. Methods: Blood was collected from horses into tubes containingacid citrate dextrose adenine, and washed platelets were examined by use of flow cytometry for their ability to bind fibrinogen. Results: Data regarding fibrinogen binding to activated platelets were normally distributed, with nearly identical amounts of variation regardless of sex. In 3 ...
Alm YH, Osterman-Lind E, Martin F, Lindfors R, Roepstorff N, Hedenström U, Fredriksson I, Halvarsson P, Tydén E.Cyathostominae are ubiquitous to grazing horses and regarded the most prevalent internal parasite in the horse. Unfortunately, decades of indiscriminate use of anthelmintic drugs have resulted in the development of resistance in cyathostomins to all currently available drug groups, the most recent being a documented lack of efficacy to the macrocyclic lactones (ML). In vivo determination of anthelmintic resistance in horses most often utilises the faecal egg count reduction test (FECRT). Further, a shortened egg reappearance period (ERP) can indicate a change in response to the applied treatme...
Hopper BJ, Steel C, Richardson JL, Alexander GR, Robertson ID.Sclerosis of the third carpal bone is a common radiographic finding in both lame and sound racehorses, but there are no guidelines correlating degree of sclerosis and incidence of lameness. Objective: To develop a protocol for describing subchondral bone sclerosis in C3 on dorsoproximal-dorsodistal oblique (DPr-DDiO) radiographs of the carpus and to correlate these changes with exercise history and carpal lameness. Methods: One hundred and six Standardbreds entering their first year of training (exercise group) and 7 age-matched Standardbreds at pasture (controls) were examined at approximatel...
Studdert MJ, Fitzpatrick DR, Horner GW, Westbury HA, Gleeson LJ.Representative strains of EHV isolated from an aborted foetus and from a horse with rhinopneumonitis in New Zealand had restriction endonuclease DNA fingerprints typical of those usually associated with these syndromes elsewhere and now designated EHV1 and 4 respectively. EHV1 was isolated from the brain and spinal cord of a 4-year-old gelding that died of myeloencephalitis. A mare on the same farm, at about the same time as the gelding developed myeloencephalitis, aborted and EHV1 was isolated from the tissues of the aborted foetus. Restriction endonuclease DNA fingerprints of the viruses iso...
