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Topic:Epidemiology
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.
Molecular phylogenetics and diagnosis of soil and clinical isolates of Halicephalobus gingivalis (Nematoda: Cephalobina: Panagrolaimoidea), an opportunistic pathogen of horses. Phylogenetic relationships among six isolates of Halicephalobus gingivalis (Stefanski, 1954), a species with pathogenic potential in horses and humans, were evaluated using DNA sequences from the nuclear large-subunit ribosomal RNA (LSU rDNA) gene. Sequences from nematodes obtained from in vitro cultures (soil or clinical sources), or isolated from infected horse tissues, were compared. Gene sequences from a fatal equine clinical case from southern California and a free-living isolate recovered from southern California soil showed no fixed differences. Sequences from isolates representing two ...
West Nile virus activity–United States, September 4-10, 2003. This report summarizes West Nile virus (WNV) surveillance data reported to CDC through ArboNET as of 3 a.m., Mountain Daylight Time, September 10, 2003.
Enhancement of equine infectious anemia virus virulence by identification and removal of suboptimal nucleotides. Pathogenicity was reportedly restored to an avirulent molecular clone of equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV) by substitution of 3' sequences from the pathogenic variant strain (EIAV(PV)). However, the incidence of disease in horses/ponies was found to be significantly lower (P = 0.016) with the chimeric clone (EIAV(UK)) than with EIAV(PV). This was attributable to 3' rather than 5' regions of the proviral genome, where EIAV(UK) differs from the consensus EIAV(PV) sequence by having a 68-bp duplication in the 3' LTR and arginine (R(103)) rather than tryptophan (W(103)) at position 103 in the ...
Schirmer tear test results in normal horses and ponies: effect of age, season, environment, sex, time of day and placement of strips. Tear production was evaluated in 39 horses and 29 ponies using Schirmer tear test strips to determine whether diurnal or weekly fluctuations occur, whether location of strip placement has an effect, if values are the same for both eyes in an animal and whether sex, age, stabling vs. pasture and winter vs. summer had an effect. There was no test in which the raw score was less than 10 mm, although there were many occasions where tear wetting exceeded 35 mm. Analysis of the raw (continuous) scores by linear regression provided no evidence that signalment, housing or season or location of strip p...
Expulsion of small strongyle nematodes (cyathostomin spp) following deworming of horses on a stud farm in Sweden. This study was conducted on a stud farm in Sweden to investigate the species composition of cyathostomins expelled in the faeces of horses after deworming using three different anthelmintic preparations. Twenty-seven horses excreting > or = 200 strongyle eggs per gram faeces (EPG) were divided into three comparable groups and dewormed on day 0 with either of following compounds: 0.2 mg ivermectin per kg body weight (bw), 19 mg pyrantel pamoate per kg bw or 7.5 mg fenbendazole per kg bw. For each of the 3 days following anthelmintic treatment faeces was collected from individual horses and s...
Risk factors for fecal shedding of Salmonella from horses in a veterinary teaching hospital. Identification of risk factors for horses shedding Salmonella in their feces helps identify patients at-risk of infection and protect the overall population through heightened biosecurity. Fecal samples from 230 hospitalized horses were cultured for Salmonella spp. Historical data were collected on 21 putative risk factors and assessed for association with the risk of a horse being culture positive using forwards stepwise logistic regression. Salmonella was isolated from 13 horses--most commonly from either the first (n=5) or second (n=4) sample collected. Only presenting complaint (confounded...
Assessing the agreement of Western blot test results for paired serum and cerebrospinal fluid samples from horses tested for antibodies to Sarcocystis neuronaf. Equine protozoal myeloencephalitis (EPM) is a neurological disease of equids that is caused by infection of the central nervous system with Sarcocystis neurona. Veterinarians diagnose EPM by performing a neurological examination and by ordering Western blot tests for antibodies to S. neurona in the blood and/or cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). The negative predictive value of the Western blot test is generally accepted to be high for both serum and CSF. If the agreement between serum and CSF test results is strong, serum tests could be used to substitute for CSF tests in some cases. The purpose of t...
Identification of foals infected with Parascaris equorum apparently resistant to ivermectin. During September 2002, routine fecal examinations performed on 16 Thoroughbred foals residing on a farm outside Toronto, Ontario, Canada, revealed low to moderate numbers of Parascaris equorum eggs in feces from 9 of the 16. All foals were then treated with ivermectin at a dose of 220 to 280 microg/kg (100 to 127 microg/lb), p.o., and fecal egg counts were repeated 12 days later. Fecal P. equorum egg counts increased between the first and second fecal examination in 7 foals, were unchanged in 1, and decreased in 5. Fecal samples were collected 13 days after treatment from 21 additional foals t...
Identification of variations in SzP proteins of Streptococcus equi subspecies zooepidemicus and the relationship between protein variants and clinical signs of infection in horses. To determine whether previously unidentified variations of the SzP protein of Streptococcus equi subsp zooepidemicus were present in horses with various clinical signs of infection and whether any relationship could be identified between SzP protein variants and naturally occurring clinical conditions. Methods: 23 isolates of S equi subsp zooepidemicus were recovered from specimens of horses with various clinical conditions and used as a representative population of isolates for evaluation of different SzP protein variants. Methods: Genetic heterogeneity of the isolates was demonstrated by rep...
Odds of moderate or severe gastric ulceration in racehorses receiving antiulcer medications. To determine the odds of moderate or severe gastric ulceration in racehorses treated with various antiulcer medications. Methods: Unmatched case-control study. Methods: 798 horses in active race training (252 Thoroughbreds and 546 Standardbreds). Only horses that had been receiving a single antiulcer medication or no antiulcer medication for at least 2 weeks prior to examination were included. Methods: Gastroscopy was performed on each horse by a single individual who was not aware of the horses' antiulcer treatments, and severity of gastric ulceration was scored. Signalment and medication his...
Evidence for a new field Culicoides vector of African horse sickness in South Africa. Between February and May 1998, approximately 100 horses died of African horse sickness (AHS) in the cooler, mountainous, central region of South Africa. On 14 affected farms, 156,875 Culicoides of 27 species were captured. C. imicola Kieffer, hitherto considered the only field vector for AHS virus (AHSV), constituted <1% of the total Culicoides captured, and was not found on 29% of the farms. In contrast, 65% of the Culicoides were C. bolitinos Meiswinkel, and was found on all farms. Five isolations of AHSV were made from C. bolitinos, and none from 18 other species of Culicoides (including...
A case control study of factors and infections associated with clinically apparent respiratory disease in UK Thoroughbred racehorses. A matched case control study was used to determine infections and other factors associated with clinically apparent respiratory disease in young racehorses in training in the UK. A total of 170 cases, defined as horses with sudden onset coughing, nasal discharge or pyrexia, were identified and matched to 632 non-affected controls by trainer and time period. Factors examined included age, sex, time since entry into the training yard, time since last race and different infections including tracheal and nasopharyngeal (NP) bacteria and viruses. Multivariable conditional logistic regression (CLR) ...
[Diagnosis of botulism since 1995. Report of test results]. Since 1970 our laboratory is specialized in diagnosis of clostridial diseases, including Clostridium botulinum and botulism. Since 1995, samples from more than 900 suspected botulinal cases were received, mainly in cattle, horses and men. 524 outbreaks were diagnosed as clearly positive by toxin neutralisation; 83 cases remained inconclusive with the toxin neutralisation. The geographical distribution of the positive cases in Germany is demonstrated for cattle and horses. Dispatch and treatment of specimens and interpretation of results are discussed.
[Gutteral pouch tympany in German warmblood foals: influence of sex, inbreeding and blood proportions of founding breeds as well as estimation of heritability]. The objective of the present study was to analyse the importance of the influences of sex, inbreeding coefficient, proportion of genes of the original breeds and the additive genetic contribution to the occurrence of guttural pouch tympany in foals belonging to German Warmblood breeds. Foals affected by guttural pouch tympany were ascertained in the Clinic of Horses, School of Veterinary Medicine Hannover. This data set comprised 22 German Warmblood foals with guttural pouch tympany, which were patients of the Clinic for Horses between 1994 and 2001. Information on the pedigrees and all availa...
Serologic evidence of West Nile virus infection in horses, Yucatan State, Mexico. Serum samples were obtained from 252 horses in the State of Yucatan, Mexico, from July to October 2002. Antibodies to West Nile virus were detected by epitope-blocking enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays in three (1.2%) horses and confirmed by plaque reduction neutralization test. We report the first West Nile virus activity in the State of Yucatan.
Serologic evidence of West Nile virus infection in horses, Coahuila State, Mexico. Serum samples were obtained from 24 horses in the State of Coahuila, Mexico, in December 2002. Antibodies to West Nile virus were detected by epitope-blocking enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and confirmed by plaque reduction neutralization test in 15 (62.5%) horses. We report the first West Nile virus activity in northern Mexico.
Pattern of equestrian injuries presenting to a Sydney teaching hospital. Equestrian activities are associated with a high rate of injury. Attempts to reduce the incidence and severity of injury require accurate characterization of risk factors and pattern of injury. The present study was performed to analyse the injuries seen at an Australian centre where a large number of equestrian injuries present. Methods: Data were collected prospectively over a 3 year period on all equestrian injuries presenting to the Prince of Wales -Hospital complex. These data were compared against and combined with retrospectively collected data over the preceding 3 years at the same cen...
Analysis of the beta-tubulin codon 200 genotype distribution in a benzimidazole-susceptible and -resistant cyathostome population. To study the prevalence of the polymorphism in position 200 of the beta-tubulin gene in the mechanism of benzimidazole (BZ) resistance in cyathostomes of horses, an allele-specific PCR was used to detect the genotype of individuals of BZ-susceptible and BZ-resistant populations. The molecular analysis of 100 adults recovered from an anthelmintic-naïve horse revealed 80% homozygous TTC/TTC individuals, 17% heterozygous TTC/TAC and 3% homozygous TAC/TAC. A naturally infected horse was treated with increasing fenbendazole (FBZ) dosages to select a BZ-resistant population of cyathostomes. The PCR...
Transmission of eastern equine encephalomyelitis virus in central Alabama. A site near Tuskegee, Alabama was examined for vector activity of eastern equine encephalomyelitis (EEE) virus in 2001. More than 23,000 mosquitoes representing 8 genera and 34 species were collected during a 21-week period, and five species, Culiseta melanura, Aedes vexans, Coquillettidia perturbans, Culex erraticus, and Uranotaenia sapphirina, were examined for the presence of virus using a nested reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction for EEE virus. Each species was infected at various times of the mosquito season (May-September) with different minimum infection rates (MIRs). Culis...
Detection of EHV-1 and EHV-4 in placental sections of naturally occurring EHV-1- and EHV-4-related abortions in the UK: use of the placenta in diagnosis. EHV-1 and EHV-4 abortion diagnosis is based upon detailed examination of the aborted fetus. However, in some cases, only the placenta is available for examination. Furthermore, the contribution of lesions in the placenta to pathogenesis and diagnosis of EHV-1 and EHV-4 abortion has been neglected. Objective: To assess the utility of placental examination in equine herpesvirus-1 (EHV-1) and EHV-4 abortion diagnosis. Methods: Sections of allantochorion from 49 herpesvirus abortions were analysed by PCR, in situ hybridisation and immunostaining. Results: Virus-specific nested PCR confirmed the pr...
Clostridium difficile: prevalence in horses and environment, and antimicrobial susceptibility. Clostridium difficile has been associated with acute colitis in mature horses. Objective: To survey C. difficile colonisation of the alimentary tract with age, occurrence of diarrhoea and history of antibiotic therapy; and to study the occurrence and survival of C. difficile in the environment and antimicrobial susceptibility of isolated strains. Methods: A total of 777 horses of different breeds, age and sex were studied. Further, 598 soil samples and 434 indoor surface samples were examined. Antimicrobial susceptibility of 52 strains was investigated by Etest for 10 antibiotics. Results: In ...
Lysosomal storage disease in Sida carpinifolia toxicosis: an induced mannosidosis in horses. This study reports a neurological disease unrecognised until now in ponies in southern Brazil. Objective: Epidemiological data strongly suggests that the ingestion of Sida carpinifolia is involved in the aetiology. We tested the hypothesis that it is an acquired lyosomal storage disease. Methods: Following the death of 3 ponies, all ponies from the premises were closely monitored; epidemiological data and clinical findings carefully recorded. Fragments of several organs, including CNS, were fixed in neutral formalin and embedded in paraffin-wax. Sections were stained with haematoxylin and eosi...
A survey of equine abortion, stillbirth and neonatal death in the UK from 1988 to 1997. A detailed review of laboratory records for equine abortion is fundamental in establishing current disease trends and suggesting problems important for further research. Objective: To review the causes of abortion and neonatal death in equine diagnostic submissions to the Animal Health Trust over a 10 year period. Methods: The diagnoses in 1252 equine fetuses and neonatal foals were reviewed and analysed into categories. Results: Problems associated with the umbilical cord, comprising umbilical cord torsion and the long cord/cervical pole ischaemia disorder, were the most common diagnoses (38....
Comparison of in vitro methods and faecal egg count reduction test for the detection of benzimidazole resistance in small strongyles of horses. The objective of the study was to compare the in vitro egg hatch test (EHT), larval development test (LDT) and in vivo faecal egg count reduction test (FECR test) for the detection of benzimidazole resistance in equine strongyles. The presence of resistant or susceptible strongyle populations was determined in 25 stud farms using the in vivo FECR test and in vitro EHT. On the basis of the FECR values, resistance to fenbendazole was detected on 15 of the 25 farms (60%). The ED50 value (anthelmintic concentration producing 50% inhibition of hatching) for suspected resistant populations varied fr...
Equine infectious anemia in mules: virus isolation and pathogenicity studies. There appears to be a lack of information concerning responses of mules to natural infection or experimental inoculation with equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV). In the present study EIAV was isolated from mules, for the first time, and its pathogenicity in naturally infected and experimentally inoculated animals was investigated. Two naturally infected (A and B) and three EIAV free mules (C, D and E) were used for this purpose. Mule A developed clinical signs, whereas mule B remained asymptomatic until the end of the study. Mules C and D were each inoculated with 10ml of blood from mule A ...
A field study to estimate the prevalence of Trypanosoma equiperdum in Mongolian horses. From May to July 2000, a cross-sectional study was conducted to estimate the prevalence of Trypanosoma equiperdum in the horse population of the central province (Tuv aimag) of Mongolia. On average, four herds were selected from each of the 29 aimag subdivisions (119 herds). From each herd, 10 horses were sampled in proportion to sex and age categories in the respective herds (1190 horses). Sera from 1122 horses were analysed for T. equiperdum antibodies using two serological assays, the complement fixation test (CFT) and the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The crude estimate of the...
Equine ehrlichiosis in Italy. The authors review equine granulocytic ehrlichiosis (EGE) in Italy from 1996 to 2002. In 1996, the first case of EGE has been observed in a horse affected with specific symptomatology (fever, lethargy, anorexia, limb edema, thrombocytopenia, and petechiae). In 1997, a seroepidemiological survey was performed in the province of Rome on 563 animals using IFAT. The authors describe the last case, which occurred on 2002 in a 15-year-old male, bay, half-breed, tick-infested horse. Clinical features included fever, lethargy, limb edema, icterus, leukocytopenia, and thrombocytopenia. Laboratory tests...
