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.
Madić J, Hajsig D, Sostarić B, Curić S, Seol B, Naglić T, Cvetnić Z.An abortion outbreak occurred in a herd of 38 horses, 26 of which were pregnant mares. Twenty-one mares aborted between 5-10 months of gestation. In no case were there indications of impending abortion. Pathoanatomical, histopathological, virological and bacteriological examinations were carried out on 4 aborted fetuses. Histopathology identified Gram-negative bacteria compatible with salmonella in all 4 placentae. By subsequent bacteriological examination Salmonella abortusequi was isolated as the single causative agent in each case. Nonmotile Salmonella abortusequi with antigenic formula 4,1...
Del Piero F, Wilkins PA, Lopez JW, Glaser AL, Dubovi EJ, Schlafer DH, Lein DH.Clinical, pathological, immunohistochemical, serological and microbiological findings are described for 2 geographically and temporally distinct equine arteritis virus (EAV) epidemics in newborn foals. Outbreak A occurred at a commercial Standardbred breeding facility; Outbreak B began in a group of research animals. Clinical signs were severe and primarily referable to the respiratory tract. Fever and leucopenia and/or thrombocytopenia were observed in foals surviving for more than 24 h. The most common gross pathological findings were limited to the respiratory tract. Common histopathologica...
Sailleau C, Moulay S, Cruciere C, Laegreid WW, Zientara S.A reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay followed by dot-blot hybridisation was used to detect African horse sickness virus (AHSV); the primers employed amplified the S7 gene that encodes the VP7 protein. The RT-PCR assay was compared with virus isolation for detecting AHSV in blood samples form horses experimentally infected with AHSV-4 and AHSV-9. The influence of sample storage and transportation and the effects of two anticoagulants (EDTA and heparin) were also studied. RT-PCR results were obtained within 48 hours as opposed to a minimum of 15 days for virus isolati...
Birch-Machin I, Rowan A, Pick J, Mumford J, Binns M.The nucleotide sequence of the nonstructural protein NS1 of the influenza virus A/equine 2/Suffolk/89 was determined and found to be 97% identical to that of A/equine 2/Miami/63. A similar level of identity was shown for the deduced NS1 amino acid sequence. The NS1 gene was expressed, in its entirety and in part, as fusion proteins with glutathione S-transferase using the pGEX-3X expression vector. Antibodies to NS1 protein were detected in serum samples from ponies experimentally infected with influenza virus, but not in animals vaccinated with whole inactivated virus or in unprimed control a...
Kumar S, Malhotra DV, Dhar S.The present study aimed to develop Dot-ELISA, complement fixation test (CFT) and capillary tube agglutination test (CAT) for serodiagnosis of Babesia equi infection and to compare their sensitivity with each other. For this study, sequential serum samples were collected from four donkeys experimentally infected with B. equi up to 90 days post infection (P.I.). B. equi antigen was prepared from the blood of a donkey showing more than 80% parasitaemia. Dot-ELISA, CF and CA tests were standardized as per the standard method. While performing CFT, it was observed that CFT standardized for the donk...
Borchers K, Wolfinger U, Lawrenz B, Schellenbach A, Ludwig H.Neuronal and lymphoid tissues of 15 randomly selected horses were analysed post mortem by liquid nested-PCR to study the tropism of equine herpesvirus 4 (EHV-4). In four animals the trigeminal ganglia and in one case the lung were positive. Using a direct in situ PCR the EHV-4 genome was localized in the nuclei of neurons and in the bronchiolar as well as alveolar epithelium of the lung. In none of these tissues could infectious virus or viral antigens be detected. Applying the more sensitive liquid RT-PCR, however, an acute infection was demonstrated in one of the trigeminal ganglia by amplif...
Rizvi SM, Slater JD, Wolfinger U, Borchers K, Field HJ, Slade AJ.The distribution of equine herpesvirus 2 (EHV-2) DNA within neurological and lymphoid tissues from 12 EHV-2 seropositive Welsh mountain ponies was determined by PCR. The lymphoid sites sampled in this study were almost universally PCR positive, thus confirming the existing virus co-cultivation data which suggest that the lymph nodes draining the respiratory tract are the main reservoirs of EHV-2 DNA. In addition, EHV-2 DNA was also detected, albeit with lower frequency, within both the peripheral and central nervous systems (PNS and CNS) of these animals. Of the CNS sites sampled 11% were PCR-...
Smith KC.Abortion or neonatal disease may follow infection with several alpha, beta and gamma-herpesviruses. The alpha-herpesvirus, equid herpesvirus-1 (EHV-1), causes single or epizootic abortions or neonatal deaths in equids, and the closely related virus EHV-4 causes sporadic equine abortions. In cattle, the alpha-herpesviruses, bovine herpesvirus-1 (infectious bovine rhinotracheitis virus) and bovine herpesvirus-5 (bovine encephalitis virus), and a gamma-herpesvirus, bovine herpesvirus-4, have all been implicated as causes of abortion. In pigs, suid herpesvirus-1 (SHV-1: pseudorabies virus), an alp...
Glaser AL, Chirnside ED, Horzinek MC, de Vries AA.Equine arteritis virus (EAV) is a small, enveloped, positive-stranded RNA virus, in the family Arteriviridae , W.H.ich can infect both horses and donkeys. While the majority of EAV infections are asymptomatic, acutely infected animals may develop a wide range of clinical signs, including pyrexia, limb and ventral edema, depression, rhinitis, and conjunctivitis. The virus may cause abortion and has caused mortality in neonates. After natural EAV infection, most horses develop a solid, long-term immunity to the disease. Marzz and geldings eliminate the virus within 60 days, but 30 to 60% of acut...
Parlevliet JM, Bleumink-Pluym NM, Houwers DJ, Remmen JL, Sluijter FJ, Colenbrander B.Contagious equine metritis (CEM) is a sexually transmissible disease in mares. Although the disease is commonly diagnosed by culturing the causative bacterium Taylorella equigenitalis (T. equigenitalis) . false negative results do occur. A recently developed Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) assay, however, appeared to be much more sensitive, with initial results indicating an unexpected high incidence of the agent in selected horses. In this study, samples from 107 randomly selected mares with no clinical signs of CEM submitted for conventional culture were all negative for T. equigenitalis . b...
Wood JL, Chanter N, Newton JR, Burrell MH, Dugdale D, Windsor HM, Windsor GD, Rosendal S, Townsend HG.Lower respiratory tract disease developed in a group of racehorses in training between two and six years of age. Disease was observed in 22 of 25 horses for which full records were available. Seroconversion to Mycoplasma felis was demonstrated by indirect haemagglutination assay in 19 of 22 paired sera and high titres (> or = 64) were found in convalescent sera from the three remaining horses. Evidence of respiratory viral infection was confined to seroconversions to equine herpesvirus-4 in two of the horses. Tracheal wash samples, taken from four horses with visibly increased tracheal muco...
Divers TJ, Mohammed HO, Cummings JF.This article reviews the subject of equine motor neuron disease, a neurodegenerative disease of horses. The authors discuss various topics, including epidemiology, pathophysiology, clinical signs, laboratory findings, diagnosis, and treatment.
Zheng YH, Nakaya T, Sentsui H, Kameoka M, Kishi M, Hagiwara K, Takahashi H, Kono Y, Ikuta K.We have studied a horse which exhibited typical clinical signs of disease when experimentally infected with a non-adapted virulent strain of equine infectious anaemia virus (EIAV), designated V70. Five viruses (F1V, F2V, F3V, F4V and F5V) were recovered during periodic febrile episodes. Cross-neutralization tests revealed that all of these variants and the parental V70 were antigenically distinct. Sequencing of their full-length env gp90 genes and gp45 5' sequences revealed novel mutations at a limited number of nucleotide positions, consisting of insertions and duplications in the gp90 princi...
Nagy E, Idamakanti N, Carman S.Ninety-two equine herpesvirus type 1 isolates were recovered from aborted, stillborn, or neonatal foals from Ontario, Canada, from 1986 to 1992. From this total, 32 strains were randomly chosen for further study. Four or 5 isolates from each winter were selected, each from a different premises, and characterized by restriction enzyme analysis using BamHI, KpnI, BglII, HindIII, and EcoRI. Additional isolates from 2 premises and from a zebra foal were also assessed. For the strains isolated in 1986 and 1989-1992, the DNA pattern of 18 strains was similar to that of type 1P (Kentucky D) for BamHI...
Kaneene JB, Miller R, Ross WA, Gallagher K, Marteniuk J, Rook J.A population-based prospective epidemiological study was conducted to assess risk factors for equine colic. A stratified sample of 3925 equids in 138 randomly selected equine farms in the state of Michigan was monitored in two 12-month rounds of data collection. Incidence densities were used to describe the rate of development of colic in the study population. Mortality rates, case fatality rates and survival rates were used to describe the severity of colic on the study population. Multivariable logistic regressions with random effects (grouped according to farm) were used to identify risk fa...
Li F, Drummer HE, Ficorilli N, Studdert MJ, Crabb BS.Equine rhinovirus 1 (ERhV1) is a recognized cause of acute febrile respiratory disease in horse, although the virus is rarely isolated from such animals, despite seroprevalence rates as high as 50% in some horse populations. Recently, ERhV1 has been shown to be most closely related to foot-and-mouth disease virus, raising questions as to its disease associations in horses. We report that ERhV1 infection was the likely cause of two separate outbreaks of severe febrile respiratory disease which involved more than 20 horses. Attempts to isolate ErhV1 from nasopharyngeal swabs by conventional cell...
Lord CC, Woolhouse ME, Mellor PS.A simulation model including two hosts (horses and donkeys) and one vector (Culicoides imicola) for African horse sickness in Spain is extended to consider vaccination strategies. If hosts were protected prior to virus introduction, elimination of simulated epidemics was related nonlinearly to the fraction protected. Protecting donkeys as well as horses increased the effectiveness of vaccination. Prevention of 50% of epidemics required 75% coverage of horses and donkeys or 90% coverage of horses only. Protection after the introduction of the virus was rarely successful in preventing outbreaks....
Geerts S, Coles GC, Gryseels B.During the past decade, the prevalence of anthelmintic resistance in some economically important helminths of sheep, goats and horses has increased dramatically. In some regions of Australia, South America and South Africa, anthelmintic resistance has become a serious threat to the survival of the sheep industry. Mass treatment programmes and exclusive reliance on anthelmintics for worm control in livestock are amongst the most important reasons for the development of anthelmintic resistance. In this article, Stanny Geerts, Gerald Coles and Bruno Gryseels draw the attention to a number of erro...
Théon AP, Pascoe JR, Madigan JE, Carlson G, Metzger L.To compare therapeutic benefits of intratumoral administration of cisplatin and bleomycin for squamous cell carcinoma of the eyelids in horses. Methods: 25 horses with 27 T2-stage periocular squamous cell carcinomas. Methods: Horses were treated 4 times at 2-week intervals with a slow-release formulation of cisplatin (1 mg/cm3 of tissue) or bleomycin (1 IU/cm3 of tissue). A two-stage design was used to minimize the sample size in each treatment arm. Results: The local control rate at 1 year for lesions treated with cisplatin was 93 +/- 6%, and with bleomycin was 78 +/- 10%. Difference in local...
Griffiths NJ, Walton JR, Edwards GB.Equine anterior enteritis is an acute syndrome with unknown aetiology, although salmonellosis and infection with Clostridium perfringens have both been suggested as potential causes. The main aim of this preliminary study was to compare the prevalence of toxigenic types of C. perfringens in clinically healthy horses and in horses with anterior enteritis. From horses admitted with colic at Phillip Leverhulme Large Animal Hospital in 1995-1996, samples of gastric reflux, small intestinal contents and faeces were taken for isolation of C. perfringens. Five of those horses were admitted as anterio...
Rivas F, Diaz LA, Cardenas VM, Daza E, Bruzon L, Alcala A, De la Hoz O, Caceres FM, Aristizabal G, Martinez JW, Revelo D, De la Hoz F, Boshell J....In 1995, the first Venezuelan equine encephalitis (VEE) outbreak in Colombia in 22 years caused an estimated 75,000 human cases, 3000 with neurologic complications and 300 fatal, in La Guajira State. Of the state's estimated 50,000 equines, 8% may have died. An epizootic IC virus, probably introduced from Venezuela, was rapidly amplified among unvaccinated equines. Record high rainfall, producing high densities of vector Aedes taeniorhynchus, led to extensive epidemic transmission (30% attack rate) in the four affected municipalities. Native Wayuu Indians, constituting 24% of the state's popul...
Blay KL, Gueirard P, Guiso N, Chaby R.Six monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) against lipopolysaccharides (LPS) from Bordetella pertussis (P1P3, 60.5), B. parapertussis (PP2, PP6, PPB) and B. bronchiseptica (BRg1) were used to examine the presence of antigenic determinants of LPS on B. bronchiseptica cells. Forty-eight clinical isolates of this Gram-negative bacterium (4 canine, 3 equine, 6 porcine, 4 rabbit and 31 human) were examined. Significant cross-reactivities with the heterologous anti-pertussis and anti-parapertussis mAbs were observed. The isolates also exhibited marked antigenic polymorphism. The 48 isolates could be classifie...
Lloyd JW, Kaneene JB.A study was developed to describe direct expenses, labor use, and performance days lost associated with health management in the Michigan equine industry. A prospective design with stratified, random sampling, was employed involving 77 operations from February 1992 through January 1993, and 61 different operations from May 1993 through April 1994. Data on the cost of health management were collected during monthly visits, and included monetary expenditures, death losses, days lost, and labor use. Median health care costs (when they were incurred) were $4.84 per horse per month for monetary exp...
Chanter N, Collin N, Holmes N, Binns M, Mumford J.The 16S-23S RNA gene intergenic spacers of isolates of Streptococcus equi (n = 5), S. zooepidemicus (n = 5), S. equisimilis (n = 3) and S. dysgalactiae (n = 2) were sequenced and compared. There were distinct regions within the spacer, arranged in the order 1-9 for all S. equi and one S. zooepidemicus isolate and 1,2 and 4-9 for the remaining isolates. Region 4 was identical to the tRNA(ala) gene found in the 16S-23S intergenic spacers of other streptococci. Regions 1, 5, 6 and 7 had distinct variations, each conserved in different isolates. However, amongst the intergenic spacers there were d...
Watson ED.Outbreaks of contagious equine metritis in Britain during 1996 emphasised the importance of preventing the disease through full and widespread implementation of the Horserace Betting Levy Board's code of practice. The provision of satisfactory samples for testing represents an integral part of applying the code. Here, in an article commissioned by the British Equine Veterinary Association, Dr Elaine Watson describes the techniques involved.
Pellegrini MG, Corda EM, Manca L, Olianas A, Sanna MT, Fais A, Masala B.A study was made of the Hb phenotype of the Sardinian dwarfhorse (Equus caballus jara), one of the last surviving wild horse species in Europe. Hb haplotypes and their frequencies were found to be similar to those described in the Arabian horse (BI = 0.551, BII = 0.389, A = 0.036, V = 0.015), which suggests possible introduction onto the island from North Africa. The oxygen binding properties of the whole hemolysates and of the four different horse Hbs, separated by ion-exchange chromatography, were considered with regard to the effect of chloride, 2,3-bisphosphoglycerate and lactate. Results ...
Barlough JE, Rikihisa Y, Madigan JE.A nested polymerase chain reaction was developed for amplifying a 529-bp segment of the 16S ribosomal RNA gene of Ehrlichia risticii from equine buffy coat cells. Confirmation of identity of the amplified bands was accomplished by Southern hybridization and DNA sequencing. The study indicated a detection limit of > 10 copies of the target gene, and specificity for E. risticii as based on a panel of test rickettsiae. Ticks (Ixodes pacificus) collected in an area of northern California enzootic for equine monocytic ehrlichiosis were found to be negative for E. risticii DNA.
Walshe N, Burrell A, Kenny U, Mulcahy G, Duggan V, Regan A.In view of the rising threat of anthelmintic resistance in parasite populations and the planned change of classification of anthelmintics in Ireland for food animals to prescription-only medicines, there is a need for increased focus on parasite control strategies for horses. Effective parasite control programs (PCPs) are complex, necessitating the application of risk-assessment based on host immune status, infection pressure, type of parasite and seasonality to determine the requirement for anthelmintic administration and an understanding of parasite biology to employ effective, non- therapeu...
Hardt M, Teifke JP, Weiss E.Formalin-fixed and Paraplast-embedded tissue samples of 42 aborted equine fetuses were examined by polymerase chain reaction for the presence of equine herpesvirus DNA. The used set of primers was located in the glycoprotein 13 open reading frame and allowed the amplification of both EHV 1 und EHV 4. By cleaving pattern analysis after Hinf I digestion EHV 1 could be distinguished from EHV 4. In 9 of the cases investigated EHV 1-DNA was detected. This finding is in absolute context with the results of the virological investigations.
da Silva Anjos DH, de Lurdes A Rodrigues M.Nematodes from the ventral colon of 31 adult horses, 24 males and 9 females, in the metropolitan region of the state of Rio de Janeiro were analysed. There were 53,444 (86.4%) adults of the total recovered strongylid nematodes. They belonged to 21 species of Cyathostominae and seven of Strongylinae. Larval forms made up 13.6% (8407) of the total recovered, and 49% of the strongylid nematodes were observed in ventral colon. The most prevalent and abundant species were Cyathostomum tetracanthum, Cylicocyclus nassatus, Cylicostephanus minutus, Cylicostephanus longibursatus, Cylicostephanus leptos...
Wylie CE, Newton JR, Bathe AP, Payne RJ.The electronic patient records of all equine patients of Rossdales Equine Practice between January 1, 2005 and November 1, 2013 were reviewed to determine the number of cases of supporting limb laminitis (SLL) in a large equine practice and referral hospital setting in the UK and to discuss the implications for future epidemiological studies. The clinical notes were searched electronically for a combination of 'laminitis AND (contralateral OR supporting OR overload OR weight bearing)'. The prevalence of SLL within each identified denominator population and the corresponding 95% CI were calcu...
Ribeiro MF, Costa JO, Guimarães AM.The prevalence of Babesia equi in two climatic regions of Minas Gerais state was determined using the indirect fluorescent antibody test (IFAT) with blood samples obtained from horses in two slaughterhouses. Of 399 samples, 241 (60.4%) showed a positive reaction. Anti-B. equi antibody was detected in every county studied, the prevalence being 59.7% for horses in the area where the temperature rises above 18 degrees C in winter and 61.4% in the area where it remains below 18 degrees C, indicating that climatic variation has no substantial effect on the prevalence of the infection in Brazil. Blo...
With outbreaks of equine influenza continuing to be reported in the UK, Richard Newton and Fleur Whitlock of the Animal Health Trust discusses practical steps that vets can promote and practise to reduce the risk of the virus spreading.
Fairbanks EL, Baylis M, Daly JM, Tildesley MJ.African horse sickness virus (AHSV) is a vector-borne virus spread by midges (Culicoides spp.). The virus causes African horse sickness (AHS) disease in some species of equid. AHS is endemic in parts of Africa, previously emerged in Europe and in 2020 caused outbreaks for the first time in parts of Eastern Asia. Here we analyse a unique historic dataset from the 1989-1991 emergence of AHS in Morocco in a naïve population of equids. Sequential Monte Carlo and Markov chain Monte Carlo techniques are used to estimate parameters for a spatial-temporal model using a transmission kernel. These para...
Carleton CL, Donahue JM, Marteniuk JV, Sells SF, Timoney PJ.This study was undertaken to investigate the bacterial and fungal microflora on the external genitalia of a population of healthy male donkeys in the state of Michigan, USA. The aim was to identify and determine the frequency of occurrence of these microorganisms using seven different isolation media and standard microbiological procedures. The sites (urethral fossa [fossa glandis], dorsal diverticulum of the urethral sinus, distal urethra, and penile surface) in the distal reproductive tract were cultured and each isolated microorganism identified. Ten different genera of gram-positive bacter...
Chien RC, Mingqun L, Yan Q, Randolph N, Huang W, Wellman M, Toribio R, Rikihisa Y.The tick-borne obligatory intracellular bacterium Anaplasma phagocytophilum infects humans as well as domesticated and wild animals, causing a febrile disease collectively called granulocytic anaplasmosis. The epidemiology and the host species specificity and zoonotic potential of A. phagocytophilum strains remain unclear. In this study, ankA (encoding ankyrin A) and p44 gene sequences of A. phagocytophilum were determined in clinical specimens from horses in Ohio and compared with those found in A. phagocytophilum strains from various hosts and geographic regions. With increasing numbers of s...
Martineau M, Kokabi E, Taiebi A, Lefebvre S, Pradier S, Jaÿ M, Tardy F, Leon A.Mycoplasmas are pathogens involved in respiratory disorders of various animal hosts. In horses, Mycoplasma (M.) equirhinis is the species most frequently detected in clinical respiratory specimens, with a prevalence of 12-16%, but its clinical implication in equine respiratory disorders remains unclear. Here we screened 1948 clinical specimens for the presence of M. equirhinis. The samples were both tracheal washes (TW) and bronchoalveolar lavages (BAL) collected by veterinarians in France in day-to-day work between 2020 and 2022. The samples were associated with a standardized form that serve...
Díaz EA, Arroyo G, Sáenz C, Mena L, Barragán V.Leptospirosis is considered a neglected tropical zoonosis in low-income countries due to surveillance system limitations and non-specificity of symptoms. Humans become infected through direct contact with carrier animals or indirectly through Leptospira-contaminated environments. Conventionally, equines have been considered an uncommon source of leptospirosis, but recent publications in Latin America suggest that their role in the maintenance and dispersion of the bacteria could be more relevant than expected, as horses are susceptible to a wide variety of zoonotic Leptospira spp. from domesti...
Gearhart MA, Webb PA, Knight AP, Salman MD, Smith JA, Erickson GA.Two doses of a formalin-killed, cell culture-derived vesicular stomatitis virus (vsv)-New Jersey serotype vaccine were administered intramuscularly, 30 days apart, to all lactating and nonlactating cows in a 350-cow dairy herd. Serum specimens were obtained serially from 96 cows before vaccination and at 30, 52 and 80 days after vaccination and from 24 of these cows 175 days after vaccination. Serum neutralizing antibody titers to vsv-New Jersey serotype were determined from serum-dilution, plaque-reduction tests. Serum neutralizing antibody titers also were determined during the same period f...
Merridale-Punter MS, Wiethoelter AK, El-Hage CM, Patrick C, Hitchens PL.Despite several millions of working equids worldwide, there are few published studies regarding the epidemiology of their health and welfare. Data collected by non-governmental organisations (NGOs) operating in the working equid sphere therefore have important epidemiological value and could be used towards animal health surveillance. The aim of this study was to identify common clinical findings and mortality patterns of working equids in low- and middle-income countries and investigate their epidemiology using data collected from an international NGO. A retrospective analysis was conducted t...
Fikri F, Hendrawan D, Wicaksono AP, Purnomo A, Khairani S, Chhetri S, Purnama MTE, Çalışkan H.Colic is the primary problem affecting equestrian care worldwide. The primary cause of colic is digestive diseases; however, they can also affect organs from different systems in the abdominal region. In addition to a prior history of the disease and its treatment, risk factors may be assessed to determine the etiology of the disease in horses without or with a history of colic. This study aimed to present a summary of the incidence, risk factors, and medical procedures for colic in horses. Unassigned: Based on owner reports, 223 horses in Tuban, Indonesia, suspected of having colic were inves...
An Q, Li Y, Sun Z, Gao X, Wang H.Equine Infectious Anemia (EIA) is a vector-borne persistent viral infection in equine animals. The EIA is characterized by recurrent fever, thrombocytopenia, depression, anemia, rapid weight loss, and lower body edema. Control of EIA is achieved through the elimination or isolation of infected animals, resulting in significant economic losses. In recent years, many countries in Europe have experienced outbreaks of EIA, which could potentially develop into a new wave of epidemic and pose a significant threat to the healthy development of the equine industry. This study utilized spatiotemporal a...
Sreenivasan CC, Naveed A, Uprety T, Soni S, Jacob O, Adam E, Wang D, Li F.Using metagenomic sequencing we identified equine rotavirus group B (ERVB) of ruminant origin in foal diarrhea outbreaks in the 2021 foaling season. To further investigate ERVB occurrence and determine its environmental stability, we collected mare and foal fecal samples from different farms in Central Kentucky during the 2022 foaling season. The RT-qPCR-based analyses showed that ERVB genome was detected in 16.67 % (42/252) of surveyed mare samples and 26.56 % (34/128) of foal samples. Furthermore, 94.12 % (16/17) of collected soil samples and 100 % (13/13) of water samples obtained f...
Seck M, Carder G, Wathan J, Randau M, Fletcher K, Proops L.The role that working equids play in both rural and urban communities in low and middle-income countries is invaluable. They contribute to daily tasks such as carrying food, water and people, support income generation, and are of social and cultural importance. Despite their importance, global standards of working equid welfare are low. Many variables can impact the welfare status of animals under human care, but often specific factors are explored in isolation. Factors can include, but are not limited to an owner's socioeconomic status and their attitudes and beliefs towards animals. In this ...
Duarte CR, Raimundo A, Sousa JP, Fernandes O, Santos R.This systematic review aimed to determine the prevalence of lower back pain (LBP) in equestrian athletes (EAs) and identify associated risk factors. Following the PRISMA guidelines, observational studies published between 2004 and 2024 in English, Portuguese, Spanish, and German were included. The review identified relevant studies through the Web of Science, EBSCO, MEDLINE, and SCOPUS (last search performed on 30 October 2024), yielding 14 studies with a total of 4527 participants. The question format for the included studies specified the population as equestrian athletes, the exposure as eq...
Leishmaniosis is a vector-borne and zoonotic disease with major sanitary implications at global scale. In Europe, Leishmania infantum is the only endemic etiologic agent, which has been previously reported in a wide range of mammal. However, the information about the role of equids in the L. infantum epidemiology is limited. We aimed to assess the seroprevalence and identify potential risk factors associated with L. infantum seropositivity in equine populations across several European countries. A total of 1364 equids, including 1005 horses, 240 donkeys and 119 mules/hinnies from Spain, Italy,...
Buono F, Castaldo E, Veneziano V, Veronesi F, Roncoroni C, Scarcelli S, Sgroi G, Matthews JB, Piantedosi D.Grazing horses are exposed to various intestinal helminths, with tapeworms being of major concern due to their potential pathogenicity. Few regional data are available in Italy on tapeworm infections in horses; therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of Anoplocephala spp. eggs over a nine-year period (2014-2023) in 12,056 faecal samples from horses living in all 18 continental Italian regions. Coprological examinations were performed using the Proudman and Edwards (1992) method using Sheather's sugar solution as the floatation medium. An overall prevalence of 3.7 % ...
Yessinou RE, Farougou S, Olopade JO, Oluwayelu DO, Happi A, Happi C, Groschup M.Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) is a tick-borne zoonotic viral disease prevalent in Africa. While infection is asymptomatic in animals, it can cause severe illness with hemorrhagic manifestations and high mortality rates in humans. This study aimed to determine the seroprevalence and potential risk factors of CCHF in wild (rodents, birds) and domestic (cattle, horses) animals in Benin. A cross-sectional study was carried out from 2022 to 2024 with the assistance of cattle breeders, hunters, farmers and bushmeat sellers in 15 districts found in three agroecological zones in the country. ...
Szacawa E, Kozieł N, Brzezińska S, Augustynowicz-Kopeć E, Weiner M, Szulowski K, Krajewska-Wędzina M. is one of the most dangerous pathogens of both animals and humans. Bovine tuberculosis (BTB) is a disease caused by mycobacteria belonging to the complex (MTBC), which spreads mainly among domestic cattle but also to mammals other than cattle. The transmission of MTBC between different species requires research and epidemiological investigations to control its spread. When multiple species are a reservoir of infection, it poses a significant public health and veterinary concern. In this study, the diagnosis of alpaca, cattle, horses, dogs, a sheep and a cat from one farm suspected of bovine ...
O'Connor A, Totton SC, Hernandez M, Meyers E, Meyers K, Abreu HM, Spofford N, Morrison J.Barriers to accessing veterinary care can be challenging for companion-animal caregivers and may lead to preventable health conditions or even death of pets. Objective: We conducted a scoping review to: 1) catalog the definitions of access to veterinary care (A2VC) used by researchers, 2) identify risk factors for and consequences of A2VC, and 3) map the risk factors onto dimensions of access to care (affordability, availability, accessibility, accommodation, acceptability). Methods: Primary research on companion animals not involved in commercial enterprises (e.g., horse racing) examining con...
Ochigbo GO, Ahn S, Belhumeur KA, Poissant J, Rosa BV.Unmanaged feral horses, naïve to dewormers, offer a unique opportunity to study natural communities of equine parasites. These communities may include parasites that are rare in managed populations, and these may be transmitted to domestic horses in areas where there is contact between feral and domestic equine populations. There have been only a few studies of gastrointestinal parasite populations in horses, and very few from North American equine populations. This study aimed to gain insights into parasite biology through identification of the strongyle parasite species infecting feral hors...
van Maanen K, van den Wollenberg L, de Haan T, Frippiat T.Monitoring infectious diseases is essential for safeguarding equine health and ensuring the sustainability of the horse industry. In 2019, the Royal Veterinary Association of the Netherlands (KNMvD) and Royal GD (GD Animal Health) launched SEIN (Surveillance of Equine Infectious diseases in the Netherlands), a voluntary surveillance system for laboratory-confirmed outbreaks of equid alphaherpesvirus 1 (EHV-1), equid alphaherpesvirus 4 (EHV-4), equine influenza virus (EIV), and subsp. . This retrospective study analyzed 364 confirmed outbreaks reported through SEIN between June 2019 and April ...
Lu Y, Ru P, Qin S, Zhang Y, Fu E, Cai M, Tuohuti N, Wu H, Zhang Y, Zhang Y.Gastrointestinal parasitic diseases pose significant health risks to equine populations. This study investigated the epidemiological patterns of equine gastrointestinal parasites in Xinjiang by analyzing 83 fecal samples collected from Ili ( = 62) and Urumqi ( = 21) between August and November 2024. The modified McMaster technique was employed to quantify fecal egg counts (EPG) and was complemented by morphological identification to assess infection dynamics related to geography, breed specificity, and management practices. The results demonstrated an overall infection prevalence of 66.3% (55/...
Cabete A, Xufre Â, Padre L, Bettencourt E, Nunes T, Gomes J.Equine piroplasmosis (EP) is a tick-borne disease of equids caused by Theileria equi, Theileria haneyi, and Babesia caballi. EP is endemic in most tropical and subtropical regions worldwide, and there is a likelihood that it is also endemic in Portugal. This retrospective study aimed to determine the seroprevalence, prevalence, and potential risk factors of EP in our country over the past five years. A total of 3063 diagnostic test records were analysed. Results from the competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (cELISA) revealed a seroprevalence of 32.7 % and 15.7 % for T. equi and B....
Wang T, Chen X, Yan X, Su Y, Gao W, Liu C, Wang W.Internal parasitic infections are a persistent challenge for horse owners, in the absence of effective vaccines and the growing challenge of drug resistance, leading many researchers to view current control strategies as unsustainable. Despite slow progress over the past two decades, effective parasitic diagnosis remains crucial for controlling infections and preventing the growing issue of drug resistance. This review examines the research progress in serological and molecular biological diagnostic methods for major equine parasites. Currently, most diagnostic techniques are based on genes su...
This cross-sectional study evaluated the seroprevalence and clinical impact of West Nile virus (WNV) infection in horses from three ecologically high-risk counties in western Romania (Timiș, Arad, and Bihor) between 2023 and 2025. A total of 306 unvaccinated horses were tested using a commercial ELISA, with 8.17% testing positive for WNV antibodies, indicating prior exposure. Passive surveillance for clinical signs during mosquito seasons identified 16 horses with acute neurological symptoms, four of which were confirmed as clinical cases based on WNV-specific IgM positivity, suggesting proba...
Martin F, Halvarsson P, Alm YH, Tydén E.Anthelmintic resistance is an increasing problem in many gastrointestinal parasites of grazing animals. Among these, the equine roundworm, Parascaris spp., has developed wide-spread resistance to macrocyclic lactones over the past decades. Additionally, there are recent observations of emerging treatment failure of both tetrahydropyrimidine and fenbendazole. Therefore, the aims of this study were to further investigate the occurrence of fenbendazole resistance on breeding farms and to explore potential management-related risk factors associated with resistance in Parascaris spp. in Sweden. Ele...
