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.
Imagawa H, Sekiguchi K, Anzai T, Fukunaga Y, Kanemaru T, Ohishi H, Higuchi T, Kamada M.Rotavirus is one of causative agents for acute diarrhea in infants of several animal species including humans [1]. Detection or isolation of rotavirus from the feces of foals with diarrhea has been reported in England [2], the U.S.A. [3, 5, 6], Australia [14] and Japan [10, 12]. It has been shown through serological surveys in Japan [4, 8, 9] and the U.S.A. [3, 13] that rotavirus is widespread among horses and foals. However, there have been few detailed reports on the occurrence of foal diarrhea caused by rotavirus. This report focuses on the occurrence of foal diarrhea and the isolation of r...
Takai S, Ohbushi S, Koike K, Tsubaki S, Oishi H, Kamada M.The prevalence of virulent Rhodococcus equi in isolates from soil and feces of foals on a farm with endemic R. equi infections was significantly higher than that of a farm with no history of the disease. Foals bred on a farm with the endemic disease might be constantly exposed to virulent R. equi in their environment.
Tkachuk-Saad O, Prescott J.Fifty-four strains of Rhodococcus equi from different clinical sources (mainly horses and pigs) were examined for their plasmid content by two screening methods. Plasmids were detected in 49 of 54 strains. A plasmid of approximately 80 kb was isolated from 21 of 22 isolates from horses and 20 of 28 isolates from pigs, and a 105-kb plasmid was isolated from 7 of 28 isolates from pigs. The 80-kb plasmid was significantly associated with strains of equine rather than porcine origin, and the 105-kb plasmid was significantly associated with strains of porcine origin. The type strain, ATCC 6939, con...
Clabough DL, Levine JF, Grant GL, Conboy HS.The records of 361 Standardbred mares and their 1986 or 1987 foals were evaluated to identify factors associated with failure of passive transfer (FPT) of colostral antibodies in equine neonates. Sixty-five foals (18%) were classified as FPT based on a serum immunoglobulin concentration of less than 400 mg/dl at 24 to 36 hours of age, determined by the glutaraldehyde coagulation test. The potential association of mare- and foal-related factors with FPT were assessed by reviewing a series of multiple logistic regression models. The season in which the mare foaled and foal exam score, a subjecti...
Vasconcelos PF, Da Rosa JF, Da Rosa AP, Dégallier N, Pinheiro Fde P, Sá Filho GC.An overview of ecological, epidemiological and clinical findings of potential arthropod-borne encephalitis viruses circulating in the Amazon Region of Brazil are discussed. These viruses are the Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE), Western Equine Encephalitis (WEE), St. Louis Encephalitis (SLE), Mucambo (MUC) and Pixuna (PIX). These last two are subtypes (III and IV) of Venezuelan Equine Encephalitis virus. The areas of study were the highways and projects of development, as well as places where outbreaks of human diseases caused by arboviruses had been detected. These viruses are widespread in ...
Browning GF, Chalmers RM, Snodgrass DR, Batt RM, Hart CA, Ormarod SE, Leadon D, Stoneham SJ, Rossdale PD.A survey of 77 normal and 326 diarrhoeic foals in Britain and Ireland from 1987 to 1989 revealed a significantly higher prevalence of Group A rotaviruses and Aeromonas hydrophila in diarrhoeic foals. The prevalence of cryptosporidia, potentially pathogenic Escherichia coli, Yersinia enterocolitica and Clostridium perfringens was similar in normal or diarrhoeic foals. Rotaviruses had a similar prevalence in all age groups of scouring foals up to three months of age, with an overall prevalence of 37 per cent among diarrhoeic foals. The number of cases of diarrhoea varied considerably from year t...
Meyers PJ, Bonnett BN, McKee SL.This prospective field study was designed to describe the incidence of early embryonic mortality (EEM) and factors associated with the cause of EEM on three equine breeding farms in Ontario during the 1989 breeding season. Early embryonic mortality was defined as the loss of a single embryo during the first 40 days of pregnancy (day 0 = day of ovulation or last breeding). Pregnancy diagnoses and subsequent embryonic losses were observed by serial trans-rectal ultrasonography between days 12-20 (PD1) and 21-30 (PD2), and by trans-rectal ultrasonography or palpation per rectum between days 31-40...
Mohammed HO, Hill T, Lowe J.A case-control study was conducted on Thoroughbred horses to identify factors associated with the risk of breakdown on racetracks. A total of 310 cases (breakdowns) were identified from the Horse Identification Department records kept by the chief examining veterinarian of New York Racing Association. For each case, two control horses were selected randomly from the Daily Racing Form Inc. records. Multiple logistic regression analysis was used to identify and quantify the risk of factors associated with breakdown, while simultaneously controlling for the effect of other putative factors. Facto...
Reeves MJ, Curtis CR, Salman MD, Stashak TS, Reif JS.A survey of 1,965 equine colic cases was conducted from August 1985 to July 1986 at 10 equine referral centers located throughout the United States. The purpose of this study was to develop and validate a multivariable model for the need for surgery. Two-thirds of the cases were randomly selected for model development (1,336), whereas the remaining cases (629) were used only for subsequent validation of the model. If a lesion requiring surgical correction was found at either surgery or necropsy, the case for the horse was classified as surgical, otherwise the case was classified as medical. On...
Mulville P.In the late 1970s, a new infectious disease in horses, involving acute enteritis, was recognised in the Potomac River area of Maryland, U.S.A. The causative agent was identified subsequently as a new species of rickettsial organism, later named Ehrlichia risticii. Since then, the disease has been reported in many other states, and in enzootic areas vaccination is common. Signs associated with the clinical disease included depression, fever, anorexia, decreased or absent intestinal sounds, profuse watery diarrhoea and laminitis. However, considerable variation in clinical manifestations has bee...
Peel MM, Hornidge KA, Luppino M, Stacpoole AM, Weaver RE.We describe the isolation of Actinobacillus lignieresii and an A. equuli-like bacterium from an infected horse-bite wound in a 22-year-old stable foreman and A. suis from a bite injury in a 35-year-old man who had been attacked by a horse. A. lignieresii was also isolated in pure culture from an infected sheep-bite wound in a rural worker. These species of the genus Actinobacillus are primarily associated with animals and animal diseases and are rarely isolated from humans. The purpose of this report is to raise awareness of the possible occurrence of Actinobacillus spp. in bite wounds inflict...
Rudman R, Keiper RR.The summer body condition of 47 adult feral ponies on Assateague Island (off the coast of Maryland, USA) was assessed in June 1988 using a visual body condition scoring system. Winter body condition for 36 of the ponies was assessed in February and March, 1989. The ponies were categorised by gender, reproductive status and location on the island, and body condition scores of the ponies in each category were then compared by statistical analyses. No significant seasonal differences were found in the body conditions of the ponies. However, body condition of stallions was better than that of mare...
Nation PN.Over sixteen years, 49 horses were diagnosed by Alberta Agriculture Animal Health laboratories as having "alsike clover poisoning". There was a distinct northwestern distribution of cases, the majority coming from the Peace River district. This distribution is opposite to that of the Alberta horse population, but coincides with areas of alsike clover cultivation. Cases could be divided into chronic or nervous clinical presentations, as described by Schofield. Tissues from 45 animals were retrieved and examined microscopically. Significant histological lesions were confined to the liver and con...
Boersema JH, Borgsteede FH, Eysker M, Elema TE, Gaasenbeek CP, van der Burg WP.A survey to determine the prevalence of anthelmintic resistance of horse strongyles was carried out with 616 horses on 22 farms. The tested drugs were cambendazole, pyrantel pamaote and ivermectin. Based on egg count reduction tests the efficacy of cambendazole varied from 0% to 93% and of pyrantel from 93% to 100%. Ivermectin treatments were 100% effective on all farms. Larval cultures after cambendazole treatments revealed exclusively cyathostome larvae. After pyrantel treatments besides cyathostome larvae other types of larvae were also found. After ivermectin treatments only a few cyathost...
Kamada M, Wada R, Kumanomido T, Imagawa H, Sugiura T, Fukunaga Y.A study was performed to examine the effect of viral inoculum size on the appearance of clinical signs in equine Getah virus (GV) infection by intramuscular inoculation with 10(1.3) to 10(6.3) TCID50 of the MI-110 strain in 6 experimental horses. When inoculated with more than 10(3.3) TCID50 of the virus, every horse developed pyrexia, edema in the hind legs, serous nasal discharge, lymphopenia and viremia in the relatively early stage of disease. On the other hand, enlargement of the submandibular lymph node was observed only in horses inoculated with 10(5.3) and 10(6.3) TCID50 of the virus, ...
Browning GF, Fitzgerald TA, Chalmers RM, Snodgrass DR.Equine rotavirus FI23 was shown to be prototypic of a novel G serotype, provisionally G14, by cross-neutralization and VP7 sequence determination. Although distinct, there are as few as six differing amino acid residues (92, 94, 96, 146, 147, and 221) in the VP7 antigenic regions of FI23 and G3 rotaviruses.
Doxey DL, Gilmour JS, Milne EM.Local weather patterns associated with 15 outbreaks of equine grass sickness in eastern Scotland were studied. The majority showed a trend toward cooler drier weather associated with irregular ground frosts. This would not preclude the hypothesis that fungi might be connected with the aetiology of grass sickness.
Krivolutskiĭ DA, Nguyen TK, Fan TV.101 species of oribatid mites and 12 species of helminths--anoplocephalids, transmitted by these mites, were found out by Soviet-Vietnam studies in agroecosystems and tropical forests of northern and southern Vietnam. Helminths were recorded from graminivorous mammals as follows: horses, zebu, sheep, goats, buffaloes, deer, hares, elephant, 2 species of rates, 5 species of monkeys and 11 species of birds.
Anderson GS, Belton P, Kleider N.Six horses severely affected by a seasonal dermatitis similar in both histopathology and epidemiology to Culicoides hypersensitivity (CH) and six unaffected or normal horses were inoculated intradermally with an extract of Culicoides obsoletus (Meigen), the most common Culicoides in southwestern British Columbia. Affected horses developed large welts within 20 min after injection, representing an immediate (type I) reaction; welts were largest 24 h or more after challenge, indicating in addition a delayed (type IV) reaction. This reaction was discernible for greater than 3 wk in some of the af...
Doxey DL, Gilmour JS, Milne EM.A retrospective survey was made of premises in eastern Scotland on which at least two cases of grass sickness had occurred between 1970 and 1987. For comparison, a further survey of 49 equine establishments, on which no grass sickness had been recorded, was conducted from 1986 to 1988. The results indicated that younger animals are more susceptible, especially those in good physical condition grazing full-time in the spring or early summer. Movement to new grazing increases the risk of grass sickness and identifiable stress may contribute. The nature of the establishment governed the animals' ...
Lowis TC, Hyland JH.This project surveys the reproductive performance of 154 foaling Thoroughbred mares on a commercial stud in southern Victoria. Of these, 96 were served on foal heat (FHS) and 58 were served at a subsequent prostaglandin-induced oestrus (PGS). The PGS group of mares performed more favourably in all aspects except the foaling-to-conception interval where there was a 9.4 day advantage to the FHS group. The first service conception rate in the FHS group was 47.9% compared with 55.2% in PGS mares. Second heat period conception rates were 46% vs 57.7% for FHS and PGS mares, respectively. Overall con...
Samitz EM, Biberstein EL.Thirty-seven local isolates of Actinobacillus suis-like organisms from diseased and clinically normal horses and 1 llama were compared with reference strains of A suis, A lignieresii, A equuli, A capsulatus, A hominis, A (Pasteurella) ureae, and equine A suis-like organisms (ASLO) previously described in literature. Comparison was by cultural characteristics, carbohydrate fermentation, enzyme profiles, and whole-cell protein polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Carbohydrate fermentation, determined by API-CH gallery, divided 36 equine ASLO isolates into 6 API-CH biotypes. The llama isolate was ...
Fitzgerald TA, Browning GF.The sensitivity of a rotavirus serotyping enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was improved by the addition of 0.5 mM CaCl2 to the washing buffer and reagent diluent. Twenty-nine of 63 (46%) previously untyped bovine and equine faecal rotavirus samples were serotyped in the modified assay. A differential response to Ca2+ ions was noted for different G-serotypes suggesting that serotyping assays performed without the inclusion of CaCl2 in the assay buffers may produce biased results.
Shimizu A, Kawano J, Ozaki J, Sasaki N, Kimura S, Kamada M, Anzai S, Saito H, Sato H.Seventy-six Staphylococcus aureus strains isolated from various lesions of horses were characterized. All of the 76 strains were identified as biotypes B (38.2%) and C (61.8%). Of 55 strains tested, 42 (76.4%) were differentiated into 7 coagulase types. Coagulase types V and VII were predominant in the metritis strains. Coagulase type II was found most frequently in the strains from phlegmon, dermatitis, sinusitis, empyema sinus, and nasal catarrh. Forty-two (55.3%) of the 76 strains were differentiated into 24 phage patterns. Twenty (58.8%) of 34 typable strains from metritis were lysed by th...
Büchi S, Waelchli RO, Corboz L, Gygax AP, Wälti RJ.In the mare, natural breeding is associated with bacterial contamination of the reproductive tract. The purpose of this study was to examine postcoital bacterial contamination and the resulting inflammatory response of the uterus. Uterine swabs for bacteriological and cytological examination were obtained from 80 mares. Each mare was sampled once between 4 and 69 hours postbreeding. In mares which did not conceive, sampling was repeated at the following estrus. The findings were compared with those obtained prior to breeding and correlated with the breeding outcome. Bacteria were cultured from...
Chapman MR, Klei TR, French DD.A critical trial was performed with five ponies 6-9 months of age and raised on a horse farm with demonstrated benzimidazole-resistant cyathostomes. Eleven species of cyathostomes were recovered, seven of which had resistance to thiabendazole. Degrees of resistance varied among ponies and from species to species. Resistant species were Cyathostomum coronatum, Cyathostomum catinatum, Cylicostephanus minutus, Cylicostephanus calicatus, Cylicostephanus longibursatus, Cylicostephanus goldi and Cylicocylus nassatus. This is the first study identifying resistant cyathostome species in the Gulf Coast...
Wassall DA, Gregory RJ, Phipps LP.The detection of antibodies against Trypanosoma equiperdum in 689 equid sera was compared by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), the complement fixation test (CFT) and an indirect immunofluorescent test (IIF). CFT was the least sensitive technique, susceptible to anti-complementary factors and the most technically demanding. IIF was more sensitive, but was only suitable for testing limited numbers of samples. In this study, ELISA was the most sensitive test, the least labour intensive and lends itself to a considerable degree of automation. It is suggested that ELISA would be relatively...
Alexandersen S, Carpenter S.The polymerase chain reaction was used to amplify and clone parts of the envelope gene and overlapping S3 open reading frame, thought to encode rev, of the virulent in vivo-derived Th-1 isolate of equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV). The results indicated that EIAV consists of a heterogeneous mixture of genotypes present at the first febrile cycle after initial infection. We showed that the Th-1 isolate apparently contains nondefective genotypes as well as types which have transmembrane protein truncations or are rev deficient. Furthermore, we could confirm the presence of a hypervariable re...
Dawson FL, Durrant DS.Seventy-three samples of serum, from 69 horses and one zebra, were subjected to the Rose Bengal Plate, serum tube agglutination, complement fixation, and anti-equine globulin (Coombs') tests for brucellosis. Fifty-one of the samples, from 48 horses, were submitted by practising veterinary surgeons; of these, 22 samples were associated with clinical conditions which might have been due to brucellosis. Fourteen samples were from healthy horses known to have been in contact with infected cattle, and six were from horses which were known not to have been exposed to brucellosis. More reactions at a...
Wilson SJ, Ward MP.Hendra virus (HeV), a potentially fatal zoonotic disease spread by flying foxes, to date has always infected humans via a spillover event from equine HeV infection. In a theoretical case study, we compared the impacts of two different HeV prevention strategies - vaccination and flying fox roost removal - using a recently developed framework that considers different stakeholder group perspectives. The perspectives of the four selected stakeholder groups regarding intangibles were inferred from public discussions and coverage in the media. For all stakeholder groups, the option to vaccinate hors...
Mata F, Johnson C, Wilding L.The process of domestication of the horse introduced changes limiting accessibility to graze land and roughage while increasing highly digestible carbohydrates content of meal-fedrations. We have tested whether the effect of a higher degree of human contact impacts horses' welfare by assessing the development of sharp enamel points (SEP) and buccal ulcerations (BU) in ridden and unridden horses. We were able to fit logistic regression models significantly differentiating the impact of these two conditions in both groups of horses (p < 0.001 for SEP and p < 0.01 for BU). The impact is higher...
Paillot R, Regourd E, Behr-Gross ME.Equine influenza (EI) is an important respiratory disease of horses, with welfare and economic consequences. Vaccination remains one of the most efficient prevention methods available. Equine influenza virus (EIV) is constantly evolving and consequently EI vaccines need to be updated on a regular basis. In 2010, the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) Expert Surveillance Panel (ESP) on EI provided a new recommendation for EI vaccine strain composition, including the incorporation of representative EIV strains of both Florida Clade 1 and Clade 2 sub-lineages (FC1 and FC2, respectively). ...
Kamhieh S, Hodgson J, Bode L, Ludwig H, Ward C, Flower RL.Borna disease virus (BDV) is a unique RNA virus that is a cause of neurological disease in horses, sheep and cats. The finding that BDV also infects humans has raised concern related to the impact of infection with this virus. The extent to which BDV may be endemic in geographical regions outside Europe is of interest in management of international movement of animals including horses. Sera from Australian horses (N = 553) sampled in Sydney, New South Wales (NSW), were analysed for BDV antigen, circulating immune complexes (CICs), and antibodies by monoclonal antibody-based ELISAs. One-tenth o...
Collinder E, Lindholm A, Rasmuson M.The equine rhabdomyolysis syndrome (RHA) is believed to be multifactorial in origin; and could be caused by an interaction between genetic and environmental factors. In order to analyse its genetic background an association study was undertaken. Two sample groups of Standardbreds (Stb) which had suffered from RHA were compared to the total population of Swedish Standardbred trotters using recorded polymorphic genetic markers. The results showed that gene frequencies for several markers in the RHA groups differed significantly from those estimated for the total population. A rhabdomyolysis risk...
Giangaspero A, Lia R, Vovlas N, Otranto D.A survey on the prevalence of Thelazia spp. in the province of Bari (Apulia region, Italy) in slaughtered native horses was conducted from June 20, 1995 to April 3, 1996. Both eyes from 409 ten-month- to 4-year-old native animals were examined. Sixty horses (14.7%) were found parasitized by Thelazia lacrymalis. Three hundred-sixty one parasite specimens (220 females, 99 males and 42 larvae) were collected with a mean count burden of 6.0-5.1 (range 1 to 20) per head. T. lacrymalis specimens were found free in the conjunctiva and behind the nictitancte, in the excretory ducts of the Harderian gl...
Chiesa OA, Vidal D, Domingo M, Cuenca R.Percutaneous washes of the guttural pouches were obtained from two groups of 15 clinically normal horses, one lightly exercised and the other heavily exercised. Microbiological and cytological studies showed a wide variation in the differential cell counts. The cytological pattern of the normal lavages (< 5 per cent neutrophils) was characterised by a large proportion of ciliated columnar epithelial cells, a few non-ciliated cuboidal epithelial cells, and less than 1 per cent monocytes, lymphocytes, and eosinophils. Abnormal lavages (with more than 5 per cent neutrophils) had higher levels ...
Wernery U, Rodriguez M, Raghavan R, Syriac G, Miriam Thomas M S, Elizabeth SK, Federico Ronchi G, Muhammed R, Patteril NA, Joseph S.African horse sickness (AHS) is a devastating viral disease of equids that was first recorded in 1327. Currently, prevention and control of the disease are based on attenuated vaccines and midge control. It has been shown that attenuated Orbivirus vaccines are not always safe as they may reverse to virulence. Objective: In the Emirate of Dubai, a vaccination experiment was carried out with an inactivated AHS vaccine produced at the Central Veterinary Research Laboratory (CVRL), Dubai, UAE to investigate the humoral antibody response of AHS-naïve horses to this vaccine. Our vaccination experim...
Viklund Å, Furre S, Eriksson S, Vangen O, Philipsson J.Breeding programmes for warmblood sport horses are similar in the Nordic countries Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Norway, and stallions of same origin are used. The aim was to investigate whether a joint Nordic genetic evaluation based on lifetime competition performance is feasible and beneficial for breeding competitive sport horses in the Nordic countries. Results for almost 45,000 horses in show jumping and 30,000 horses in dressage were available. The larger populations in Sweden and Denmark contributed with 85% of the results. Heritabilities and genetic correlations between performances in...
Morier L, Cantelar N, Soler M.Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE) was in Cuba before the 1940s; the virus has been isolated from horses, birds, and rodents during epizootic as well as interepizootic periods. The only isolation of Western Equine Encephalitis (WEE) virus was from a sick pigeon found in the vicinity of Havana University. Both viruses can cause human disease; the isolation of WEE virus from the centre of an urban area emphasises the need for the prompt isolation and rapid identification of these agents. The object of this work was to compare the sensitivity of a continuous cell line (XL-2) from the toad, Xenopus...
Corley KT, Corley MM.Many Thoroughbred foals are intended to be sold at public auction. The impact of disease conditions necessitating hospital treatment as a foal on future sales performance is unknown. Objective: To determine whether Thoroughbred horses that were treated in a hospital before age 125 days and presented to public auction sell for a different mean price than controls. Methods: Foals aged < 125 days, treated at a hospital in Ireland in 2007 or 2008 and presented for sale to a public auction recorded on a publicly accessible database were selected for inclusion in the study. The sales outcome of thes...
Hannant D, Jessett DM, O'Neill T, Mumford JA.Serum antibody (IgGab, IgM and IgA) responses to primary and secondary infection with influenza A/equine/Newmarket/79 (H3N8) by nebulised aerosol were compared with local (nasopharyngeal and tracheal) antibody responses in ponies. Circulating IgGab antibody was of long duration after primary infection, whereas IgM responses were short-lived after both primary and secondary infections. The antigenic stimulation of secondary infection with equine influenza was sufficient to induce elevations of serum IgM and IgA in the presence of high levels of circulating IgGab. These results support the poten...
Franklin SH, Barakzai SZ, Couroucé-Malblanc A, Dixon P, Nankervis KJ, Perkins JD, Roberts CA, Vanerck-Westergren E, Allen KJ.During the past 20 years, treadmill exercise testing has played an important role in both the study of equine exercise physiology and the investigation of poor athletic performance. However, it has been suggested that some trainers and veterinarians may be reluctant to refer horses for treadmill exercise testing because of fears that horses may be at increased risk of musculoskeletal injury during treadmill exercise. Objective: To investigate the incidence and types of injuries sustained by horses undergoing treadmill exercise. Methods: Data were collated from 9 centres in the UK, France and B...
Becker AC, Stock KF, Distl O.Detailed movement evaluations of warmblood foals and mares were performed in connection with regular breeding events of the Oldenburg horse breeding societies in 2009 and 2010. Unfavourable movement characteristics considered indicative for impaired balance were noted by a special judge (SJ) and the regular judges of the breeding events (RJ) and served as the basis for definition of new movement traits. Detailed movement information on 3374 foals and 2844 mares showed that more severe findings like irregular motion pattern in hind legs or irregularity in general motion pattern occurred only sp...
Goehring LS, Sloet van Oldruitenborgh-Oosterbaan MM.Equine protozoal myeloencephalitis (EPM) was diagnosed in a Dutch Warmblood gelding a few months after its export to the United States. The horse came back and was treated here. Additionally, an overview of the disease complex 'EPM' is given. Mode of infection, diagnosis of disease and its differential diagnoses, and general therapeutic options are presented. Although EPM due to infection with Sarcocystis neurona in Europe seems restricted to those horses that return or are imported from North America, the possibility of future cases of EPM caused by an infection with Neospora spp. is briefly ...
Kwak ML, Schubert J.Although forensic parasitology remains in its infancy compared with more developed fields like forensic entomology, parasites can be useful forensic indicators. We present the case of an individual who disobeyed animal health legislation and crossed animal quarantine boundaries and two state lines with a cattle tick (Rhipicephalus australis) infested horse. Following recognition of the infestation by animal health officers, the individual asserted that the infestation had occurred either during transport or upon arrival at the site of discovery, and that they had not contravened quarantine leg...
Paweska JT, Gerdes T, Van Heerden J.Rabbit hyperimmune serum prepared against a donkey alphaherpesvirus isolate (M7/91), and against EHV-1 and EHV-4 was used to characterise the antigenic relationship between these 3 viruses. Serum from immunised rabbits was always more specific for homologous virus and showed different cross reactivity for heterologous virus. It was concluded that the immunologic relationship between the M7/91 isolate and EHV-1, was closer than that between this isolate and EHV-4. A serological survey of donkeys (n = 116) and horses (n = 57) revealed evidence of the presence of neutralising antibody to M7/91 in...
Welschen SE, de Bruijn CM, Sloet van Oldruitenborgh-Oosterbaan MM.The short- and long-term results of admission to the 'Neonatal Intensive Care Unit' (ICU) at the Department of Equine Sciences of the Utrecht University were evaluated. The patients were categorized, based on specific criteria, into different groups: 'Sepsis', 'Pneumonia', 'Enteritis', 'Asphyxia', 'Premature', 'Isoerythrolysis', and 'Equine herpes virus (EHV)'. The survival rate and mean duration of hospitalization were determined for each group. The venous blood variables at admission were compared for 'surviving' and 'non-surviving' foals within groups, between groups, and for the overall gr...
de Souza RP, Mousquer MA, Müller V, Barbosa JCR, Leite FPL, Guedes RMC, Curcio BDR, Nogueira CEW.The aim of the present study was to carry out a serological survey to identify the seroprevalence of Lawsonia intracellularis in six Thoroughbred farms in the Southern region of the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. During 2019 and 2020, blood samples from 686 Thoroughbred horses were obtained from six different breeding farms. Horses were divided into groups according to age: (1) broodmares (>5 years), (2) two-year-old foals, (3) yearlings, and (4) 0-6 months-old foals. Blood samples were collected by venipuncture of the external jugular vein. The detection of antibodies (IgG) against L. in...
To evaluate the etiology of skeletal changes noted in equid vertebrae from a 19- century context near Belgrade, Serbia. A vertebral column consisting of 15 fused thoracic vertebrae (T2-T16), with right ribs fused to T4 and T5 and small remnants of ribs articulating with T4, T5 and T6 on the left side were accidentally recovered during industrial exploitation of sand. The specimen was subjected to morphological analysis and collagen fingerprinting by mass spectrometry for species identification. In order to determine the absolute temporal context, radiocarbon dating was employed. Pathological c...
Sloan PB, White B, Santschi EM.Osteochondrosis dissecans (OCD) is common in the femoropatellar joint in Thoroughbred yearlings for sale at auction and there is no consensus on the effect on racing outcomes. Objective: Describe femoropatellar OCD in juvenile Thoroughbreds and compare the racing performance of affected Thoroughbred horses to siblings and unaffected horses from the same sale. Methods: Retrospective case-control study of juvenile horses born 2010-2016. Methods: Radiographic reports from 27 Thoroughbred auctions of weanling (5-11 months of age) and yearling (12-22 months of age) horses were reviewed to ident...
Giles C, Cavanagh HM, Noble G, Vanniasinkam T.There are currently two known serotypes of equine adenovirus (EAdV), equine adenovirus type 1 (EAdV1) and equine adenovirus type 2 (EAdV2); EAdV1 is predominantly associated with upper respiratory tract infections while EAdV2 appears to have a higher association with gastrointestinal infection, however, very little is known about the prevalence of these viruses in horse populations in Australia. In this study we tested 122 serum samples obtained from horses in New South Wales, Australia, using a standard serum neutralization (SN) assay and ELISA. Ninety-seven of the 122 sera displayed had mode...
Jacobsen ABJE, Damborg P, Hopster-Iversen C.Horses may be carriers of important resistant bacteria like methicillin-resistant staphylococci. Such bacteria can potentially threaten both equine and public health, but little is known about predisposing factors like antimicrobial usage patterns in equines. Objectives of this study were to investigate the antimicrobial usage practices by Danish equine practitioners as well as factors impacting usage. A total of 103 equine practitioners filled in an online questionnaire. When asked to explain their typical treatment of six clinical case scenarios, only 1% and 7% of respondents prescribed syst...
Lee HS, Heo EJ, Jeoung HY, Ko HR, Kweon CH, Youn HJ, Ko YJ.In this study, an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) using glycoprotein and a monoclonal antibody (MAb) was developed for the detection of antibodies to vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) serotype New Jersey (NJ). The glycoprotein to be used as a diagnostic antigen was extracted from partially purified VSV-NJ, and a neutralizing MAb specific to VSV-NJ was incorporated to compete with antibodies in a blocking ELISA using glycoprotein (GP ELISA). The cutoff of the GP ELISA was set at 40% inhibition, which corresponded to a virus neutralization test (VNT) titer of 32. With this threshold, th...
Sebek Z, Wallner H, Sixl W, Kaaserer G, Valová M.Results are presented of a serological examination of 1,547 domestic animals (cattle, pig, sheep, horse, goat, dog, cat) from 9 Tyrolian districts (Austria), performed in order to disclose the incidence of leptospirosis. Completely significant titres were domonstrated by means of the MAL test in the serotypes icterohaemorrhagiae or copenhageni, sorex-jalna, bratislava, sejroe and saxkoebing. In addition, antibodies were confirmed against L. bataviae, L. pomona, L. tarassovi and L. bulgarica, but the titres were insignificant. Of the animals examined, 7.2% gave positive reactions in titres of 1...
Goto H, Shimizu K, Abe T, Kanamitsu M.A serological survey was conducted on horse sera collected for 7 years just before the first outbreak of equine influenza (EI) infection in Japan in 1971. No antibodies against the A/Equi-1/Prague/56 (equi-1) and A/Equi-2/Miami/63 (equi-2) strains of EI virus were detected in any of the sera of 452 native horses when employing hemagglutination inhibition (HI) and complement fixation (CF) tests against viral (V) antigen. On the contrary, of the 80 imported horses, 48 (60.0%) had HI titers of 1:8 or higher against equi-1 and 23 (28.8%) against equi-2. In the CF-V test 42.6% of the horses showed ...
Stoughton WB, Begin S, Outman S, Stryhn H, Yu J, Conboy G, Nielsen MK.Widespread overuse of anthelmintics has produced a growing population of intestinal parasites resistant to control measures. A paradigm shift in equine parasite control is warranted to prevent continued resistance development and maintain equine health. Small strongyles, which are ubiquitous in horses, are currently the most important intestinal parasites of adult horses. Sustainable management programs consider the variation in egg shedding by individual horses, and varied risks associated with age, use, density, climate, and environment. To develop regional recommendations for Prince Edward ...
Schulman ML, Marlow CH, Nurton JP.The data and an analysis of the statistical summaries from the 'Return of Mares' of the General Stud Book of The Jockey Club of Southern Africa from 1975-1999 are presented. The total number of mares covered per season ranged from 7393 (1992) to 5180 (1995). The total living produce in the period surveyed was 95 317 foals. The categories of data examined include: the total number of mares covered per season; the total numbers and percentage of their living produce; the total numbers and percentage dead produce, 'slips' and foals born dead, barren and 'no return' mares; and the total number of ...
Kernot N, Butler R, Randle H.Conditions of the equine caudal neck (C5-C7) are thought to be associated with various clinical signs. However, little investigation has been undertaken to isolate clinical indicators associated with specific conditions of the equine caudal cervical spine. This systematic review aimed to evaluate associations of clinical signs with anatomical malformation of caudal cervical vertebrae, spinal cord compression of the caudal cervical spine, and arthropathy of the caudal cervical articular process joints (APJs). A literature search was carried out using Google Scholar in accordance with PRISMA (Pr...
