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.
Hüthwohl H, Weiss R, Schmeer N, Schliesser T.Classification based on biochemical characteristics of 389 strains of plasma-coagulase-negative (plc-) staphylococci isolated from the genital tract of mares and stallions resulted in the following distribution of species: St. sciuri 130 (33.4%), St. equorum 42 (10.8%), St. xylosus 16 (4.1%), St. epidermidis 35 (9.0%), St. simulans 24 (6.2%), St. haemolyticus 33 (8.5%), St. warneri 18 (4.6%), St. lentus 12 (3.1%), St. hyicus 11 (2.8%). Strains of St. cohnii, St. capitis, St. gallinarum, St. saprophyticus and St. hominis have only been found sporadically (a. 1%). 48 (12.3%) strains could not be...
Radvila P.The effect of heterologous and homologous antitoxin is the same if an equal amount of antitoxin is present in the organism. In man there are no circulating antibodies in the blood after the first injection of the toxoid because there is no natural immunity against the tetanus antigen. After the second injection, man develops the same immunity as animals. Large antitoxin doses protect people for a longer period than small doses. Normally 3,000 I. U. of the heterologous antitoxin protects people for 2 to 3 weeks. In man and sheep 2 ml of the adsorbed vaccine produces an earlier and longer-lastin...
Miller SM.Otobius megnini has been associated with certain clinical conditions in horses in both California and Mexico. A number of cases similar to those described previously have been identified by the author in South Africa. This case report summarises these cases to demonstrate that the clinical condition occurs readily in South Africa and may be increasing in occurrence. The disease has minimal coverage in the literature making it more likely that a veterinarian, unfamiliar with the disease, will miss the diagnosis. The author would like to make veterinarians aware of this as a potential differenti...
McTigue FE, Mansbridge SC, Pyatt AZ.Equine anthelmintic resistance poses a threat to the health and welfare of horses worldwide. With no new imminent anthelmintic classes, it is vital to decrease the resistance rate and preserve available classes. Traditional indiscriminate anthelmintic use is not synonymous with a strategic control ideology; however, many continue to implement outdated practices. In comparison to livestock farmers, there have been few social science studies examining horse owner behaviours. This study aimed to understand the perceived barriers faced by horse owners and yard managers to adopting a strategic appr...
Kozlov DP.The problem of dissimilation of larvae of strongylates of ruminants in pasture biocoenosis is discussed. A new form of their migration in horizontal direction on the basis of negative geotaxis is suggested. As a result of alternation of vertical migration of larvae on the tilting leaves of the grass and their subsequent washing off with rain or dew down on the ground proceeds their distribution on the pasture. The description of corresponding experiments is given.
Vandenplas J, Janssens S, Buys N, Gengler N.The aim of this study was to test the integration of external information, i.e. foreign estimated breeding values (EBV) and the associated reliabilities (REL), for stallions into the Belgian genetic evaluation for jumping horses. The Belgian model is a bivariate repeatability Best Linear Unbiased Prediction animal model only based on Belgian performances, while Belgian breeders import horses from neighbouring countries. Hence, use of external information is needed as prior to achieve more accurate EBV. Pedigree and performance data contained 101382 horses and 712212 performances, respectively....
Ryder S, Bracho D.Antibodies against Venezuelan Equine Encephalitis Virus (VEEV) were studied in the human population of Mara District, Zulia State, Venezuela. Two hundred thirty nine blood samples were taken from the towns of San Rafael de Mara, Santa Cruz de Mara, La Sierrita-4 Bocas, Carrasquero, Isla de San Carlos e Isla de Toas, during june, july and september, 1988. Donors samples were classified by age, sex and serological titres. Eighty nine were less than 15 years old (37.2%) and 150, over 15 years old (62.7%). From the 239 samples, 224 were negative (93.7%) and 15 positive (6.3%). Our results indicate...
Uldahl M, Bundgaard L, Dahl J, Clayton HM.This study addresses the presence and location of natural pigmentation, potentially pathological changes in pigment, interruptions of the natural lining (scars), roughness, and erosions/contusion (bruising) in and around the corners of the lips of 206 horses presented to a veterinarian for routine preventative dental treatment. After sedation, photographs were taken and later evaluated for the presence of lesions. During the photographic analysis, the Oral Commissure Assessment (OCA) protocol was developed to map precisely the areas of skin and mucosa around the corners of the lips, and the pr...
Hill V, Koch RT, Bialosuknia SM, Ngo K, Zink SD, Koetzner CA, Maffei JG, Dupuis AP, Backenson PB, Oliver J, Bransfield AB, Misencik MJ, Petruff TA....Eastern equine encephalitis virus (EEEV) causes a rare but severe disease in horses and humans, and is maintained in an enzootic transmission cycle between songbirds and mosquitoes. In 2019, the largest EEEV outbreak in the United States for more than 50 years occurred, centered in the Northeast. To explore the dynamics of the outbreak, we sequenced 80 isolates of EEEV and combined them with existing genomic data. We found that, like previous years, cases were driven by frequent short-lived virus introductions into the Northeast from Florida. Once in the Northeast, we found that Massachusetts...
Cerva L, Cerná Z.A description is given of the preparation of antigen from Sarcocystis dispersa cystozoites and the procedure of the indirect haemagglutination test (IHA). The antibodies against this antigen were detected in experimentally infected mice from day 20 p.i. (1: 640). In the following weeks the antibody titres reached the value of 1: 40,960. The sera of pigs, sheep and horses spontaneously infected with other Sarcocystis species reacted with this antigen in low titres only. The bovine sera gave negative reactions even in cases when Sarcocystis cysts were present in the muscles of the examined anima...
Whittem T, Woodward AP, Hoppach M.Knowing the frequency, extent or severity of injuries that occur to students and staff within veterinary teaching hospitals (VTHs) is necessary for proactive management of their safety. This study surveyed contemporaneously-captured incident reports likely to cause or causing injury to students and staff of veterinary teaching hospitals in Europe, the United States of America (USA), Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, recorded in 2017. Four different severities of incident were evaluated within four different cohorts of people, precipitated by five categories for cause. Within each cause-categ...
Kent RJ, Lacer LD, Meisch MV.Migratory birds could introduce West Nile (WN) virus to Arkansas. The purpose of this study was to establish a cooperative arbovirus surveillance program to monitor mosquitoes and birds in Arkansas for arboviruses. Our objectives were to: 1) perform routine, multicounty collections of mosquitoes and test them for eastern equine encephalitis, St. Louis encephalitis, and WN viruses; and 2) conduct passive surveillance by testing dead wild birds for WN virus. Arbovirus surveillance was organized by the Arkansas Department of Health, University of Arkansas, and Vector Disease Control Incorporated....
Gürelli G, Canbulat S, Aldayarov N.Species composition and distribution of intestinal ciliates were investigated in the feces from 15 domestic horses living in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. Twenty-three species belonging to 14 genera were identified. This is the first study on intestinal ciliates in domestic horses living in Kyrgyzstan. The mean number of ciliates was 14.1 ± 6.8 x10(4) cells ml(-1) of feces and the mean number of ciliate species per host was 6.0 ± 3.2. No endemic or new species were detected. Blepharocorys was the major genus as these ciliates were detected in high proportions. In contrast Holophryoides, Allantosoma w...
Nts'aoana ME, Molapo S, Kompi P, Phalatsi M.Parasitic infection is one of the major problems in equines which negatively influence their health. It hinders working performance of equines. This study was conducted to evaluate donkey owners' knowledge and control measures on prevalence of gastrointestinal parasites (GIPs) in three agro-ecological zones (AEZs) of Maseru district. A total of 144 donkey owners were selected for individual interviews through a stratified random sampling. Descriptive statistics and chi-square tests were used to analyze data. The significance (p <0.05) of different AEZs was tested using a post-hoc cell-wise ad...
Fontaine M, Fontaine M.In the first part of this paper the conditions for a specific titration of antibodies against the neuraminidase (N) of each of the two horse virus subtypes are defined. The antigens used are: the H72Neq 1 recombining agent to measure the anti Neq1 antibodies and the A/Duck/Ukraine/63 strain for the anti Neq2 antibodies. The immunity response to neuraminidase appears after the natural disease; this response is studied in two foci, one due to a virus belonging to the A equi I subtype (Loire 73 strain), the other to a virus of the A equi 2 subtype (SHN 73 strain). The kinetics of apparition of an...
Magnarelli LA, Ijdo JW, Van Andel AE, Wu C, Oliver JH, Fikrig E.To test serum samples of dogs and horses by use of class-specific recombinant-based ELISA for establishing a diagnosis of granulocytic ehrlichiosis attributable to infection with organisms from the Ehrlichia phagocytophila genogroup. Methods: Serum samples from 43 client-owned dogs and 131 horses (81 with signs of acute illness and 50 without signs of disease). Methods: Serum samples were analyzed, using ELISA with a recombinant 44-kd protein antigen for IgM and IgG antibodies to the human granulocytic ehrlichiosis (HGE) agent (NCH-1 strain). Western blot analyses, using infected human promyel...
Horká M, Kubíček O, Kubesová A, Rosenbergová K, Kubíčková Z, Šlais K.Influenza A is viral disease, which is a cause of yearly epidemics and, potentially, pandemics. The conventional techniques used today are equipment-demanding, time-consuming and laborious. Recently, we have confirmed that the capillary isoelectric focusing is a suitable fast alternative for the verifying of virus purity. In the wide pH gradient of pH range 2.0-7.5 the isoelectric points for subtypes of equine (H3N8) and swine (H1N2) influenza A viruses were determined approximately as 6.6 and 6.5, respectively. In this contribution we have verified these findings using different isolates of d...
Ryder S, Núñez-Camargo J, Rangel P, Añez F.With the purpose of determining antibodies prevalence against Venezuelan Equine Encephalitis Virus in the population of Puertos de Altagracia and Sabaneta de Palmas of Miranda county, Zulia State, Venezuela, 199 subjects were studied: 57 from Puertos de Altagracia and 142 from Sabaneta de Palmas. They were classified in older (42.78%) and younger (57.2%) than 15 years. The blood specimens were processed for Hemagglutination Inhibition Test using EEV antigen Goajira strain at pH 6.5. We found that all 57 specimens from Puertos de Altagracia were negative, whereas of 142 specimens from Sabaneta ...
Gaĭdamovich SIa, Pomelova VG, Lavrova NA, Mel'nikova EE, Sokolova MV, Kharitonenkov IG, Zlobin VN.Potentialities of differentiation between Venezuelan equine encephalomyelitis (VEE) complex viruses by time-resolved fluoroimmunoassay and enzyme immunoassay were studied. For this, 4 test systems were used based on different combinations of native and labeled polyclonal antibodies to VEE virus, strain Trinidad, and monoclonal (MCA) antibody MAK 14-7 to protein EL of this virus. The maximal sensitivity and specificity was achieved in the test system formed from native MCA MAK 14-7 for sensitization of the solid phase and labeled polyclonal immunoglobulins for demonstration of the test results....
Kraouchi DE, Meradi S, Bentounsi B.The composition, prevalence, and seasonal dynamic of species were studied at the slaughterhouse of Constantine region (East Algeria) in 128 horses over an 18 months period. Our survey revealed that 124 (96.9%) horses were infected with a mean intensity of 161 larvae of spp. Four species of were identified; and were by far the predominant species with 95.3% and 77.3% respectively, followed by (14.0%) and (10.1%). The age, sex, and breed of horses did not affect the distribution of the infection. Second-stage larvae (L2) of were absent between April and July and present in higher numbers...
BMC research notesJuly 12, 2014
Volume 7 448 doi: 10.1186/1756-0500-7-448
Boukharta M, Zakham F, Touil N, Elharrak M, Ennaji MM.The equine influenza (EI) is an infectious and contagious disease of the upper respiratory tract of horses. Two outbreaks were notified in Morocco during 1997 and 2004 respectively in Nador and Essaouira. The aims of the present study concern the amino acids sequences comparison with reference strain A/equine/Miami/1963(H3N8) of the HA2 subunit including the cleavage site of three equine influenza viruses (H3N8) isolated in Morocco: A/equine/Nador/1/1997(H3N8), A/equine/Essaouira/2/2004 (H3N8) and A/equine/Essaouira/3/2004 (H3N8). Results: The obtained results demonstrated that the substitutio...
Pelkola K, Heinikainen S, Pohjanvirta T.In Finland, Taylorella equigenitalis, the causative agent of contagious equine metritis (CEM), was first detected in 1992. The aim of this study was to genotype Finnish T. equigenitalis isolates to investigate the epidemiology of the infection in the Finnish horse population. A total of 34 T. equigenitalis isolates from 24 horses obtained during 1992-2021 were subjected to whole genome sequencing (WGS) and subsequent local ad hoc core genome multi-locus sequence typing (cgMLST) targeting 1259 loci. Classical MLST profiles were extracted from the whole-genome sequence data. Three novel MLST ty...
Ledermann W.With the apparition of the crazy cows disease at the end of twentieth century, great was the temptation for denominate "crazy horses disease" an ancient enzootic encephalo-myelitis, known from the 17th century and now named "Borna disease" in 1970, because severe outbreaks affecting horses in this city of Germany since 1885. But the sickness was not a prion disease but a viral one, causing also encephalopathy in several other animal species. After seventy years of investigation, the finding of the virus in human patients with psychiatric pathology in the eighties gave an incentive to work hard...
Eichhorn W.Infections and clinical diseases caused by equine 2 influenza A viruses are observed worldwide. The frequency of these outbreaks supports the hypothesis that antigenic variation of the surface proteins may play an important role. For the demonstration of these variations, monoclonal antibodies (Mabs) were prepared. They are directed against the hemagglutinin or the neuraminidase of the prototype strain a/eq/Miami/1/63. In hemagglutination-inhibition assays with Mabs two reaction patterns were observed: four Mabs inhibited 14 out of 17 strains tested. Another Mab recognized the hemagglutinin of...
Hobo S, Niwa H, Anzai T, Jones JH.In this study, to evaluate the influence of strangles vaccination on serological test results, we investigated the changes in strangles serum antibody levels in horses after vaccination and subsequent intranasal challenge with S. equi. The horses were vaccinated for strangles with either a component vaccine (Group C) or a live vaccine (Group L). We measured changes in strangles serum antibody levels weekly for 20 weeks after vaccinating horses twice for strangles over a 3-week interval, and for 7 weeks after intranasal challenge with S. equi in the same horses. Serum antibody responses to the ...
Adeyefa CA, McCauley JW, Tomori O.The complete amino acid sequences of the hemagglutinin (HA) glycoprotein of three equine-2 influenza viruses from tropical Africa are presented in comparison with that of a well characterized European equine-2 virus (Suffolk/89) and a consensus sequence from the database. The sequences of the tropical African viruses were deduced from the complete nucleotide sequences of their HA genes reported earlier. Mutational changes in the nucleotide sequences resulted in amino acid changes in the HA which led to the introduction of a new asparagine-linked (N-linked) glycosylation site in two viruses. Th...
Gupta AK, Kaur D, Rattan B, Yadav MP.Three abortigenic Indian isolates of equine herpesvirus-1 (EHV-1) (Tohana, Hisar and Bikaner), along with two exotic abortigenic isolates (AB4 and V592) and another EHV-1 isolate (Jind) obtained from a case of perinatal foal mortality, were studied for variability. For this purpose, PCR and restriction endonuclease (RE) digestion techniques were used simultaneously as a DNA fingerprinting system. Nine different regions of EHV-1 virus were amplified by PCR using primer pairs specific for the regions and the products obtained from these regions were subsequently subjected to various restriction ...
Espíndola JP, Machado G, Diehl GN, Dos Santos LC, de Vargas AC, Gressler LT.Microbiological diagnosis of equine respiratory infections is essential for disease management. However, reliable diagnosis can be a challenge due to colonization of the upper respiratory tract (URT) by a diverse microbial population, and because there is a lack of studies with samples from healthy animals. Aiming to guide adequate URT culture, this work reports culturable microbial population from the URT of 1,010 apparently healthy horses from 341 farms in Southern Brazil and identifies the putative presence of pathogenic microorganisms. Nasal swabs were cultured in 5% blood agar, and the is...
Gislason D, Asmundsson T, Gislason T.Diseases connected with work in hay have been known in Iceland for a long time. In 1981 scientific studies of these diseases were started in Iceland at the request of the Farmers Union. The results of these studies are summarized in this article. In studies of hay a great amount of storage mites, moulds and thermophilic actinomycetes (microlyspora faeni) were found in addition to allergens from mice and pollen. Symptoms caused by hay dust were mainly from nose and eyes in people with positive skin tests, but cough, dyspnea and fever were equally common in those with negative skin tests. The mo...
Knubben JM, Gygax L, Staﾬher M.A survey of 2559 stables, representative for Switzerland, was conducted in the year 2004, with questions related to age, sex, breed, housing conditions, social contact, use, feeding, ability to move freely on the one hand, and health prophylaxis and health disorders in the past 12 months on the other. With a respond rate of 30.9% to the questionnaire, data for 2912 horses and ponies were recorded. The data were compared to a previous survey of 1997 (Bachmann & Stauffacher, 2002). In this study, data on population, housing and use were analysed. The proportion of horses kept individually, e...
