Equine diseases encompass a wide range of health conditions that can affect horses, including infectious diseases, metabolic disorders, and genetic conditions. These diseases can impact the overall health, performance, and well-being of horses. Common equine diseases include equine influenza, equine herpesvirus, laminitis, and equine metabolic syndrome. Diagnosis and management of these diseases often require a combination of clinical evaluation, laboratory testing, and appropriate treatment strategies. This page gathers peer-reviewed research studies and scholarly articles that explore the etiology, pathophysiology, diagnosis, and treatment options for various equine diseases, providing valuable insights for veterinarians and researchers in the field.
Rivas F, Zahid OK, Reesink HL, Peal BT, Nixon AJ, DeAngelis PL, Skardal A, Rahbar E, Hall AR.Hyaluronan (or hyaluronic acid, HA) is a ubiquitous molecule that plays critical roles in numerous physiological functions in vivo, including tissue hydration, inflammation, and joint lubrication. Both the abundance and size distribution of HA in biological fluids are recognized as robust indicators of various pathologies and disease progressions. However, such analyses remain challenging because conventional methods are not sufficiently sensitive, have limited dynamic range, and/or are only semi-quantitative. Here we demonstrate label-free detection and molecular weight discrimination of HA w...
Ribitsch I, Peham C, Ade N, Dürr J, Handschuh S, Schramel JP, Vogl C, Walles H, Egerbacher M, Jenner F.Meniscal pathologies are among the most common injuries of the femorotibial joint in both human and equine patients. Pathological forces and ensuing injuries of the cranial horn of the equine medial meniscus are considered analogous to those observed in the human posterior medial horn. Biomechanical properties of human menisci are site- and depth- specific. However, the influence of equine meniscus topography and composition on its biomechanical properties is yet unknown. A better understanding of equine meniscus composition and biomechanics could advance not only veterinary therapies for meni...
Duan W, Chen C, Haque M, Hayes D, Lopez MJ.Use of bioscaffolds to direct osteogenic differentiation of adult multipotent stromal cells (MSCs) without exogenous proteins is a contemporary approach to bone regeneration. Identification of in vivo osteogenic contributions of exogenous MSCs on bioscaffolds after long-term implantation is vital to understanding cell persistence and effect duration. This study was designed to quantify in vivo equine MSC osteogenesis on synthetic polymer scaffolds with distinct mineral combinations 9 weeks after implantation in a murine model. Cryopreserved, passage (P)1, equine bone marrow-derived MSCs (BMSC)...
Li M, Chadda KR, Matthews GDK, Marr CM, Huang CL, Jeevaratnam K.Exercising horses uniquely accommodate 7-8-fold increases in heart rate (HR). The present experiments for the first time analysed the related adaptations in action potential (AP) restitution properties recorded by in vivo telemetric electrocardiography from Thoroughbred horses. The horses were subjected to a period of acceleration from walk to canter. The QRS durations, and QT and TQ intervals yielded AP conduction velocities, AP durations (APDs) and diastolic intervals respectively. From these, indices of active, λ = QT/(QRS duration), and resting, λ0 = TQ/(QRS duration), AP wavelengths wer...
Ceriotti S, Consiglio AL, Casati L, Cremonesi F, Sibilia V, Ferrucci F.Increasing evidence suggests a role for ghrelin in the control of articular inflammatory diseases like osteoarthritis (OA). In the present study we examined the ability of ghrelin to counteract LPS-induced necrosis and apoptosis of chondrocytes and the involvement of GH secretagogue receptor (GHS-R)1a in the protective action of ghrelin. The effects of ghrelin (10-10 mol/L) on equine primary cultured chondrocytes viability and necrosis in basal conditions and under LPS treatment (100 ng/ml) were detected by using both acridine orange/propidium iodide staining and annexin-5/propidium iodide...
Borges IA, Reynolds MG, McCollum AM, Figueiredo PO, Ambrosio LLD, Vieira FN, Costa GB, Matos ACD, de Andrade Almeida VM, Ferreira PCP, Lobato ZIP....Since 1999 (VACV) outbreaks involving bovines and humans have been reported in Brazil; this zoonosis is known as Bovine Vaccinia (BV) and is mainly an occupational disease of milkers. It was only in 2008 (and then again in 2011 and 2014) however, that VACV was found causing natural infections in Brazilian equids. These reports involved only equids, no infected humans or bovines were identified, and the sources of infections remain unknown up to date. The peculiarities of Equine Vaccinia outbreaks (e.g., absence of human infection), the frequently shared environments, and fomites by equids and...
Ireland JL, McGowan CM.Pituitary pars intermedia dysfunction (PPID) is caused by an age-related degenerative disease of dopaminergic neurones. Despite its importance in equine practice, available information regarding its epidemiology is limited. This systematic review aimed to assess published literature to evaluate available evidence regarding the clinical presentation, prevalence and risk factors for PPID in horses and ponies. Electronic database searches were undertaken using a range of terms, and English language publications published prior to August 2016 were included. Both authors independently reviewed scre...
van Rijn PA, Maris-Veldhuis MA, Potgieter CA, van Gennip RGP.African horse sickness virus (AHSV) is a virus species in the genus Orbivirus of the family Reoviridae. Currently, nine serotypes have been defined showing limited cross neutralization. AHSV is transmitted by species of Culicoides biting midges and causes African Horse Sickness (AHS) in equids with a mortality up to 95% in naïve domestic horses. AHS has become a serious threat for countries outside Africa, since endemic Culicoides species in moderate climates are competent vectors of closely related bluetongue virus. AHS outbreaks cause huge economic losses in developing countries. In the dev...
Mariella J, Iacono E, Lanci A, Merlo B, Palermo C, Morris L, Castagnetti C.The umbilical cord (UC), the connection between mother and fetus via the umbilical vessels, carries nutrients and oxygenated blood to the fetus through the umbilical vein and removes deoxygenated blood and waste products via the umbilical arteries. It is designed to protect blood flow to the fetus during pregnancy. In equine medicine, only a few studies have described the UC, and most of these involved Thoroughbreds. The present study describes and compares the macroscopic features of the equine umbilical cord in three different breeds and in relation to the foal's gender. In addition, a possi...
Liu Y, Siard M, Adams A, Keowen ML, Miller TK, Garza F, Andrews FM, Seeram NP.The human health benefits attributed to turmeric/curcumin spice has resulted in its wide utilization as a dietary supplement for companion pets and other animals including horses. While the quantification of free curcuminoids (curcumin, demethoxycurcumin, bisdemethoxycurcumin) and their phase-2 metabolites (curcumin-O-sulfate, curcumin-O-glucuronide) have been extensively investigated in human and rodent biological samples (primarily plasma and serum), there is lack of similar data for horses. Herein, we report a validated LC-ESI-MS/MS method for the simultaneous quantification of the aforemen...
Finno CJ, Gianino G, Perumbakkam S, Williams ZJ, Bordbari MH, Gardner KL, Burns E, Peng S, Durward-Akhurst SA, Valberg SJ.The cause of immune-mediated myositis (IMM), characterized by recurrent, rapid-onset muscle atrophy in Quarter Horses (QH), is unknown. The histopathologic hallmark of IMM is lymphocytic infiltration of myofibers. The purpose of this study was to identify putative functional variants associated with equine IMM. A genome-wide association (GWA) study was performed on 36 IMM QHs and 54 breed matched unaffected QHs from the same environment using the Equine SNP50 and SNP70 genotyping arrays. A mixed model analysis identified nine SNPs within a ~ 2.87 Mb region on chr11 that were significantly (...
Steuer AE, Loynachan AT, Nielsen MK.Members of Cyathostominae are pervasive parasites of equids that can cause larval cyathostominosis, a potentially life-threatening disease that occurs when a multitude of encysted larvae synchronously excyst from the wall of the large intestine. Moxidectin and fenbendazole are the two current labeled drugs that target the encysted larval stages; however, there is limited knowledge of the local inflammatory response to the larvae and to the two treatments in clinically healthy horses. This study is the first to evaluate the local inflammatory response to cyathostomin larvae and to larvicidal tr...
Luciani M, Di Febo T, Orsini M, Krasteva I, Cattaneo A, Podaliri Vulpiani M, Di Pancrazio C, Bachi A, Tittarelli M.The diagnosis of dourine can be difficult because the clinical signs of this disease in horses are similar to those of surra, caused by . Moreover, and are closely related and, so far, they cannot be distinguished using serological tests. In a previous work, the protein pattern recognized by antibodies from dourine-infected horses and the humoral immune response kinetics were investigated by immunoblotting assay; a total of 20 sera from naturally and experimentally infected horses and from healthy animals were tested. Immunoblotting analysis showed that antibodies from infected horses speci...
Lobanov VA, Peckle M, Massard CL, Brad Scandrett W, Gajadhar AA.Equine piroplasmosis (EP) is an economically significant infection of horses and other equine species caused by the tick-borne protozoa Theileria equi and Babesia caballi. The long-term carrier state in infected animals makes importation of such subclinical cases a major risk factor for the introduction of EP into non-enzootic areas. Regulatory testing for EP relies on screening of equines by serological methods. The definitive diagnosis of EP infection in individual animals will benefit from the availability of sensitive direct detection methods, for example, when used as confirmatory assays ...
Limone LE, Baratt RM.This step-by-step article describes radiographic imaging of the horse's teeth and paranasal sinuses with standard radiographic equipment. Obtaining radiographs of the horse's skull that are of diagnostic quality can be challenging. The descriptions offered in this article can help practitioners become more comfortable with obtaining diagnostic images, which will improve recognition of radiographic signs of dental and paradental pathology.
Rabba S, Grulke S, Verwilghen D, Evrard L, Busoni V.Ultrasonography is routinely used to achieve the diagnosis of equine suspensory ligament desmopathy. In human medicine, power Doppler ultrasonography has also been found to be useful for the diagnosis of tendon/ligament injuries. The aim of this prospective, pilot study was to assess the presence or absence of power Doppler signal in suspensory ligament branches and compare B-mode findings with power Doppler findings in suspensory ligament branches of lame and non-lame limbs. Thirteen horses were used (eight lame horses, with lameness related to pain in the suspensory ligament branches, and fi...
Roels K, Smits K, Ververs C, Govaere J, D'Herde K, Van Soom A.In horse breeding, intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) has gained interest to obtain offspring from subfertile individuals. This paper presents a case report of a stallion with severe testicular degeneration. Semen analysis showed very low motility and 83.5% of detached heads. Histology of a testicular biopsy showed severely decreased spermatogenesis, while transmission electron microscopy of the sperm cells revealed no significant abnormalities. A total of 39 oocytes were fertilized by ICSI with frozen-thawed spermatozoa of this stallion: 25 oocytes with intact spermatozoa and 24 with det...
Gialletti R, Marchegiani A, Valeriani T, Nannarone S, Beccati F, Fruganti A, Laus F.To describe the association of clinical and ultrasonographic (US) findings in horses affected by visual impairments, to estimate the most frequent ultrasonographic alteration as well importance and limits of US as a part of ophthalmic evaluation in equine patients. Methods: One-hundred-forty-five horses referred to the Veterinary Teaching Hospitals of the University of Perugia and Camerino for ocular problems were submitted to ophthalmic examination and ocular ultrasound. The following group of abnormalities was established: corneal alteration, cataract, synechiae, iris prolapse, anterior cham...
Aarsvold S, Solano M, Garcia-Lopez J.Systemic administration of gadolinium contrast medium is common in small animals to increase lesion conspicuity and determine vascularisation of lesions identified with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI); however, the large volume required for systemic administration limits its use in horses. Objective: The purpose of this study was to assess the feasibility of administering a low dose of contrast medium via venous regional limb perfusion. Methods: Prospective clinical study. Methods: Distal limbs of 26 horses (one limb per horse) were imaged with MRI before and after administration of 5 mL of g...
Nelson BB, Kawcak CE, Barrett MF, McIlwraith CW, Grinstaff MW, Goodrich LR.Articular cartilage is a critical joint tissue and its evaluation remains a diagnostic challenge in horses. Coupled with a poor capacity for healing, early degenerative changes in articular cartilage are difficult to characterise using routine diagnostic imaging evaluations. Both computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) provide volumetric joint assessment and highlight morphological and quantitative properties of articular cartilage, improving assessment of this essential tissue. While the use of CT and MRI for joint evaluation is not new, there still remains a shortage of...
Einhorn L, Hofstetter G, Brandt S, Hainisch EK, Fukuda I, Kusano K, Scheynius A, Mittermann I, Resch-Marat Y, Vrtala S, Valenta R, Marti E, Rhyner C....Companion animals are also affected by IgE-mediated allergies, but the eliciting molecules are largely unknown. We aimed at refining an allergen microarray to explore sensitization in horses and compare it to the human IgE reactivity profiles. Methods: Custom-designed allergen microarray was produced on the basis of the ImmunoCAP ISAC technology containing 131 allergens. Sera from 51 horses derived from Europe or Japan were tested for specific IgE reactivity. The included horse patients were diagnosed for eczema due to insect bite hypersensitivity, chronic coughing, recurrent airway obstructio...
van Dorland HA, Zanoni R, Gerber V, Jeannerat E, Wiederkehr D, Burger D.Bio-Strath is a plasmolyzed yeast product enriched with herbs, malt, honey and orange juice. In this study, the effect of Equi-Strath , the adapted product for horses, on the equine immune system was evaluated. A routine influenza booster vaccination was used as a model to study the effects of Equi-Strath supplementation on the immune response. Twenty healthy Franches-Montagnes stallions with pre-existing antibody levels were randomly divided into a study group (SG, n = 10) receiving 0.06 mL/kg bodyweight of Equi-Strath , and a control group (CG, n = 10), receiving the same amount of plac...
Oladunni FS, Sarkar S, Reedy S, Balasuriya UBR, Horohov DW, Chambers TM.Equine herpesvirus-1 (EHV-1) infection is an important and highly prevalent disease in equine populations worldwide. Previously we have demonstrated that a neuropathogenic strain of EHV-1, T953, suppresses the host cell's antiviral type-I interferon (IFN) response in vitro. Whether or not this is unique to EHV-1 strains possessing the neuropathogenic genotype has been undetermined. Here, we examined whether there is any direct relationship between neuropathogenic genotype and the induced IFN-β response in equine endothelial cells (EECs) infected with 10 different strains of EHV-1. The extent ...
Carneiro JAM, Canisso IF, Bandeira RS, Scheeren VFC, Freitas-Dell'Aqua CP, Alvarenga MA, Papa FO, Dell'Aqua JA.This study aimed to evaluate the antioxidant properties of coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) during cryopreservation of semen obtained from stallions having good and bad semen freezing ability (GFA vs. BFA, respectively). Forty ejaculates (n = 20 stallions) were split into five centrifugation and five freezing extenders containing different concentrations of CoQ10 (0, 25, 50, 75 and 100 μmols/L). If CoQ10 was added to the centrifugation extender, the freezing extender had no CoQ10 added; similarly, if CoQ10 was added to the freezing extender, the centrifugation extender had no CoQ10. Semen cryoprese...
Gilger BC.Ocular inflammatory diseases, such as dry eye and uveitis, are common, painful, difficult to treat, and may result in vision loss or blindness. Ocular side effects from the use of antiinflammatory drugs (such as corticosteroids or nonsteroidal antiinflammatories) to treat ocular inflammation have prompted development of more specific and safer medications to treat inflammatory and immune-mediated diseases of the eye. To assess the efficacy and safety of these new therapeutics, appropriate immune-relevant animal models of ocular inflammation are needed. Both induced and naturally-occurring mode...
Alzola R, Easter C, Riggs CM, Gardner DS, Freeman SL.Superficial digital flexor tendon (SDFT) injury is an important health and welfare concern in racehorses. It is generally diagnosed with ultrasonography, but predictive ultrasonographic features have not been reported. Objective: To determine ultrasonographic features of forelimb SDFT injury at initial presentation in Thoroughbred racehorses that could predict a successful return to racing (completing ≥5 races). Methods: Retrospective cohort study. Methods: Digitised ultrasonographic images of 469 horses with forelimb SDFT injuries from the Hong Kong Jockey Club (2003-2014) were evaluated, u...
Wood PL, Steinman M, Erol E, Carter C, Christmann U, Verma A.Currently available diagnostic assays for leptospirosis cannot differentiate vaccine from infection serum antibody. Several leptospiral proteins that are upregulated during infection have been described, but their utility as a diagnostic marker is still unclear. In this study, we undertook a lipidomics approach to determine if there are any differences in the serum lipid profiles of horses naturally infected with pathogenic Leptospira spp. and horses vaccinated against a commercially available bacterin. Utilizing a high-resolution mass spectrometry serum lipidomics analytical platform, we demo...
Smith D, Hamblin A, Edington N.Antisera to activated equine endothelial cells, which detected surface molecules of 116 kD, 97 kD, 42 kD and 38 kD, were made to investigate the role of endothelial adhesion molecules in equid herpes virus 1 infection. These putative adhesion molecules could be induced by 17-beta oestradiol, chorionic gonadotrophin, or IL-2, as well as by LPS and PWM. In an in vitro flow system, using equine veins or arteries, equid herpesvirus 1 in leucocytes was only transferred to infect endothelial cells if both leucocytes and endothelial cells expressed these surface molecules. Blocking of the membrane mo...
Motloang MY, Thekisoe OM, Alhassan A, Bakheit M, Motheo MP, Masangane FE, Thibedi ML, Inoue N, Igarashi I, Sugimoto C, Mbati PA.The prevalence of Theileria equi and Babesia caballi infections in the north-eastern Free State Province of South Africa was determined by examination of thin and thick Giemsa-stained blood smears, IFAT and PCR. No parasites were detected by microscopy from any blood samples collected at five study sites, Qwaqwa, Kestell, Harrismith, Vrede and Warden. Of the tested serum samples, 28/29 (96.5%), 20/21 (95.2%) and 42/42 (100%) were positive by IFAT for T. equi infections in Harrismith, Kestell and Qwaqwa, respectively, and 5/29 (17.2%), 13/21 (61.9%) and 30/42 (71.4%) were sero-positive for B. c...
Jerele S, Davis E, Mapes S, Pusterla N, Navas González FJ, Iglesias Pastrana C, Abdelfattah EM, McLean A.Feral donkey removal from state land has raised concerns in terms of disease transmission between equine species. Disease outbreaks may occur as a result of the relocation of animals to new environments. Virus and bacteria DNA load and serum amyloid A derived from the pathogenic processes that they involve were measured in recently captured donkeys. Blood and nasal swabs were collected from 85 donkeys (Death Valley National Park, Shoshone, California); 24 were retested after 30/60 days in the Scenic (Arizona) long-term holding facility co-mingled with feral donkeys from Arizona and Utah. Quant...
Toribio RE.Neonatal encephalopathy (NE) and neonatal maladjustment syndrome (NMS) are terms used for newborn foals that develop noninfectious neurologic signs in the immediate postpartum period. Cerebral ischemia, hypoxia, and inflammation leading to neuronal and glial dysfunction and excitotoxicity are considered key mechanisms behind NE/NMS. Attention has been placed on endocrine and paracrine factors that alter brain cell function. Abnormal steroid concentrations (progestogens, neurosteroids) have been measured in critically ill and NE foals. In addition to supportive treatment, antimicrobials should ...
Duesterdieck-Zellmer KF.The prevalence of equine urolithiasis has been estimated to be low. In horses with clinical signs of urolithiasis, uroliths are most commonly encountered in the urinary bladder, but it is not uncommon to detect uroliths in more than one location. The most common clinical signs for cystic calculi are urine scalding of the hind limbs, hematuria, tenesmus and dysuria. Numerous surgical techniques and approaches have been described for the treatment of urolithiasis in horses; however, independent of which approach is chosen, the goal should be to remove all calculi completely from the urinary trac...
Broström H, Fahlbrink E, Dubath ML, Lazary S.The distribution of equine leucocyte antigens (ELA) in Swedish Halfbreds affected by sarcoid tumors was determined and compared with that of control horses of the same breed. ELA-haplotype A3W13 appeared more frequently in affected horses, resulting in a chi 2 value of 4.45 (P = 0.034) for A3 and 9.05 (P = 0.0026) for W13, respectively. The relative risk factor (RR) could be estimated to 2.13 and 3.00 for A3 and W13, respectively. The etiology fraction (EF) was calculated to 28% and 37% for A3 and W13, respectively. Thus, in the population of Swedish Halfbreds approximately 40% (at least) of t...
Sant C, Allicock OM, d'Abadie R, Charles RA, Georges K.The agents of equine piroplasmosis, Theileria equi and Babesia caballi, are endemic in Trinidad, West Indies. While transmission is mainly by ixodid ticks, transplacental transmission of T. equi has also been reported. This disease has contributed to foetal losses as well as morbidity and mortality of neonatal foals and adult horses. Previous 18S rRNA-based phylogenetic studies indicated a noticeable degree of variation within and among B. caballi and T. equi isolates from different geographical regions. The objective of this study was to evaluate the diversity of T. equi and B. caballi obtain...
Lunn DP, Holmes MA, Duffus WP.This paper describes the characteristics of a monoclonal antibody (CVS10) that reacts with an equine leukocyte antigen. On the basis of tissue distribution and biochemical characteristics, this antigen is equine MHC II. The equine MHC II antigen was found on a large subset of T-lymphocytes in addition to all B-lymphocytes, as has been reported previously. In addition MHC II was found to be present on a large proportion of both the mutually exclusive equine T-lymphocyte subpopulations which express either the equine homologues of CD4, or CD8. In a study of changes in equine MHC II expression wi...
von Peinen K, Wiestner T, Bogisch S, Roepstorff L, van Weeren PR, Weishaupt MA.The exact relationship between the saddle pressure pattern during one stride cycle and the movements of horse and rider at the walk are poorly understood and have never been investigated in detail. Objective: The movements of rider and horse account for the force distribution pattern under the saddle. Methods: Vertical ground reaction forces (GRF), kinematics of horse and rider as well as saddle forces (FS) were measured synchronously in 7 high level dressage horses while being ridden on an instrumented treadmill at walk. Discrete values of the total saddle forces (FStot) were determined for e...
Baskett A, Barton MH, Norton N, Anders B, Moore JN.To compare effects of a single dose of pentoxifylline (PTX), flunixin meglumine (FM), and their combination (FM/PTX) in a model of equine endotoxemia. Methods: 24 healthy horses, aged 2 to 15 years. Methods: 4 groups (n = 6/group) received 30 ng of Escherichia coli O55:B5 endotoxin/kg of body weight, i.v., over 30 minutes, and 1 of the following preparations 15 minutes before and 8 hours after endotoxin infusion: FM, 1.1 mg/kg; PTX, 8 mg/kg; FM/PTX, 1.1 mg of FM and 8 mg of PTX/kg; and saline solution bolus (ENDO). Clinical and hematologic variables were measured over 24 hours. Results: Compar...
Caramello V, Zarucco L, Foster D, Boston R, Stefanovski D, Orsini JA.Post-operative complications are reported for all methods of equine cheek tooth extraction but not all methods carry the same risks. An outcome comparison for commonly used methods is needed so that clinicians can make informed treatment decisions. Objective: We conducted a side-by-side comparison of five cheek tooth extraction methods, comparing types and incidence of complications among oral extraction, tooth repulsion (three surgical approaches) and lateral buccotomy techniques. Methods: Retrospective clinical study using hospital medical records. Methods: Medical records of all horses unde...
Salvagni CA, Dagnone AS, Gomes TS, Mota JS, Andrade GM, Baldani CD, Machado RZ.Ehrlichiosis is a zoonotic disease caused by gram-negative and intracellular obligatory bacterial organisms. Equine Granulocytic Anaplasmosis - EGA (formerly Equine Granulocytic Ehrlichiosis, EGE) is a seasonal disease, normally self-limited in horses. There are few reports in Brazil about this ehrlichial agent, as well as its natural vectors. Nowadays, veterinarians are considering the suspicion of EGA in horses with suggestive symptoms of ehrlichiosis and which do not respond to piroplasmosis treatment. The aim of the present study was to identify horses exposed to the agent A. phagocytophil...
Butler D, Valenchon M, Annan R, Whay HR, Mullan S.The purpose of this paper is to highlight some of the key challenges to racehorse welfare as perceived by racing industry stakeholders. The paper draws upon statements and transcripts from 10 focus group discussions with 42 participants who were taking part in a larger study investigating stakeholders' perceptions of racehorse welfare, which participants recognised as maintaining the physical and mental well-being of a performance animal. Analysis of the 68 statements participants identified as challenges produced nine themes. Among these, 26% (18 statements) of the challenges were health rela...
Malik P, Khurana SK, Dwivedi SK.Glanders, a notifiable highly contagious disease primarily of equids, is a disease of high zoonotic importance. Caused by gram-negative bacillus, Burkholderia mallei, the disease was restricted to certain pockets of India with sporadic cases. Recently, a major outbreak of glanders occurred in India starting from Maharashtra. Following clinical signs and symptoms and laboratory investigations on serum, nasal swab and pus swab samples, it was confirmed as glanders among equines in Pune and Panchgani areas of Maharashtra. One pus sample and three nasal swabs yielded B. mallei isolates while 23 se...
Huang X, Xuan X, Yokoyama N, Xu L, Suzuki H, Sugimoto C, Nagasawa H, Fujisaki K, Igarashi I.The gene encoding a truncated merozoite antigen-2 (EMA-2t) of Babesia equi was cloned and highly expressed in Escherichia coli as a glutathione S-transferase fusion protein (G-rEMA-2t). Both G-rEMA-2t and rEMA-2t (after the removal of glutathione S-transferase) had good antigenicity. Either Western blot analysis with rEMA-2t or enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) with G-rEMA-2t clearly discriminated the sera of horses experimentally infected with B. equi from sera of horses infected with Babesia caballi and healthy horses, although rEMA-2t was not suitable for ELISA, probably owing to it...
Valberg SJ, Nicholson AM, Lewis SS, Reardon RA, Finno CJ.To report a novel exertional myopathy, myofibrillar myopathy (MFM) in Warmblood (WB) horses. Objective: To 1) describe the distinctive clinical and myopathic features of MFM in Warmblood horses and 2) investigate the potential inheritance of MFM in a Warmblood family. Methods: Retrospective selection of MFM cases and prospective evaluation of a Warmblood family. Methods: Retrospectively, muscle biopsies were selected from Warmblood horses diagnosed with MFM and clinical histories obtained (n = 10). Prospectively, muscle biopsies were obtained from controls (n = 8) and a three generation WB...
Zientara S, Sailleau C, Moulay S, Cruciere C.A single tube reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) method for detection of African horse sickness virus (AHSV) in splenic tissues from infected horses is described. Double stranded RNA was extracted from infected organs of horses and used to produce complementary DNA (cDNA) with the two primers selected for the PCR. The 1179 bp amplified product (the segment 7 which encodes for VP 7), detected by electrophoresis on agarose gel and ethidium bromide staining, was hydrolysed with eight restriction endonucleases for characterization of the AHSV. The sensitivity of this method i...
Jürgenschellert L, Krücken J, Bousquet E, Bartz J, Heyer N, Nielsen MK, von Samson-Himmelstjerna G.The infection of horses with strongylid nematodes is highly prevalent, with multi-species infections being the rule. spp. and in particular are amongst the most pathogenic strongyle equine parasites. Presumably due to regular strategic anthelmintic treatments in combination with long prepatencies, prevalence of these worms was severely reduced in past decades. In this study, 484 horses from 48 farms in Berlin/Brandenburg, Germany were sampled between May 2017 and January 2018. Mini-FLOTAC and combined sedimentation/flotation were used to analyse faecal samples and larval cultures were carrie...
Squires EL, McCue PM, Vanderwall D.The use of embryo transfer in the horse has increased steadily over the past two decades. However, several unique biological features as well as technical problems have limited its widespread use in the horse as compared with that in the cattle industry. Factors that affect embryo recovery include the day of recovery, number of ovulations, age of the donor and the quality of sire's semen. Generally, embryo recoveries are performed 7 or 8 d after ovulation unless the embryos are to be frozen, in which case recovery is performed 6 d after ovulation. Most embryos are recovered from single-ovulati...
du Toit N, Burden FA, Dixon PM.Dental disease has been shown to be a risk factor for weight loss and colic in horses. No extensive clinical studies in donkeys have investigated the potential relationship between different dental disorders, or between dental disease and systemic disorders. Objective: To determine possible associations between dental disease and body condition score, weight loss, the need for supplemental feeding and prevalence of colic in donkeys of all ages, and to gain a better understanding of the pathogenesis of dental disease by the determination of associations between different dental disorders. Metho...
Kinsley MA, Semevolos SA, Duesterdieck-Zellmer KF.The objective of this study was to elucidate gene and protein expression of Wnt signaling molecules in chondrocytes of foals having early osteochondrosis (OC) versus normal controls. The hypothesis was that increased expression of components of Wnt signaling pathway in osteochondral junction (OCJ) and cartilage canal (CC) chondrocytes would be found in early OC when compared to controls. Paraffin-embedded osteochondral samples (7 OC, 8 normal) and cDNA from whole cartilage (7 OC, 10 normal) and chondrocytes surrounding cartilage canals and osteochondral junctions captured with laser capture mi...
van Hamel SE, Bergman HJ, Puchalski SM, de Groot MW, van Weeren PR.Distal deep digital flexor tendinopathy is an important cause of foot lameness in horses that is difficult to diagnose with radiography and ultrasonography. Magnetic resonance imaging is a well-accepted and validated technique for the identification of deep digital flexor tendon (DDFT) lesions, but has some practical and financial drawbacks. Contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CECT) has been proposed as a suitable alternative, but validation studies are currently lacking. Objective: To assess the accuracy of CECT for the identification and characterisation of deep digital flexor tendinopath...
Kitai Y, Kondo T, Konishi E.A complement-dependent cytotoxicity (CDC) assay was established to measure antibodies to the West Nile virus (WNV) nonstructural protein 1 (NS1) in horses. Sera collected from a WNV-infected horse mediated lysis of WNV NS1-expressing cells in a dose-dependent manner at higher percentages than sera from a Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV)-infected horse. The percentages of specific lysis for sera diluted 1:10 to 1:80 were <19.8% (assay cutoff) for almost all of the 100 JEV-infected or uninfected horses tested, in contrast to 55 to 76% in WNV-infected horses. Experimental infection revealed t...
Demircan K, Onder Z, Duzlu O, Yildirim A, Okur M, Ciloglu A, Yetismis G, Inci A.The goal of our study was to investigate the molecular prevalence of Giardia intestinalis in naturally infected horses in Kayseri, Central Anatolia Region in Turkey, to determine the molecular characterization of the obtained isolates and to exhibit the potential role of horses in zoonotic transmission of G. intestinalis. Fecal samples were randomly collected from totally 150 horses with clinically healthy between March and June of 2018. After the genomic DNA extractions, 25 (16.6%) of the 150 fecal samples, were found positive for G. intestinalis by nested PCR analyses of β-giardin gene. P...
Pavulraj S, Bera BC, Joshi A, Anand T, Virmani M, Vaid RK, Shanmugasundaram K, Gulati BR, Rajukumar K, Singh R, Misri J, Singh RK, Tripathi BN....Equine influenza viruses (EIV)-H3N8 continue to circulate in equine population throughout the world. They evolve by the process of antigenic drift that leads to substantial change in the antigenicity of the virus, thereby necessitating substitution of virus strain in the vaccines. This requires frequent testing of the new vaccines in the in vivo system; however, lack of an appropriate laboratory animal challenge model for testing protective efficacy of equine influenza vaccine candidates hinders the screening of new vaccines and other therapeutic approaches. In the present investigation, BALB/...
Haspeslagh M, Vlaminck LE, Martens AM.OBJECTIVE To evaluate outcomes following treatment of sarcoids in equids and to identify risk factors for treatment failure in these patients. DESIGN Retrospective case series. ANIMALS 230 equids with 614 sarcoids. PROCEDURES Records were searched to identify equids treated for ≥ 1 sarcoid between 2008 and 2013. A standardized protocol was used to determine treatment choice (electrosurgery, electrosurgery with intralesional placement of cisplatin-containing beads, topical administration of imiquimod or acyclovir, cryosurgery, bacillus Calmette-Guerin vaccine injection, or intralesional injec...
Borgsteede FH, Boersma JH, Gaasenbeek CP, van der Burg WP.The reappearance of nematode eggs in faeces after ivermectin treatment was studied in 104 horses on 10 farms during the stabling period. Faecal samples were taken at weekly intervals. Sampling was discontinued when the mean egg output per farm was > 10% of the pre-treatment egg output. This point was reached after 63 days, when the mean output of eggs had decreased to 70.3%. Before treatment, 95.9% of the cultured larvae were of the cyathostome type, the others belonged to Gyalocephalus capitatus, Strongylus vulgaris, S. edentatus, Oesophagodontus/Poteriostomum spp., Triodontophorus spp. an...
Van Hoogmoed L, Snyder JR, Pascoe JR, Olander H.To determine if morphologic evaluation of intraoperative biopsies of the large colon could be used to accurately predict outcome in horses with large colon torsion. Methods: Clinical study. Methods: Fifty-four horses with large colon torsion. Methods: A full-thickness biopsy was collected from the pelvic flexure of the ascending colon after correction of naturally occurring colonic torsion. Morphologic changes were evaluated and graded for interstitial tissue to crypt ratio (I:C ratio), percentage loss of superficial and glandular epithelium, and the degree of hemorrhage and edema. These varia...
Dong JB, Zhu W, Cook FR, Goto Y, Horii Y, Haga T.Equine infectious anemia (EIA) has posed a major challenge and caused significant losses to the equine industry worldwide. PCR detection methods have considerable potential as an adjunct to conventional serological diagnostic techniques. However, most published PCR methods, including that recommended by the OIE, were designed using laboratory-adapted virus strains and do not function with field isolates of EIA virus (EIAV). In the present study, a nested PCR assay for detection of EIAV proviral DNA in peripheral blood cells of naturally infected horses was developed. Primer sets were designed ...
Raeside JI, Christie HL, Renaud RL, Waelchli RO, Betteridge KJ.Because estradiol (E(2)) production by the early equine conceptus is considered crucial to the establishment of pregnancy, the amounts of E(2), estrone (E(1)), and their sulfates (E(2)S, E(1)S) were measured by RIA in yolk-sac fluid of 63 conceptuses collected by transcervical lavage over the period of 11-26 days after ovulation. Amounts increased significantly with age of conceptus, especially for E(1)S. Then, the metabolism of E(2), which may be highly relevant for its action, was examined in the conceptus and endometrium over the period when the conceptus ceases to migrate within the uterus...
