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.
Thornton JJ, Roberts JF, AuCoin DP, Tuanyok A.We report a presumptive case of melioidosis caused by an atypical Burkholderia pseudomallei serotype in an American quarter horse in north-central Florida, USA, through archived formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded specimens dating back to 2006. This case underscores the potential pathologic impact of emergent B. pseudomallei in the Gulf region of the United States.
Rakaki ME, van der Walt M, Williams J, Venter M.We detected Shuni virus in horses and ovine fetuses and Shamonda virus in a caprine fetus in South Africa. We identified a Shuni/Shamonda virus reassortant in a horse and Shuni/Caimito, Shamonda/Caimito, and Shamonda/Sango virus reassortants in Culicoides midges. Continued genomic surveillance will be needed to detect orthobunyavirus infections in Africa.
Żychska M, Rzewuska M, Kizerwetter-Świda M, Chrobak-Chmiel D, Stefańska I, Kwiecień E, Witkowski L.The rise of antibiotic resistance is a global health crisis affecting human and veterinary medicine, highlighted within the One Health framework. Horses, classified as both meat and companion animals, play a crucial role in facilitating resistant bacteria spread to humans. Despite increased awareness and reduced antibiotic use in livestock, data on equine antibiotic use and resistance remain limited. This retrospective study examines antimicrobial resistance in 978 bacterial isolates from horses in Poland over 12 years (2010-2022), utilizing data from the Microbiological Diagnostic Laboratory ...
Tually P, Currie G.The horse racing industry, like any sport, must contend with the effects of injuries on an athlete's performance and longevity. Catastrophic fractures linked to preexisting bone fatigue can be prevented with the use of imaging technology, such as the nuclear medicine bone scan. The accessibility and affordability of imaging for racehorses remain obstacles. The conventional role of bone scintigraphy has evolved with the advent of advanced techniques, including MRI, CT, and PET. Concurrently, SPECT has expanded the role of scintigraphy in the racehorse. This article explores the conventional and...
Nieman RT, Lamim LI, Del Fava C.Fetal loss in mares can result from a range of causes, including infectious agents or noninfectious conditions such as neoplasia, which may originate from either the fetus or the dam. Among neoplastic conditions, teratomas are rarely reported and, to date, have not been described in the equine fetal testis. Teratomas arise from the partial differentiation of pluripotent germ cells and may occur in young and adult horses, typically in cryptorchid testes. Their gross and histopathological features vary widely between cases. This report describes a rare case of bilateral fetal testicular teratoma...
Mikaiel T, Waller A, Foote A, Cardwell JM, Mitchell J, Priestnall SL.Streptococcus equi subspecies zooepidemicus (S. zooepidemicus) is a commensal opportunistic bacterium associated with outbreaks of equine respiratory disease alongside a diverse range of diseases in various species. The closely related Streptococcus equi subspecies equi (S. equi) is the causative agent of 'strangles', the most frequently diagnosed contagious equine disease. Despite differing clinical signs, the two subspecies share approximately 97 % DNA homology and respectively present serious equine health and welfare concerns. Currently there are few PCR assays targeting unique regions of...
Pimenta J, Cotovio M.This study explores equine veterinarians' clinical practices regarding mucocutaneous tumors, based on a survey conducted among members of the Portuguese Association of Equine Veterinarians, and examines their perceptions of owner and buyer concerns regarding these tumors. Veterinarians expressed significantly greater concern about squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) during routine examinations ( < 0.001) compared to sarcoids and melanomas. Concern over sarcoids was significantly greater during pre-purchase evaluations compared to routine clinical exams ( = 0.03). For melanomas, a trend toward increa...
Whitlock F, McGlennon A, Newton R, Riley K.As part of her undergraduate research project, Cambridge vet student Katie Riley surveyed the attitudes of UK veterinarians with regard to preventing and controlling strangles, including the use of vaccination. Here, she and Fleur Whitlock, Abigail McGlennon and Richard Newton of Equine Infectious Disease Surveillance discuss her findings.
Collins E, Barr E, Zhang C, Steadman M, Gilger B, Henriksen ML.To describe the most efficient topical horizontally centrifuged platelet-rich fibrin (H-PRF) treatment protocol for equine ulcerative keratitis (EUK) that is easy to use, and to report the preliminary concentration of growth factors and cytokines in equine H-PRF. Unassigned: 5 client-owned horses diagnosed with EUK were enrolled over an 11-month period. Unassigned: 3 horses were geldings, and 2 were mares. The mean (± SD) age was 5.95 ± 5.01 years. The owners' main goal was to avoid surgery for EUK. Unassigned: H-PRF was used in 3 different protocols: solid H-PRF, sutured to the EUK area (n ...
Ablondi M, Eriksson S, Mikko S.Fragile foal syndrome (FFS) is a disease caused by a recessive lethal missense mutation in the PLOD1 gene located on ECA2. Despite its harmful effect, a relatively high frequency of FFS carriers was observed in Warmblood breeds spanning from 7.4% in a random sample of Swedish Warmblood breed to 17% in the Hanoverian and Danish Warmblood, indicating potential heterozygous advantage. Balancing selection can be further studied based on haplotype blocks and via detection of heterozygosity-rich region (ROHet) around the target of selection. In this study we evaluated the presence of haplotype block...
Herkenhoff ME.MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are molecules that regulate gene expression by targeting the 3' untranslated region (UTR) of mRNAs. They are essential in numerous biological processes like growth, metabolism, and muscle development. miRNA research has become crucial in livestock breeding, offering solutions for improving animal health and productivity. This review focuses on miRNAs' roles in equine performance, reproduction, and disease, highlighting key findings and future applications in these areas. It discusses the use of circulating miRNAs (ci-miRNA) as biomarkers for athletic performance, particularl...
Slavik K, Whitlock R, Johnson A.Botulism is a severe and often fatal disease in equine patients worldwide. Clostridium botulinum is a ubiquitous soil organism which produces a potent neurotoxin resulting in neuromuscular blockade and flaccid paralysis in affected animals. Definitive diagnosis is often impractical or impossible, leading to diagnosis and treatment based on clinical experience and presenting signs. Delay in case identification and treatment results in rapid deterioration of the patient. Treatment of recumbent equine botulism cases presents challenges due to patient size and requires intensive nursing care. This...
Connard SS, Schnabel LV.This review explores the use of biologics in the treatment of tendon and ligament injuries in horses, focusing on current and emerging therapies aimed at enhancing tissue repair and regeneration. It discusses the role of scaffold-based therapies, growth factors, blood-derived and tissue-derived biologics, and gene therapy as biologic regenerative therapies for improving healing outcomes. The review evaluates the mechanisms, efficacy, and challenges of biologics in clinical applications, highlighting recent advances and clinical studies. It provides an overview of current trends and future dire...
Legere RM, Ott JA, Poveda C, Vanover D, Borba KER, Yeon Joo J, Martin CL, da Silveira BP, Bray JM, Landrock K, Wright GA, Blazier JC, Hillhouse AE....Inhalation of Rhodococcus equi causes severe pneumonia in humans and animals worldwide, most commonly affecting horse foals. The standard for preventing R. equi pneumonia in foals is transfusion of hyperimmune plasma, which is expensive and carries the risk of adverse effects. Our goal was to passively immunize foals against R. equi by nebulizing mRNA encoding an equine monoclonal antibody (mAb) against the virulence-associated protein A (VapA) directly into the lungs. VapA-specific memory B cells from an immunized horse were used to identify and select the sequence for an equine immunoglobuli...
Hellige M, Geburek F.Diagnostic imaging is an important part of the diagnostic approach in equine spinal ataxia especially with the cervical spine being commonly involved. The spinal cord may be affected by a variety of conditions including cervical vertebral malformations, osteoarthritis of the articular process joints or less commonly neoplasia. Advanced imaging techniques such as myelography are more accurate in diagnosing spinal cord compression and may be performed under general anesthesia in neutral, flexed and extended positions of the cervical spine. The use of ultrasound is non-invasive and allows ultraso...
Bauquier J, Takahashi C, Rosales C, Pitt J.There is limited published information on Malva parviflora toxicosis in horses. Four previously reported cases all resulted in death or euthanasia. The aim of this cluster investigation was to describe historical, clinical and clinicopathological findings of four ponies with suspected M. parviflora toxicosis and compare these to previously reported cases. Historical, clinical and clinicopathological findings were collated. Ponies were grazing pasture of approximately >90% M. parviflora. Pony 1 died rapidly without veterinary examination. Pony 2 was examined for prolonged recumbency attribut...
Huang X, Deng R, Huang H, Xie H, Chen A.This case report detailed a rare co-infection of and in a 9-year-old warmblood mare, leading to severe cellulitis and secondary lymphangitis following traditional hoof blood-letting therapy. The mare exhibited acute limb swelling, fever, cutaneous ulceration, lymphatic dysfunction and unknown anemia. Comprehensive diagnostics, including bacterial culture, whole-genome sequencing, anti-elastin antibody (AEAb) ELISA, and diagnostic imaging, confirmed the pathogens causing cellulitis and secondary lymphangitis. AEAb levels were elevated, correlating with lymphatic degradation, while radiography...
van Maanen K, van den Wollenberg L, de Haan T, Frippiat T.Monitoring infectious diseases is essential for safeguarding equine health and ensuring the sustainability of the horse industry. In 2019, the Royal Veterinary Association of the Netherlands (KNMvD) and Royal GD (GD Animal Health) launched SEIN (Surveillance of Equine Infectious diseases in the Netherlands), a voluntary surveillance system for laboratory-confirmed outbreaks of equid alphaherpesvirus 1 (EHV-1), equid alphaherpesvirus 4 (EHV-4), equine influenza virus (EIV), and subsp. . This retrospective study analyzed 364 confirmed outbreaks reported through SEIN between June 2019 and April ...
Atay YE, Ekinci G, Öztürk AE, Timur MC, Mete A, Altınbay K, Derelli FM, Akar Y, Keleş İ.Equine Coital Exanthema (ECE) is an endemic herpesvirus disease primarily affecting the external genitalia and impairing mating activities in horses. Its extremely contagious nature, latency and subclinical features can result in outbreaks and significant economic losses. Transmission occurs primarily through mating activities; therefore, robust biosecurity measures are crucial in breeding facilities. This study aims to determine the clinical prevalence of ECE among horses in a covering station in Türkiye from 2021 to 2024. It also aims to assess the efficacy of routine PCR implementation wit...
Firdausy LW, Fikri F, Wicaksono AP, Çalışkan H, Purnama MTE.Equine infectious anemia (EIA) is a lentiviral disease affecting members of the Equidae family, with global distribution and significant implications for animal health and biosecurity. Despite numerous individual reports, a comprehensive synthesis of its global prevalence and risk factors remains lacking. This study aimed to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis to estimate the global prevalence of EIA, identify diagnostic trends, and evaluate factors associated with heterogeneity across studies. Unassigned: A systematic search was conducted in six major databases (PubMed, Scopus, Web ...
Nikvand AA, Jalali SM, Bahrami S, Rahij Torfi H.Trypanosoma evansi (T. evansi) is a hemoprotozoan parasite affecting camels and equids, such as horses, mules, and donkeys, and is known to cause surra disease in these animals. Despite the worldwide distribution of T. evansi infections in equids, surra has not been reported in Arabian horses in Khuzestan Province for over 60 years. In September 2018, a 7-year-old Arabian mare was referred from a 10-horse farm in the suburbs of Ahvaz City. The mare presented with a history of weight loss, poor appetite, and proximity to a camel herd. Physical examination revealed a poor body condition score ...
Nielsen MK, Pyatt A, Perrett J, Tydén E, van Doorn D, Pihl TH, Schmidt JS, von Samson-Himmelstjerna G, Beasley A, Abbas G, Jabbar A.Equine parasite control has historically been characterized by confusing and conflicting information, posing significant challenges for veterinarians and horse owners to make evidence-based decisions. Since 2012, equine parasite control guidelines have been developed and published for different parts of the world to address this situation and provide trusted sources of current guidance. At the 2024 International Equine Infectious Disease Conference in Deauville, Normandy, France, lead authors of equine parasite control guideline documents published in the USA, UK, Sweden, Denmark, the Netherla...
Kutumbetov L, Myrzakhmetova B, Tussipova A, Zhapparova G, Tlenchiyeva T, Bissenbayeva K, Nurabayev S, Kerimbayev A.Equine rhinopneumonia, caused by equine herpesvirus types 1 and 4 (EHV-1 and EHV-4), continues to be a significant health and economic concern in the global equine industry, particularly in Kazakhstan. While vaccines targeting EHV-1 are available, there is currently no licensed monovalent vaccine for EHV-4, and existing formulations offer limited protection against this serotype. This study aimed to develop and evaluate a freeze-dried, live-attenuated EHV-4 vaccine with improved safety, stability, and immunogenicity. Methods: A field isolate of EHV-4 was attenuated through serial passaging in ...
Granella MCS, Mendes RP, da Silva Casa M, Ribeiro GSN, Sangioni LA, Vogel FSF, Braünig P, Ferian PE, Salbego FZ, Schwarz DGG, Fonteque JH.Protozoan Neospora spp. is known to negatively affect horses reared in rural and urban environments, being studied for causing abortion, neonatal mortality and central nervous system disorders in horses. This study aimed to verify the occurrence of anti-Neospora spp. antibodies in horses bred in rural and urban areas from southern Brazil and the risk factors associated with infection. The study consisted of 400 horses, which 241 were bred in rural areas and 159 in urban areas. The detection of serum anti-Neospora spp. antibodies was determined using Immunofluorescence Antibody Test (IFAT). The...
Bishop RC, Arrington JV, Wilkins PA, McCoy AM.Peritoneal fluid (PF) is intimately associated with the gastrointestinal tract, and changes in the PF may directly reflect abdominal pathology. We aimed to quantify differences in the PF proteome between intestinal lesion type (ischemic vs. non-ischemic) and location (small vs. large intestine). PF samples were collected at hospital admission from horses presenting for abdominal pain (colic). Cases were clinically categorized by lesion type and location after resolution (10 per group). PF proteins were extracted and quantified by label-free liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectroscopy. Data ...
Maloney SM, Shaw TM, Nennig KM, Larsen MS, Shah A, Kumar A, Marcotrigiano J, Grove J, Snijder EJ, Kirchdoerfer RN, Bailey AL.Arteriviruses are a family of single-stranded, positive-sense RNA (+ssRNA) viruses that infect diverse animal hosts. Many arteriviruses are macrophage-tropic, consistent with their utilization of the macrophage-specific molecule CD163 as a receptor. However, the horse arterivirus (equine arteritis virus, EAV), which infects additional cell types beyond macrophages, does not utilize CD163 in its entry mechanism. Here, we use a genome-wide CRISPR knockout screen to identify alternative receptors that could explain this discrepancy in arterivirus receptor utilization and tropism, identifying the ...
Mrzdovnik N, Babič J, Lužnik D, Žigon D, Mrzdovnik M, Tavčar-Kalcher G, Tomič V, Prescott JF, Vengust M.Several bacteria associated with chronic lung pathology use quorum sensing (QS) signaling molecules to regulate their virulence in pure cultures and poly-microbial communities. Their excessive growth and biofilm formation in the respiratory tract increase the morbidity and mortality of inflammatory airway diseases in humans, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), asthma and cystic fibrosis (CF). In horses, severe equine asthma (SEA) has many parallels to these human diseases. We hypothesized that QS molecules associated with the most common biofilm-forming lung pathogens in huma...
B B, G M, L G, G A, B B, T F, A G, D B, A K, G T, G S, A B, M F, L R.Equine penile tumors are common in horses and are often related to infection with equine papillomavirus type 2 (EcPV2). This study investigated the immune cell infiltrate (ICI) of these tumors in horses, focusing on the role of EcPV2. Using multiplex immunohistochemistry (mIHC) for CD3, CD20, and IBA-1 and immunohistochemistry (IHC) for FoxP3, 27 horses with papillomas (5/27), in situ carcinomas (CISs) (3/27), and squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs) (19/27) were evaluated. Eighteen cases tested positive for EcPV2 by either or both in situ hybridization (ISH) and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) (18...
Montelaro RC, Parekh B, Orrego A, Issel CJ.The recurrent nature of equine infectious anemia has been attributed to relatively rapid antigenic variations in equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV) during persistent infection under selective immune pressures. This model was tested by serological and biochemical analysis of virus isolates recovered from separate febrile episodes in two experimentally infected ponies. Neutralization assays employing immune sera from the experimentally infected ponies demonstrated that distinct antigenic strains of virus predominate during sequential febrile episodes in a single pony. Analysis of the test str...
Daly K, Proudman CJ, Duncan SH, Flint HJ, Dyer J, Shirazi-Beechey SP.We aimed to determine the effects of variations in dietary composition on equine gut microbiota and their fermentation products, and proposed that dietary modifications profoundly affect microbial ecosystems and their metabolites. Bacterial communities within the large intestine of three groups of horses were compared using oligonucleotide-RNA hybridisation methodology. Each group consisting of six horses was maintained on (1) a grass-only diet, (2) a concentrate diet (i.e. supplemented with hydrolysable carbohydrates) and (3) a concentrate diet but horses were affected by simple colonic obstr...
Keegan KG, Kramer J, Yonezawa Y, Maki H, Pai PF, Dent EV, Kellerman TE, Wilson DA, Reed SK.To determine repeatability of a wireless, inertial sensor-based lameness evaluation system in horses. Methods: 236 horses. Methods: Horses were from 2 to 29 years of age and of various breeds and lameness disposition. All horses were instrumented with a wireless, inertial sensor-based motion analysis system on the head (accelerometer), pelvis (midline croup region [accelerometer]), and right forelimb (gyroscope) before evaluation in 2 consecutive trials, approximately 5 minutes apart, as the horse was trotted in a straight line. Signal-processing algorithms generated overall trial asymmetry me...
Nixon AJ, Dahlgren LA, Haupt JL, Yeager AE, Ward DL.To assess the potential of adipose-derived nucleated cell (ADNC) fractions to improve tendon repair in horses with collagenase-induced tendinitis. Methods: 8 horses. Methods: Collagenase was used to induce tendinitis in the superficial digital flexor tendon of 1 forelimb in each horse. Four horses were treated by injection of autogenous ADNC fractions, and 4 control horses were injected with PBS solution. Healing was compared by weekly ultrasonographic evaluation. Horses were euthanatized at 6 weeks. Gross and histologic evaluation of tendon structure, fiber alignment, and collagen typing were...
Leclere M, Lavoie-Lamoureux A, Lavoie JP.Animal models have been developed to investigate specific components of asthmatic airway inflammation, hyper-responsiveness or remodelling. However, all of these aspects are rarely observed in the same animal. Heaves is a naturally occurring disease of horses that combines these features. It is characterized by stable dust-induced inflammation, bronchospasm and remodelling. The evaluation of horses during well-controlled natural antigen exposure and avoidance in experimental settings allows the study of disease mechanisms in the asymptomatic and symptomatic stages, an approach rarely feasible ...
Hauswirth R, Haase B, Blatter M, Brooks SA, Burger D, Drögemüller C, Gerber V, Henke D, Janda J, Jude R, Magdesian KG, Matthews JM, Poncet PA....During fetal development neural-crest-derived melanoblasts migrate across the entire body surface and differentiate into melanocytes, the pigment-producing cells. Alterations in this precisely regulated process can lead to white spotting patterns. White spotting patterns in horses are a complex trait with a large phenotypic variance ranging from minimal white markings up to completely white horses. The "splashed white" pattern is primarily characterized by an extremely large blaze, often accompanied by extended white markings at the distal limbs and blue eyes. Some, but not all, splashed white...
Keegan KG, Dent EV, Wilson DA, Janicek J, Kramer J, Lacarrubba A, Walsh DM, Cassells MW, Esther TM, Schiltz P, Frees KE, Wilhite CL, Clark JM....Previous studies have suggested that agreement between equine veterinarians subjectively evaluating lameness in horses is low. These studies were limited to small numbers of horses, evaluating movement on the treadmill or to evaluating previously-recorded videotape. Objective: To estimate agreement between equine practitioners performing lameness evaluations in horses in the live, over ground setting. Methods: 131 mature horses were evaluated for lameness by 2-5 clinicians (mean 3.2) with a weighted-average of 18.7 years of experience. Clinicians graded each limb using the AAEP lameness scale ...
Schneider J, Kaaden O, Copeland TD, Oroszlan S, Hunsmann G.Two glycopolypeptides with molecular weights 160,000 and 120,000 (gp120) are regularly recognized by human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-specific antisera in lysates of cells persistently infected with HIV. In the present study, gp120 was characterized as the major envelope glycopolypeptide of HIV. Gp120 was identified as the external viral glycoprotein by radiosequencing and by its presence in purified virus. However gp120 was predominantly shed as a soluble protein into the culture fluid. Furthermore gp120 was precipitated by sera from horses infected with equine infectious anaemia virus (EIA...
Jónsson H, Schubert M, Seguin-Orlando A, Ginolhac A, Petersen L, Fumagalli M, Albrechtsen A, Petersen B, Korneliussen TS, Vilstrup JT, Lear T....Horses, asses, and zebras belong to a single genus, Equus, which emerged 4.0-4.5 Mya. Although the equine fossil record represents a textbook example of evolution, the succession of events that gave rise to the diversity of species existing today remains unclear. Here we present six genomes from each living species of asses and zebras. This completes the set of genomes available for all extant species in the genus, which was hitherto represented only by the horse and the domestic donkey. In addition, we used a museum specimen to characterize the genome of the quagga zebra, which was driven to ...
Payne RC, Hutchinson JR, Robilliard JJ, Smith NC, Wilson AM.We provide quantitative anatomical data on the muscle-tendon units of the equine pelvic limb. Specifically, we recorded muscle mass, fascicle length, pennation angle, tendon mass and tendon rest length. Physiological cross sectional area was then determined and maximum isometric force estimated. There was proximal-to-distal reduction in muscle volume and fascicle length. Proximal limb tendons were few and, where present, were relatively short. By contrast, distal limb tendons were numerous and long in comparison to mean muscle fascicle length, increasing potential for elastic energy storage. W...
Harman RM, Yang S, He MK, Van de Walle GR.The prevalence of chronic skin wounds in humans is high, and treatment is often complicated by the presence of pathogenic bacteria. Therefore, safe and innovative treatments to reduce the bacterial load in cutaneous wounds are needed. Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSC) are known to provide paracrine signals that act on resident skin cells to promote wound healing, but their potential antibacterial activities are not well described. The present study was designed to examine the antibacterial properties of MSC from horses, as this animal model offers a readily translatable model for MSC therapies i...
Nasir L, Campo MS.Bovine papillomavirus (BPV) is perhaps the most extensively studied animal papillomavirus. In cattle BPVs induce benign tumours of cutaneous or mucosal epithelia, called papillomas or warts. Cattle papillomas are benign tumours and generally regress without eliciting any serious clinical problems in the host, but occasionally persist and provide the focus for malignant transformation to squamous cell carcinoma, as in the case of cancer of the urinary bladder and cancer of the upper alimentary canal. BPV is the only papillomavirus that jumps species: the virus also infects equids, and gives ris...
Thorpe CT, Clegg PD, Birch HL.Tendon injury is one of the most common causes of wastage in the performance horse; the majority of tendon injuries occur to the superficial digital flexor tendon (SDFT) whereas few occur to the common digital extensor tendon. This review outlines the epidemiology and aetiology of equine tendon injury, reviews the different functions of the tendons in the equine forelimb and suggests possible reasons for the high rate of failure of the SDFT. An understanding of the mechanisms leading to matrix degeneration and subsequent tendon gross failure is the key to developing appropriate treatment and p...
Gerber V, Straub R, Marti E, Hauptman J, Herholz C, King M, Imhof A, Tahon L, Robinson NE.Endoscopic scoring of airway mucus quantity and quality has not been critically assessed. Objective: To evaluate mucus scores for 1) observer- and horse-related variance and 2) association with inflammation, mucus viscoelasticity and measured volume. Methods: Variance of scoring within and between observers and over time within horses were determined for airway mucus accumulation, apparent viscosity, localisation and colour, and correlations of mucus accumulation scores with neutrophil ratios in secretions. The relationship of accumulation score to measured volumes of 'artificial mucus' was in...
Kauter A, Epping L, Semmler T, Antao EM, Kannapin D, Stoeckle SD, Gehlen H, Lübke-Becker A, Günther S, Wieler LH, Walther B.Understanding the complex interactions of microbial communities including bacteria, archaea, parasites, viruses and fungi of the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) associated with states of either health or disease is still an expanding research field in both, human and veterinary medicine. GIT disorders and their consequences are among the most important diseases of domesticated Equidae, but current gaps of knowledge hinder adequate progress with respect to disease prevention and microbiome-based interventions. Current literature on enteral microbiomes mirrors a vast data and knowledge imbalance, w...
Onyiche TE, Suganuma K, Igarashi I, Yokoyama N, Xuan X, Thekisoe O.Equine Piroplasmosis (EP) is a tick-borne disease caused by apicomplexan protozoan parasites, and . The disease is responsible for serious economic losses to the equine industry. It principally affects donkeys, horses, mules, and zebra but DNA of the parasites has also been detected in dogs and camels raising doubt about their host specificity. The disease is endemic in tropical and temperate regions of the world where the competent tick vectors are prevalent. Infected equids remain carrier for life with infection, whilst, infection with is cleared within a few years. This review focuses on...
Journal of medical entomologyOctober 5, 2006
Volume 43, Issue 5 936-946 doi: 10.1603/0022-2585(2006)43[936:hbahba]2.0.co;2
Balenghien T, Fouque F, Sabatier P, Bicout DJ.After 35 yr of disease absence, West Nile virus (family Flaviviridae, genus Flavivirus, WNV) circulation has been regularly detected in the Camargue region (southern France) since 2000. WNV was isolated from Culex modestus Ficalbi, which was considered the main vector in southern France after horse outbreaks in the 1960s. Recent WNV transmissions outside of the Cx. modestus distribution suggested the existence of other vectors. To study potential WNV vectors, horse- and bird-baited traps and human landing collections of mosquitoes were carried out weekly from May to October 2004 at two Camargu...
Reef VB, Bonagura J, Buhl R, McGurrin MK, Schwarzwald CC, van Loon G, Young LE.Murmurs and arrhythmias are commonly detected in equine athletes. Assessing the relevance of these cardiovascular abnormalities in the performance horse can be challenging. Determining the impact of a cardiovascular disorder on performance, life expectancy, horse and rider or driver safety relative to the owner's future expectations is paramount. A comprehensive assessment of the cardiovascular abnormality detected is essential to determine its severity and achieve these aims. This consensus statement presents a general approach to the assessment of cardiovascular abnormalities, followed by a ...
Hammond SA, Cook SJ, Lichtenstein DL, Issel CJ, Montelaro RC.Equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV) provides a natural model system by which immunological control of lentivirus infections may be studied. To date, no detailed study addressing in parallel both the humoral and cellular immune responses induced in horses upon infection by EIAV has been conducted. Therefore, we initiated the first comprehensive characterization of the cellular and humoral immune responses during clinical progression from chronic disease to inapparent stages of EIAV infection. Using new analyses of antibody avidity and antibody epitope conformation dependence that had not been...
Atasheva S, Garmashova N, Frolov I, Frolova E.Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus (VEEV) represents a continuous public health threat in the United States. It has the ability to cause fatal disease in humans and in horses and other domestic animals. We recently demonstrated that replicating VEEV interferes with cellular transcription and uses this phenomenon as a means of downregulating a cellular antiviral response. VEEV capsid protein was found to play a critical role in this process, and its approximately 35-amino-acid-long peptide, fused with green fluorescent protein, functioned as efficiently as did the entire capsid. We detected a...
Ericsson AC, Johnson PJ, Lopes MA, Perry SC, Lanter HR.Horses are exquisitely sensitive to non-specific gastrointestinal disturbances as well as systemic and extraintestinal conditions related to gut health, yet minimal data are available regarding the composition of the microbiota present in the equine stomach, small intestine, and cecum and their relation to fecal microbiota. Moreover, there is minimal information regarding the concordance of the luminal and mucosal microbial communities throughout the equine gut. Illumina-based 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing of the luminal and mucosal microbiota present in seven regions of the gastrointestin...
Palaniappan RU, Chang YF, Jusuf SS, Artiushin S, Timoney JF, McDonough SP, Barr SC, Divers TJ, Simpson KW, McDonough PL, Mohammed HO.A clone expressing a novel immunoreactive leptospiral immunoglobulin-like protein A of 130 kDa (LigA) from Leptospira interrogans serovar pomona type kennewicki was isolated by screening a genomic DNA library with serum from a mare that had recently aborted due to leptospiral infection. LigA is encoded by an open reading frame of 3,675 bp, and the deduced amino acid sequence consists of a series of 90-amino-acid tandem repeats. A search of the NCBI database found that homology of the LigA repeat region was limited to an immunoglobulin-like domain of the bacterial intimin binding protein of Esc...
White LM, Sussman MS, Hurtig M, Probyn L, Tomlinson G, Kandel R.To prospectively assess T2 mapping characteristics of normal articular cartilage and of cartilage at sites of arthroscopic repair, including comparison with histologic results and collagen organization assessed at polarized light microscopy (PLM). Methods: Study protocol was compliant with the Canadian Council on Animal Care Guidelines and approved by the institutional animal care committee. Arthroscopic osteochondral autograft transplantation (OAT) and microfracture arthroplasty (MFx) were performed in knees of 10 equine subjects (seven female, three male; age range, 3-5 years). A site of art...
Guo Y, Wang M, Kawaoka Y, Gorman O, Ito T, Saito T, Webster RG.In March 1989 a severe outbreak of respiratory disease occurred in horses in the Jilin and Heilongjiang provinces of Northeast China that caused up to 20% mortality in some herds. An influenza virus of the H3N8 subtype was isolated from the infected animals and was antigenically and molecularly distinguishable from the equine 2 (H3N8) viruses currently circulating in the world. The reference strain A/Equine/Jilin/1/89 (H3N8) was most closely related to avian H3N8 influenza viruses. Sequence comparisons of the entire hemagglutinin (HA), nucleoprotein (NP), neuraminidase (NA), matrix (M), and NS...
Telford EA, Watson MS, Aird HC, Perry J, Davison AJ.The complete DNA sequence of equine herpesvirus 2 (EHV-2) strain 86/67 was determined. The genome is 184,427 bp in size and has a base composition of 57.5% G + C. Unusually for a herpesvirus, about a third of the sequence distributed in several large blocks appears not to encode proteins. The 79 open reading frames that were identified as probably polypeptide-coding are predicted to encode 77 distinct proteins. Amino acid sequence comparisons confirmed that EHV-2 is a gamma-herpesvirus that is genetically collinear with herpesvirus saimiri (HVS; a gamma 2-herpesvirus) and Epstein-Barr virus (E...
Ehlers B, Borchers K, Grund C, Frölich K, Ludwig H, Buhk HJ.A consensus primer PCR approach was used to (i) investigate the presence of herpesviruses in wild and zoo equids (zebra, wild ass, tapir) and to (ii) study the genetic relationship of the herpesvirus of pigeons (columbid herpesvirus 1) to other herpesvirus species. The PCR assay, based on degenerate primers targeting highly conserved regions of the DNA polymerase gene of herpesviruses, was modified by using a mixture of degenerate and deoxyinosine-substituted primers. The applicability of the modification was validated by amplification of published DNA polymerase genes of 16 herpesvirus specie...
Li L, Giannitti F, Low J, Keyes C, Ullmann LS, Deng X, Aleman M, Pesavento PA, Pusterla N, Delwart E.Metagenomics was used to characterize viral genomes in clinical specimens of horses with various organ-specific diseases of unknown aetiology. A novel parvovirus as well as a previously described hepacivirus closely related to human hepatitis C virus and equid herpesvirus 2 were identified in the cerebrospinal fluid of horses with neurological signs. Four co-infecting picobirnaviruses, including an unusual genome with fused RNA segments, and a divergent anellovirus were found in the plasma of two febrile horses. A novel cyclovirus genome was characterized from the nasal secretion of another fe...
Puffer BA, Watkins SC, Montelaro RC.We have identified an interaction between the equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV) late assembly domain and the cellular AP-2 clathrin-associated adapter protein complex. A YXXL motif within the EIAV Gag late assembly domain was previously characterized as a sequence critical for release of assembling virions. We now show that this YXXL sequence interacts in vitro with the AP-50 subunit of the AP-2 complex, while the functionally interchangeable late assembly domains carried by the Rous sarcoma virus p2b protein and human immunodeficiency virus type 1 p6 protein, which utilize PPPY and PTAPP ...
Couetil L, Cardwell JM, Leguillette R, Mazan M, Richard E, Bienzle D, Bullone M, Gerber V, Ivester K, Lavoie JP, Martin J, Moran G, Niedźwiedź A....The 2019 Havemeyer Workshop brought together researchers and clinicians to discuss the latest information on Equine Asthma and provide future research directions. Current clinical and molecular asthma phenotypes and endotypes in humans were discussed and compared to asthma phenotypes in horses. The role of infectious and non-infectious causes of equine asthma, genetic factors and proposed disease pathophysiology were reviewed. Diagnostic limitations were evident by the limited number of tests and biomarkers available to field practitioners. The participants emphasized the need for more accessi...
