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.
Bucknell D, Hoste H, Gasser RB, Beveridge I.The community structure exhibited by strongyloid nematodes from the large intestines of horses was examined using data from autopsies of 150 horses. Thirty-one species of nematodes were encountered, but they were not clearly divisible into core and satellite species. Multiple congeneric, consubfamilial and confamilial species were a prominent feature of the community and were more common than singleton infections. Multivariate analyses provided evidence of a stable community of helminths dominated by positive interactions but with few negative interactions, suggesting the absence of competitio...
Holcombe SJ, Derksen FJ, Stick JA, Robinson NE, Boehler DA.To compare tracheal and pharyngeal inspiratory and expiratory pressures achieved during 60 seconds of nasal occlusion in standing horses with pressures achieved in horses during intense exercise. Methods: 5 Standardbreds. Methods: Tracheal and pharyngeal inspiratory and expiratory pressures were obtained from 5 horses during 60 seconds of nasal occlusion and compared with tracheal and pharyngeal pressures achieved during incremental treadmill exercise tests in which horses ran at 50, 75, and 100% of the speed that resulted in maximal heart rate (HRmax). Results: Significant difference was not ...
Brommer H, Back W, Schamhardt HC, Rijkenhuizen AB, Barneveld A.To improve fracture treatment, in vitro experiments were performed to study the influence of a full limb cast and a walking cast on the loading regimen of bones in the distal portion of the equine forelimb. Methods: 6 forelimbs of 6 Shetland ponies. Methods: Loading of the third metacarpal bone was considered a representative measure for distal limb loading. Electrical resistance rosette strain gauges were attached to the dorsal, palmar, medial, and lateral surfaces of the midshaft of this bone in 6 forelimbs of 6 Shetland ponies. The limbs were tested in a pneumatic loading device to a maxima...
Weiss DJ, Monreal L, Angles AM, Monasterio J.Carbohydrate-induced laminitis has been associated with decreased platelet survival, decreased blood flow to the hoof wall and with the deposition of platelets and microthrombi within venules in the dermal laminae. To evaluate further the systemic prothrombotic events occurring in the prodromal stages of laminitis, plasma samples from control and laminitis-affected ponies and horses were tested for the presence of thrombin-antithrombin (TAT) complexes and fibrin fragment D (D-dimer). No statistically significant differences between the control and laminitis-affected animals were observed for e...
Gustafson MB, Martin RB, Gibson V, Storms DH, Stover SM, Gibeling J, Griffin L.This work determined whether mineral dissolution due to prolonged testing or storage of bone specimens in normal saline would alter their elastic modulus. In one experiment, small pieces of equine third metacarpal bone were soaked in normal saline supplemented with varying amounts of CaCl2. Changing Ca ion concentrations in the bath were monitored and the equilibrium concentration was determined. In a second experiment, the elastic moduli of twenty 4 x 10 x 100 mm equine third metacarpal beams were determined non-destructively in four-point bending. Half the beams were then soaked for 10 days ...
Klohnen A, Wilson DG.Nonstrangulating indirect scrotal hernias were corrected in two 4-week-old Percheron foals by a laparoscopic technique. After laparoscopic reduction of herniated nonstrangulated small intestine each testes was retracted through the vaginal ring. The ligament of the tail of the epididymis was transected by electrocautery. The testicular vessels and nerves were isolated by cautery of the mesenteric portion of the mesorchium and then ligated. Staples were used to close the opening of the inguinal canal by apposing the peritoneal edges of the vaginal ring. Resection of umbilical stalk remnants via...
Frazer GS, Bucci DM.The aims of this project were to document the protein profile of equine seminal plasma and determine the variability between stallions in the relative composition of proteins in the ejaculate. A single ejaculate was obtained from 14 stallions of varying breed and age. The gel fraction was removed by an in-line filter. The semen was centrifuged and the supernatant seminal plasma aspirated without disturbing the sperm pellet. The seminal plasma was recentrifuged and stored in cryovials at -70 degrees C. Samples were thawed, recentrifuged, assayed for protein concentration (BCA protein assay), di...
Lunn DP, Schram BR, Vagnoni KE, Schobert CS, Horohov DW, Ginther OJ.Lymphokine activated killing (LAK) is an example of natural cytotoxicity, and as such is a critical means of defense against diseases such as viral infection and neoplasia. Despite this important role, the specific molecular interactions involved in LAK or other forms of natural cytotoxicity are only partially understood. In some species, cells capable of mediating natural cytotoxicity express the CD8 molecule, although no specific role has been demonstrated for CD8 in non-MHC restricted cytotoxicity. In this study the role of the EqCD8 equine homolog of CD8 in LAK cell activity was examined. ...
Borgsteede FH, van Beek G.The prevalence of tapeworm infestations was investigated in 70 horses slaughtered in the period February 1994-July 1994. Most horses were half-breed, young (1.5-3 years), and in good condition. They were bought for slaughter by dealers on local markets, and their treatment history was therefore unknown. Tapeworm infestations were seen in 16 horses (23%). Fifteen (21%) had an infection with Anoplocephala perfoliata. One horse had a single specimen of Paranoplocephala mamillana. The average number of A. perfoliata was 45 and the highest number was 508.
Curran JM, Sutherland RJ, Peet RL.To evaluate various biochemical tests as indicators of subclinical liver disease in horses exposed to pyrrolizidine alkaloid toxicosis. Methods: A clinical pathology field study. Methods: Twenty-two clinically normal horses from four properties in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. Methods: Serum samples from each horse were assayed for gamma glutamyltransferase, alkaline phosphatase and aspartate aminotransferase activities, and for serum bile acid concentration, albumin and total protein. Serum protein electrophoresis was performed and their amino acid profiles determined. Bromosulph...
Besognet B, Hansen BS, Daels PF.We have previously demonstrated that daily administration of the dopamine D2 antagonist, sulpiride, during seasonal anoestrus, effectively advances the mean time of onset of the breeding season in mares. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of sulpiride administration on pulsatile FSH and LH secretion in seasonally anoestrous mares, follicular development, time of first ovulation and the fertility at the first ovulation. Fourteen anoestrous mares were selected based on progesterone concentrations < 1 ng ml-1 for 3 weeks and largest follicle diameter < 20 mm. Starting 30 Ja...
Bucher K, Szalai G, Marti E, Griot-Wenk ME, Lazary S, Pauli U.The tumour suppressor protein p53 enhances the genetic stability of the cell and plays a critical role in tumour suppression. Equine p53 was analysed by sequencing exons 5 to 9, a region which includes most known mutations and all the mutational hotspots in the species that have been investigated. The fragment was amplified, cloned and sequenced from genomic and complementary DNA. A comparison of the predicted amino acid sequences between the horse and other species resulted in identities between 66 per cent with the clawed frog and 92 per cent with the cat. Using the single strand conformatio...
Siles-Lucas M, Cuesta-Bandera C.A comparison was made, by sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE), of excretory/secretory (ES)-crude and immunopurified (with the corresponding anti-host serum) hydatid fluids-and somatic (S)-protoscoleces-proteins, from several ovine, equine, swine, bovine and human Echinococcus granulosus Spanish isolates. Likewise, the host influence on parasitic ES protein expression was studied, comparing purified hydatid fluids from ovine and equine cysts obtained from natural hosts and in RNMI mice. Purified hydatid fluids patterns, under reducing conditions, yielded the mos...
Weaver SC, Salas R, Rico-Hesse R, Ludwig GV, Oberste MS, Boshell J, Tesh RB.Venezuelan equine encephalomyelitis (VEE) virus has caused periodic epidemics among human beings and equines in Latin America from the 1920s to the early 1970s. The first major outbreak since 1973 occurred in Venezuela and Colombia during 1995, and involved an estimated 75,000 to 100,000 people. We report an epidemiological and virological investigation of this epidemic. Methods: Virus isolates were made in cell culture from human serum, human throat swabs, and brain tissue from aborted and stillborn human fetuses, as well as from horse brain tissue and pooled mosquito collections. Human sera ...
Carr EA, Spier SJ, Kortz GD, Hoffman EP.Evaluate histories, clinical signs, and laboratory data of 69 horses homozygous by DNA testing for hyperkalemic periodic paralysis (HPP). Methods: Cohort study. Methods: 69 of 189 horses testing homozygous for HPP between October 1992 and November 1994. Methods: Questionnaires addressing signalment, training regimes, medical history, and current status of affected horses were sent to owners, trainers, or attending veterinarians. Data from completed questionnaires were tabulated and evaluated, using descriptive statistics. Results: Sixty-nine (37%) of 189 questionnaires were completed and retur...
Cohen ND, Honnas CM.To determine the incidence of the risk factors for developing diarrhea in horses after celiotomy for colic. Methods: Retrospective cohort study. Methods: 357 adult horses that had celiotomy for colic at the teaching hospital between Jan 1, 1990 and Sep 1, 1994. Methods: Medical records of horses that had celiotomy for colic were reviewed to abstract information regarding development of diarrhea, signalment, history, and treatment. Results: In horses that had celiotomy for colic, the incidence of diarrhea was 53.2% (190/357). Using multiple logistic regression, horses with a disorder of the lar...
Southwood LL, Baxter GM.Recent advances in instrument sterilization include the introduction of gas plasma sterilization and the increased use of glutaraldehyde. Gas plasma sterilization has the advantages of no toxic residue effects, reduced turnover time, and applicability for sterilization of heat- and moisture-sensitive instruments. Chlorhexidine gluconate (4%) appears to be a superior preoperative surgical scrub for both the surgeon and the patient because of its increased antimicrobial efficacy, residual activity, and minimal tissue reactions. There are many new wound dressings and topical medications for treat...
Auer JA, Watkins JP.In recent years fracture fixation in the horse has changed significantly. New devices, mainly adapted from the human field, have been successfully introduced into large animal surgery. Examples of such implants include the DCS/DHS implant system, the self-tapping screw, the cannulated screw, and the pinless external fixator. However, new devices have also been developed exclusively for equine fracture management, including the interlocking intramedullary nail and the external skeletal fixation device. With these devices the surgeon has more options for repairing fractures in horses. Neverthele...
Kawcak CE, Baxter GM.Recent innovations in surgical materials have helped to enhance wound healing and protect surgical wounds from infection. Materials such as polyglyconate have been evaluated in equine tissues and found efficacious. Other materials, such as poliglecaprone 25, appear to have qualities useful to equine surgery but are untested in equine tissues. Care must be taken to fully evaluate a new surgical material because its usefulness in equine tissues may not match that in human or laboratory animal tissues. Furthermore, use of disposable materials in surgery, although considered ideal for maintenance ...
Tulleners E.Transendoscopic laser surgery provides equine surgeons with a safe, reliable, and minimally invasive method of performing many surgical procedures in the upper respiratory tract. Although the Nd:YAG laser has proven efficacy, other newer lasers such as the diode and holmium: YAG lasers may prove to be useful tools for equine upper respiratory tract surgery. Long grasping forceps and a high quality fiberoptic or video endoscope are critical components necessary for performing transendoscopic laser surgery. For many of the most common upper respiratory tract abnormalities, a laryngotomy can be e...
Wagner PD, Erickson BK, Seaman J, Kubo K, Hiraga A, Kai M, Yamaya Y.Although the horse is considered an elite athlete with a specific VO2max some 2-4 times higher than man, maximal O2 transport is compromised both by moderately severe arterial desaturation and by failure to extract all O2 from blood perfusing exercising muscle. This prompted the present study to ascertain whether correction of arterial desaturation would proportionally augment VO2max and, if so, would O2 extraction behave in a manner predicted by diffusional transport limitation. Six two year old thoroughbreds were exercised to VO2max on a treadmill each on three separate occasions breathing g...
Palmer SE.The carbon dioxide laser has become an important surgical instrument in human and veterinary medicine. The unique properties of this laser make it the instrument of choice for precise incision, coagulation, and vaporization of tissue at the body surface with minimal morbidity to the patient. This article describes the instrumentation and techniques used to perform a variety of equine general surgical procedures with the carbon dioxide laser. The benefits of surgery using the carbon dioxide laser include precise dissection with minimal trauma to adjacent tissues, good hemostasis, and the abilit...
Kane AJ, Stover SM, Gardner IA, Case JT, Johnson BJ, Read DH, Ardans AA.To evaluate selected shoe characteristics as risk factors for fatal musculoskeletal injury (FMI) and specifically for suspensory apparatus failure (SAF) and cannon bone condylar fracture (CDY) of Thoroughbred racehorses in California. Methods: Case-control study. Methods: Thoroughbred racehorses (n = 201) that died of were euthanatized at California racetracks between August 1992 and July 1994. Methods: Shoe characteristics were compared between case horses affected by FMI (155), SAF (79), and CDY (41) and control horses that died for reasons unrelated to the appendicular musculoskeletal syste...
Riley CB, Archer FJ, Bailey JV.To compare the effects of different commercial nutrient media and sera on protein synthesis and maintenance of cellular density in cultures of the equine superficial digital flexor tendon (SDFT). Methods: 8 healthy 2- to 4-year-old horses. Methods: First Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium, Ham's F12 nutrient mixture, RPMI 1640 medium, minimum essential medium with Earle's salts, minimum essential medium with Hanks' salts, and a Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium/Ham's F12 nutrient mixture with 10% fetal bovine serum (FBS) were compared. Then FBS, fetal equine serum, and donor horse serum, each...
Wutz G, Auer H, Nowotny N, Grosse B, Skern T, Kuechler E.Equine rhinoviruses (ERVs) are picornaviruses which cause a mild respiratory infection in horses. The illness resembles the common cold brought about by rhinoviruses in humans; however, the presence of a viraemia during ERV-1 infection, the occurrence of persistent infections and the physical properties are all more reminiscent of foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV). cDNA cloning and sequencing of the genomes of ERV-1 and ERV-2 between the poly(C) and poly(A) tracts showed that the serotypes are heterogeneous. Nevertheless, the genomic architecture of both serotypes is most similar to that of ...
Mueller PO, Allen D.Recent advances in abdominal surgical techniques in the horse have resulted in improved survival rates and reduced postoperative morbidity. The development of abdominal surgical procedures in horses has paralleled the development of safe anesthetic protocols and innovative technological advancements in humans. Irrespective of the species, the application of sound surgical principles is still the foundation of surgical intervention. This article describes recent advances in equine gastrointestinal surgical techniques. The availability and application of innovative intestinal surgical devices an...
Costa S, Sastre P, Pérez T, Tapia I, Barrandeguy M, Sánchez-Vizcaíno JM, Sánchez-Matamoros A, Wigdorovitz A, Sanz A, Rueda P.African horse sickness (AHS) and equine infectious anemia (EIA) are both notifiable equid specific diseases that may present similar clinical signs. Considering the increased global movement of horses and equine products over the past decades, together with the socio-economic impact of previous AHS and EIA outbreaks, there is a clear demand for an early discrimination and a strict control of their transmission between enzootic and AHS/EIA-free regions. Currently, the individual control and prevention of AHS or EIA relies on a series of measures, including the restriction of animal movements, v...
McFeely RA.The karyotype of the horse consists of 64 chromosomes; 18 pairs have a terminal centromere and 13 pairs a non-terminal centromere. Identification of individual chromosomes is enhanced by the use of band-staining techniques which allow recognition of minor structural rearrangements of chromatin material. Seven previously reported cases of male pseudohermaphroditism with chromosome studies are reviewed. Three were genetic females, one was basically an XX/XY chimaera, one was an XX/XXY chimaera, and one was an XXXY. Also reviewed is an infertile mare with 63 chromosomes and no distinguishable sex...
Imhof U.In 1968 a skeleton of a horse was found in Kiesen (Switzerland). This discovery could be dated by radiocarbon method: According to that this 13 years old gelding with a withers-height of 135 to 140 cm must have lived during the first third of the 17th century. Apparently it died by an accident. The bones are fully documented with pictures and scales and the findings described and discussed in detail.
Adeyefa CA.The precipitin response of the mitogen produced by Strongylus vulgaris arterial larvae was investigated. IgG (T) from the sera of horses naturally infected with S. vulgaris adults and arterial larvae recognised the presence of two antigenic components of the mitogenic fractions. The results obtained seem to confirm that these antigens are immunogenic in stimulating the production of increased levels of IgG(T) in infected animals, and showed that the procedures could be used as immunological tools in the diagnosis of S. vulgaris infection.
Lee CG, Ross AD.Klossiella equi in the kidney of a horse is described. Gametocytic and sporogonic stages were observed in the epithelium of the collecting tubules in association with schizonts in the glomeruli and proximal convoluted tubules. The condition was asymptomatic and caused only minor renal damage and inflammation.
Brooks DE.Many equine keratopathies primarily affect individual layers of the cornea. Targeted lamellar keratoplasty rather than full thickness penetrating keratoplasty (PK) seems most appropriate to the microsurgical management of many of these equine keratopathies. Despite the positive results with PK in the horse the author now suggests that this procedure should be rarely utilised in the treatment of equine keratitis. Selective lamellar surgical replacement of only the diseased corneal layers while retaining unaffected normal corneal layers represents a new paradigm shift in the field of corneal tra...
Meyer H.Colics are often initiated by mistakes in feeding inadequate feed quality or quantity or poor feeding technique. The consequences are obstruction, impaction or dysbiosis with increased production of organic acids, gas or toxins. Nutritional anamnesis in patients with colic may give information on the pathogenesis of the disease.
Herrler A, Stewart F, Crossett B, Pell JM, Ellis PD, Beier HM, Allen WR.An acellular embryonic capsule envelops equine conceptuses between day 6 and day 23 after ovulation. As all of the factors mediating embryo-mother signalling must pass through the capsule, it acts like a 'mailbox'. Therefore, we have started to map the proteins in this special extracellular matrix at the interface between mother and embryo. In the present study, one- and two-dimensional gel electrophoresis were used to examine a range of proteins. Use of western blotting identified three specific proteins in the capsules of equine conceptuses recovered on day 16 after ovulation: insulin-like g...
Pierson RE, Sahu SP, Dardiri AH, Wilder FW.Contagious equine metritis was reproduced experimentally in 6 pony mares. The disease was characterized by rapidly developing cervicitis and by varying amounts of exudate. The exudate, apparent as early as 48 hours after inoculation, drained from the cervix as a tenacious, mucopurulent discharge for several days, then rapidly disappeared. In all mares, the clinical disease cleared within several weeks of inoculation, without treatment.
Frazer G, Burba D, Paccamonti D, Blouin D, Leblanc M, Embertson R, Hance S.Abnormalities in peritoneal fluid are diagnostically useful for managing equine colic; however, their significance in post-dystocia mares is not known. This study was to determine what changes, if any, occurred following obstetrical manipulations. Peritoneal fluid samples were collected from 2 groups of foaling mares to establish control values, and from a third group that had developed clinical abnormalities (CAb,n = 14) or had made an uneventful recovery (CN,n = 36) following fetal extraction. In Group 1 mares, samples were collected before and after induced parturitions (n = 7), and althoug...
Seco Diaz O, Desrochers A, Hoffmann V, Reef VB.An 8-day-old Arabian-Morgan cross colt underwent cardiac evaluation. The foal was tachycardic, tachypneic, exercise intolerant and had a loud right-sided heart murmur and cyanotic mucous membranes. Total anomalous pulmonary venous connection was diagnosed with echocardiography and confirmed at postmortem examination. Total anomalous pulmonary venous connection is a very rare congenital cardiac abnormality that has not been reported before in the horse.
Kannegieter NJ, Colgan SA.The arthroscopic findings in 104 intercarpal joints in 76 horses were reviewed to determine the incidence and severity of changes in the medial intercarpal ligament. Damage to the intercarpal ligament was observed in 43 joints in 35 horses, ranging from mild fraying of the edges of the ligament to complete disruption of all fibres. This represented an incidence of 41% of joints being affected. In 9 joints examined arthroscopically primarily as a further diagnostic procedure, ligament damage was evident in all cases. In horses undergoing arthroscopic surgery primarily for the treatment of osteo...