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.
Allen AL, Townsend HG, Doige CE, Fretz PB.A case-control study was conducted to identify risk factors for the congenital hypothyroidism and dysmaturity syndrome of foals. A questionnaire was used during personal interviews of foal owners and farm managers to collect information on animal signalment, farm environment, and mare management. Information on 39 foals with the congenital hypothyroidism and dysmaturity syndrome were compared with 39 control foals. Foals with the syndrome had a significantly (P < 0.0001) longer gestation (357.6 d) than control foals (338.9 d). Pregnant mares that were fed greenfeed, did not receive any supplem...
Honess NA, Gibson JS, Cossins AR.The effects of oxygen tension (PO2) upon the K influx pathways of equine red cells have been studied using 86Rb+ as congener for K. Equilibration of cells in 100% nitrogen led to a low and Cl-independent K flux. Change to an atmosphere of 100% air led to a rapid sixfold increase in K flux. The oxygen-activated flux was entirely Cl dependent and was maintained for up to 3 h. Oxygenation-evoked activation was dependent upon PO2 over the physiological range with little effect up to 70% saturation of haemoglobin with oxygen but significant effects between 70 and 100%. K flux at low PO2 was unaffec...
Mizobe M, Kondo F, Toyoshima C, Kumamoto K, Terada T, Nasu H.A rapid method was developed to analyze delta-bilirubin (B delta), diconjugated bilirubin (DCB), monoconjugated bilirubin (MCB), and unconjugated bilirubin (Bu) by direct injection of sera using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with an internal-surface reversed-phase silica support (ISRP) column. Sharp bilirubin peaks were obtained using a simple mobile phase of acetonitrile: 0.5 M Tris-HCl buffer (20:80, v/v, pH 7.2). A variable-wavelength detector set at 450 nm, 0.01 absorbance unit full scale (AUFS), and a recorder set at 4 mm/min were used for detection. Peaks for B delta, DCB...
Enders AC, Meadows S, Stewart F, Allen WR.The mature preinvasive chorionic girdles of horse, mule, donkey and extraspecies donkey-in-horse conceptuses, and the very young endometrial cups on d 37 of gestation in mares carrying horse, mule and transferred donkey-in-horse conceptuses, were compared histologically and ultrastructurally to determine possible mechanisms underlying failure of endometrial cup development in the donkey-in-horse model of equine abortion. The progenitor chorionic girdle from the failing donkey-in-house pregnancy was similar in size to the normal donkey chorionic girdle but the trophoblast cells within the forme...
Barlough JE, Madigan JE, DeRock E, Bigornia L.A nested polymerase chain reaction for detecting Ehrlichia equi in horses and ticks (Ixodes pacificus) was developed. A major second-round PCR product of 928 bp could be readily visualized in ethidium bromide-stained agarose minigels. An internal probe was used to verify the identity of the amplified product by non-radioactive (digoxigenin-based) Southern blotting; additional confirmation was provided by DNA sequence analysis. A dilution study testing the sensitivity of the PCR indicated that DNA derived from 3 infected neutrophils was sufficient to generate a PCR signal. The specificity of t...
Marr KA, Fairbairn SM, Page CP, Lees P, Cunningham FM.Antigen challenge involving exposure to straw and mouldy hay for 7 h produced lung function changes and neutrophil recruitment to the lungs in horses with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). During the challenge, an increase in radiolabelled neutrophils in the lungs occurred, together with increased respiratory rate and pleural pressure. The role of platelet activating factor (PAF) in antigen-induced neutrophil accumulation, and increased pleural pressure and respiratory rate was investigated by administering the PAF receptor antagonist WEB 2086 to asymptomatic COPD horses prior to a...
Greiner S.The manuscript has the title: "Erkandtnus deren innerlichen Krankheiten des Pferds überhaupt". Through two take downs of the lectures of Ludwig Scotti, the founder of the first school for veterinarians in the German speaking part of Europe and its first teacher, the manuscript is identified as another take down. The first part of the manuscript, which is about internal medicine, in large passages is a literally translation of Lafosse's "Guide de Maréchal". In most passages the second part, which is about pharmacology, is a copy of the German translation of Claude Bourgelat's "Matière médic...
Moore BR.Interferons are efficacious therapeutic agents for treatment of several clinically important diseases in cattle and horses. In some instances, the therapeutic goal of IFN administration is prevention or clinical cure of acute viral infections. On the other hand, IFN may serve as adjunctive treatment to diminish clinical manifestations of disease and improve the quality of life. Oral administration of IFN alpha appears to be a safe and convenient route of administration, and the therapeutic benefit likely develops via unique mechanisms involving oropharyngeal-associated lymphoid tissue for diss...
Clark CK, Merritt AM, Burrow JA, Steible CK.To assess the effect of aluminum hydroxide/magnesium hydroxide antacid and bismuth subsalicylate on gastric pH in clinically normal horses and to develop guidelines on the use of these agents for treatment of peptic ulcer disease in horses. Methods: Prospective, randomized, controlled trial. Methods: 5 clinically normal adult horses with chronically implanted gastric cannulas. Methods: Each horse received all 5 treatments (30 g of aluminum hydroxide/15 g of magnesium hydroxide, 12 g of aluminum hydroxide/6 g of magnesium hydroxide, 10.5 g of bismuth subsalicylate, 26.25 g of bismuth subsalicyl...
Barber JA, Troedsson MH.A 12-year-old Arabian mare with a history of repeated early embryonic losses gave birth to a mummified fetus. The fetus was not the result of a pregnancy with twins. The mare had been given a progestogen throughout gestation and expelled the mummified fetus at about 325 days of gestation, 2 weeks after progestogen treatment was discontinued. We estimate that the size of the fetus was consistent with a fetal age of 5 months. The mare and mummified fetus illustrated that progestogen administration after 100 days of gestation can promote retention of a nonviable fetus. When the fetoplacental unit...
Díaz-Espiñeira M, Escolar E, Bellanato J, Rodriguez M.The secondary constituents accompanying calcite and vaterite (crystalline forms of calcium carbonate) in the sabulous deposits from 140 vesical samples and one renal sample of equine urine were studied by infrared spectroscopy (IR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX). Apatitic calcium phosphate, present in 12 per cent of the samples, generally appeared in the form of spherulites with smooth and rough surfaces. Calcium sulphate, clearly detected by IR in 12.7 per cent of the samples, did not have a characteristic structure under SEM, although EDX detec...
Grøndahl AM, Jansen JH, Teige J.Fifty-six tarsocrural joints and 94 metatarsophalangeal joints were examined, at necropsy, from horses aged < or = 2 years. Osteochondral fragments at the cranial aspect of the intermediate ridge of the distal part of the tibia were seen in six horses, and at the proximoplantar aspect of the proximal phalanx in seven horses. Defects in the proximoplantar aspect of the proximal phalanx without osteochondral fragments were seen in a further two horses. Inflammatory and degenerative changes were not observed in any of the joints examined. From the incidence and natural course of these fragment...
Kirchhof N, Steinhauer D, Fey K.Large intestinal adenocarcinoma with osseous metaplasia was diagnosed in two horses, a 15-year-old standard bred gelding and a 9-year-old Haflinger mare. Clinically, both animals had displayed weight loss and anaemia. A presumptive diagnosis of abdominal neoplasia was made and the horses were humanely killed. At necropsy, the gelding and the mare were found to have ulcerated tumours growing into the lumen of the caecum and colon, respectively. In the mare, the mass extended through the mesocolon and was evident in the left dorsal and ventral colon. Histopathologically, the tumours consisted of...
Riley CB, Cruz AM, Bailey JV, Barber SM, Fretz PB.Many uncomplicated umbilical hernias have been managed successfully in foals by the application of a hernia clamp. Isolated reports of complications following clamp application have led some authors to suggest that it is an unsuitable method of treatment. Little information has been published comparing the complication rates associated with the use of hernia clamps and herniorrhaphy in the treatment of umbilical hernias. The purpose of this retrospective study was to report the characteristics of clinical cases of umbilical hernia and to compare the complication rates following these 2 treatme...
Vatistas NJ, Snyder JR, Hildebrand SV, Harmon FA, Woliner MJ, Barry SJ, Nieto J, Henry P, Enos LR, Magliano D, Brown SA, Drake C.To determine the effects of the 21-aminosteroid, U-74389G, on reperfusion of the equine jejunum, using total (TVO) and partial (PVO) vascular occlusion during the ischemic period. Methods: TVO: 16 healthy horses were randomly allotted to 3 groups-4 horses received the vehicle alone, 6 horses received a low dosage (3 mg/kg o body weight), and 6 horses a high dosage (10 mg/kg) of U-7438G. PVO: 10 healthy horses were randomly allotted to 2 groups--5 horses received the vehicle alone, and 5 horses received the low dosage (3 mg/kg) of U-74389G. Methods: TVO was induced for 1 hour followed by 2 hour...
Laverty S, Lavoie JP, Pascoe JR, Ducharme N.Clinical features, treatment and outcome of 15 horses with penetrating thoracic wounds are described. The most common cause of trauma was collision with an object (10 horses). Concurrent clinical findings included subcutaneous emphysema (12 horses), pneumothorax (12 horses), haemothorax (5 horses) and pneumomediastinum (6 horses). Axillary wounds were present in 5 horses. Foreign bodies were identified and removed from 2 horses. Wounds were sutured (6 horses) or packed (7 horses). Air was evacuated from the pleural cavities of 11 horses. Eleven horses (73%) were discharged from the hospital. A...
Anderson GS, Belton P, Jahren E, Lange H, Kleider N.Immunotherapy was used to treat horses in British Columbia for Culicoides hypersensitivity. This is a severe, chronic, recurrent allergic disease of horses that results in severe irritation, large lesions, hair loss and secondary infection in the ventral midline, mane, and proximal region of the tail. A crude Culicoides extract was injected subcutaneously, in increasing doses, into 10 horses that were affected severely by the disease. Weekly doses reduced the clinical signs in 9 of the 10 horses in the 1st yr. Eight horses were treated with a maintenance dose during a 2nd yr. After the 2nd yr,...
Kasapi MA, Gosline JM.The mechanical properties of fully hydrated equine hoof wall were examined at various loading rates in compact tension (CT) fracture, tensile and three-point bending dynamic tests to determine possible effects of hoof wall viscoelasticity on fracture toughness and tensile parameters. Four cross-head rates were used in CT tests: 1.7 x 10(-5), 1.7 x 10 (-3), 1.7 x 10(-2) and 2.5ms-1; four strain rates were used in tensile tests: 1.6 x 10(-3), 3.2 x 10(-2), 0.33 and 70s(-1). Speeds for the highest test rates were achieved using a large, custom-built impact pendulum. Bending test frequencies range...
Reef VB, Vaala WE, Worth LT, Sertich PL, Spencer PA.Mares with complicated pregnancies (illness, problems at parturition or delivery of an abnormal foal, n = 30) were scanned transabdominally from 298 days gestation to term in order to measure fetal size, evaluate fetal well-being and characterise the intrauterine environment. The results of the last scan obtained prior to parturition were compared to normal data obtained from fetuses of comparable gestational age to develop a biophysical profile specific for the equine fetus. Twelve mares produced a normal foal (positive outcome) and 18 mares delivered 19 abnormal foals (negative outcome). Bot...
Esser AF, Tarnuzzer RW, Tomlinson S, Tatar LD, Stanley KK.Lack of hemolytic activity of horse serum is an inherent property of horse C9. To understand the molecular reasons for this deficiency we have cloned C9 cDNA from a horse liver cDNA library and have sequenced the cDNA yielding the complete coding sequence for horse C9. Purification of C9 from horse plasma and microsequencing established the N-terminus of the mature protein and verified that the correct horse C9 cDNA clone had been isolated. The deduced amino acid sequence corresponds to a mature protein of 526 amino acids that is 77% identical to human C9. It has the same domain structure as h...
Jackson CA, DE Lahunta A, Cummings JF, Divers TJ, Mohammed HO, Valentine BA, Hackett RP.The effectiveness of spinal accessory nerve branch biopsy evaluation as a means to confirm the diagnosis of equine motor neuron disease (EMND) was investigated. Sixteen horses with histories and clinical signs suggestive of EMND and 16 control horses with neither histories nor clinical signs of any neurological disorder, were subjects of the study. Biopsy samples of the ventral branch of the spinal accessory nerve were obtained either surgically, under general anaesthesia or post mortem immediately after euthanasia. Evaluation was done on the spinal cord of all horses to serve as the definitiv...
Atwill ER, Mohammed HO.To determine whether preferentially vaccinated horses were at risk for exposure to Ehrlichia risticii, whether horses with equine monocytic ehrlichiosis (EME) were likely to have been nonvaccinated, and whether clinical severity and financial costs associated with care and treatment of EME were less for vaccinated horses with EME than for nonvaccinated horses with EME. Methods: Cross-sectional and case-control studies. Methods: Information on usage of E risticii bacterins to control EME was collected for 2,587 horses located on 511 farms throughout New York. Each horse was tested for serum ant...
Following the recent confirmation of cases of equine viral arteritis in stallions in south-west England, James Crabtree of Equine Reproductive Services (UK) discusses the disease and its potential routes of spread into and around the UK.
Diethelm AG, Chambers LM, Balch CM, Phillips SJ.Anti-human thymocyte cell membrane antibody prepared by hyperimmunization of the horse produced an antiserum capable of prolonging skin allografts in the rhesus monkey for an average of 26 days. Lymphocyte depletion was present in paracortical areas of mesenteric lymph nodes of these animals after 28 days of treatment; the intravenous administration was tolerated without ill effects. Immunofluorescent studies identified both broad specificity antibodies reacting with numerous human cell types as well as thymus-dependent (T) cell antibodies reactive with human thymocytes and peripheral T-cells....
de la Rúa-Doménech R, Mohammed HO, Cummings JF, Divers TJ, de Lahunta A, Valentine B, Summers BA, Jackson CA.We have conducted an ambidirectional study to estimate the incidence of equine motor neuron disease (EMND) in the northeastern US. The clinical and pathological features of EMND are similar to those described in human motor neuron disease. We have also collected data on all EMND cases reported in the US and described the geographic distribution of the disease. To identify factors associated with the risk of EMND, the authors assembled 163 control horses from the population in which cases were identified. The significance of association between the hypothesized factors and the risk of EMND was ...
Murray MJ.Hypothyroidism was diagnosed in a neonatal Thoroughbred foal that was weak, hypothermic, and septicemic. Administration of thyroid-releasing hormone elicited attenuated increases in concentrations of free and total triiodothyronine and thyroxine, as compared with a clinically normal, age-matched foal. The foal died of apparent respiratory insufficiency, pre- and postmortem findings compatible with hypothyroidism included hypothermia, large thyroid glands with distended, colloid-filled follicles, and severe, diffuse atelectasis, with thickened alveolar septae and degenerating alveolar squamous ...
Johnson PE, Maister SG, Knowles JR.Phosphoglycerate kinase has been isolated in crystalline form from horse muscle. A convenient isolation procedure is described that yields homogeneous enzyme of specific activity 700 units/mg (30 degrees C). The enzyme is monomeric, and has a molecular weight 47 000. Of the eight cysteine residues in the protein, two react rapidly with Nbs21 with the concomitant loss of the catalytic activity. Since the isolation of phosphoglycerate kinase from yeast (Bücher, 1955) there have been several reports of purification methods yielding enzyme approaching molecular homogeneity, from rabbit muscle (Be...
Bertone JJ, Biller DS, Ruggles A.Physical examination of the paranasal sinuses is often insufficient to confidently reach a conclusion concerning suspected pathology in these cavities. Often, other evaluation techniques are necessary. This article describes physical examination, rhinoscopy, sinus centesis, radiology, and sinus endoscopy of the equine paranasal sinuses. These techniques can be used to diagnosis and determine the cause of most sinus disorders.
Wawrzykowski J, Rapacz-Leonard A, Wiącek D, Kankofer M, Janowski T.Protein profile of the placenta expresses its function and maintenance. Any alterations can be reflected in qualitative and quantitative changes in this profile. The aim of the present study was the evaluation of protein profile in the placenta of mares suffering from the retention of foetal membranes (FMR) by two separation methods and the comparison with physiologically released tissues. Placentas from 14 healthy, heavy draft mares were collected immediately after the expulsion of newborn. Tissues after homogenization and staining with fluorescent dyes were subjected to electrophoretic as we...
Ramsay WN.The non-haem iron concentration was estimated in post-mortem liver samples from 51 horses (age range 1-25 years). Two were normal and 49 had been suffering from conditions that were not expected to have had long-term effects on iron metabolism. Muscle samples (splenius and biceps femoris) from 23 of these horses were also analysed. There was a highly significant age-related increase in the non-haem iron concentration in the liver (r = 0.635, p < 0.001), but not in the muscles, in which the iron concentration was much lower than in the liver.
Salas-Romero J, Gomez-Cabrera K, Molento MB, Lyons ET, Delgado A, González L, Arenal A, Nielsen MK.Equine cyathostomin parasites are ubiquitous in grazing horses and have been shown to cause severe inflammatory disease in the large intestine of horses. Decades of intensive anthelmintic therapy have led to widespread anthelmintic resistance in cyathostomins across the world. In Cuba, no anthelmintic products are formulated and sold for equine usage and little is known about anthelmintic efficacy of ruminant and swine formulations used. A strongyle fecal egg count reduction test was used to assess the efficacy of a liquid formulation of ivermectin labelled for use in swine, ruminants and carn...
Turner WH, Pickard DJ.A new haemolysin from Staphylococcus aureus produced opaque zones of haemolysis on horse blood agar but did not lyse equine erythrocytes suspended in phosphate-buffered saline. The haemolysin was not neutralized by normal rabbit serum and was distinct from alpha-, beta- and delta-haemolysins as well as human leucocidin. Partially purified preparations produced erythema when injected intradermally into rabbit skin.