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.
Equine piroplasmosis is a disease of equids, caused by tick-borne apicomplexan protozoan pathogens Babesia caballi and Theileria equi, which, according to the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), can be diagnosed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), immunofluorescent antibody test (IFAT) and polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The present study was conducted to evaluate and compare the assays available for the diagnosis of equine piroplasmosis. Data employed were obtained from 1300 blood samples collected between 2012-2014 from asymptomatic and symptomatic equines (horses and donk...
Miller L, Lord S.Loss of endotracheal tube (ETT) integrity secondary to dental damage is reported in the human literature. Objective: To describe this problem in equine anaesthesia. Methods: Case report. Conclusions: An 18-year-old Standardbred gelding presented out of hours with colic signs. Findings on clinical examination and pain refractory to analgesia meant that exploratory laparotomy was elected for. Prior to general anaesthesia (GA) leak testing of the anaesthetic machine was performed and the pilot balloon of the endotracheal tube (ETT) was inflated to confirm cuff integrity. Intermittent-positive pre...
Alberti E, Stucchi L, Lo Feudo CM, Ferrucci F, Zucca E.Pulmonary artery stiffness (PAS) is an index of pulmonary artery elasticity that permits to evaluate the pulmonary vascular bed in humans. It can early detect an increase in pulmonary artery stiffness as a consequence of remodeling of the vessel wall caused by chronic pulmonary and congenital heart diseases. This remodeling can occur also in horses with chronic respiratory diseases. Thus, PAS could be a useful echocardiographic parameter also in horses. However, in literature, there are no studies regarding PAS in horses. The aim of this study is to evaluate the feasibility of PAS in horses. F...
Salinas-Estrella E, Ueti MW, Lobanov VA, Castillo-Payró E, Lizcano-Mata A, Badilla C, Martínez-Ibáñez F, Mosqueda J.Equine piroplasmosis is a disease of horses, mules and donkeys, caused by the hemoprotozoans Babesia caballi and Theileria equi and transmitted by ticks of tropical and subtropical regions. Because the clinical signs are not specific, the diagnosis of equine piroplasmosis is difficult. In Mexico, where the environmental factors are conducive to the persistence of these pathogens, there is a lack of molecular studies to evaluate the occurrence of both parasites in horses. In the present study, matching serum and whole blood samples were obtained from 269 horses residing in 24 locations with tro...
Stieger-Vanegas SM, Hanna AL.Computed tomography (CT) imaging of the head in equine patients is now commonly performed as CT scanners are more readily available. Head CT has proven valuable in evaluating spatially complex anatomic structures, where radiographic superimposition, or restricted access endoscopy or ultrasound, limit complete evaluation of the disease process. Head CT has been demonstrated to be incredibly valuable in the evaluation of dental and paranasal sinus disease, disease of the hyoid apparatus and ear, and in evaluation of skull trauma. CT is an excellent modality for assessment of both osseous and so...
Contreras-Aguilar MD, Rubio CP, González-Arostegui LG, Martín-Cuervo M, Cerón JJ, Ayala I, Henriksen IH, Jacobsen S, Hansen S.Changes in the oxidative status of the blood of horses suffering from gastric ulcers and colic of intestinal aetiology (CIE) have been reported. However, saliva can also be a source of biomarkers of oxidative status. Therefore, this study aims to validate automated assays for the measurement of oxidative status biomarkers (ferric reducing ability of saliva/serum-FRAS/FRAP, cupric reducing antioxidant capacity-CUPRAC, the Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity-TEAC, uric acid, and advanced oxidation protein products-AOPP) in the saliva and serum of horses, to assess their changes in the differe...
Mouncey R, Arango-Sabogal JC, de Mestre AM, Foote AK, Verheyen KL.Enhanced understanding of reasons for, and timings of, mortality in Thoroughbreds prior to entering race training is warranted to provide insight into this population's health status. The aims of this study were to describe pathologies diagnosed at post-mortem (PM) examination in Thoroughbreds aged from birth to 18 months and investigate associations between age and pathology. Reports from a pathology laboratory in Newmarket, UK, were used to identify eligible cases examined between January 2006 and December 2020. Reported pathologies were extracted and categorised where appropriate. Comorbidi...
Desanti-Consoli H, Bouillon J, Chapuis RJJ.Vaccination against infectious diseases is a cornerstone of veterinary medicine in the prevention of disease transmission, illness severity, and often death in animals. In North American equine medicine, equine vaccines protecting against tetanus, rabies, Eastern and Western equine encephalomyelitis, and West Nile are core vaccines as these have been classified as having a heightened risk of mortality, infectiousness, and endemic status. Some guidelines differ from the label of vaccines, to improve the protection of patients or to decrease the unnecessary administration to reduce potential sid...
Broomé S, Ask K, Rashid-Engström M, Haubro Andersen P, Kjellström H.Orthopedic disorders are common among horses, often leading to euthanasia, which often could have been avoided with earlier detection. These conditions often create varying degrees of subtle long-term pain. It is challenging to train a visual pain recognition method with video data depicting such pain, since the resulting pain behavior also is subtle, sparsely appearing, and varying, making it challenging for even an expert human labeller to provide accurate ground-truth for the data. We show that a model trained solely on a dataset of horses with acute experimental pain (where labeling is les...
Ginther OJ.Traveling of the fetal-amniotic unit throughout the uterus ceases on ∼ Day 180 followed by closure of each uterine horn. By mean Day 240, the fetus and nearly all of the pool of allantoic fluid are confined to the uterine body. Intrauterine fetal-location changes end, but in-place activity of limbs, head, and body and changes in fetal recumbency and presentation continue, sometimes vigorously. Preference for cranial presentation (fetal sternum toward maternal cervix) has been hypothesized to be stimulated by ∼ 40° incline of uterine body toward the cervix. The uterine body expands forward...
Bravo-Barriga D, Serrano-Aguilera FJ, Barrasa-Rita R, Habela MÁ, Chacón RB, Ezquerra LJ, Martín-Cuervo M.Endurance is an increasingly popular equestrian sport. However, in southern Europe, there is a high prevalence of horses that are asymptomatic carriers of equine piroplasmosis (EP), a tick-borne disease that could affect their performance. This study aimed to evaluate the impact and influence of EP on the performance of endurance horses. Blood samples were collected from 40 horses in Extremadura, Spain, before and after a race, in different national elite horse endurance competitions. Hematological and biochemical parameters and EP seroprevalence were analysed by competitive enzyme-linked immu...
Belotta AF, Mayer MN, Waldner CL, Sidhu NP, Robinson KA, Carmalt JL, Freitas FP, Koehncke NK.The objectives of this study were to investigate scattered radiation doses to the hands of equine workers holding the cassette and the x-ray tube by hand, for both limb and vertebral column studies, and to compare the scattered radiation attenuation of lead with radiation protection lead-free gloves. Radiation doses to the hands of the cassette holder in the primary beam were also investigated. Methods: A whole-body horse cadaver. Methods: A portable x-ray unit was used to simulate 6 radiographic study types in the horse cadaver. Doses were measured with no shielding and, for cassette holders,...
Wang T, Hu L, Liu M, Wang T, Hu X, Li Y, Liu W, Li Y, Wang Y, Ren H, Zhang W, Wang C, Li L.The equine herpesvirus type 8 (EHV-8) can cause significant economic losses in the global horses and donkey industry. The disease has been associated with abortion and respiratory symptoms. However, it is rare for a study to be reported about donkeys with neurological diseases induced by EHV-8 infection. In the present study, one 2-year-old male donkey, from a large-scale donkey farm in China, died with a severe neurological disorder. The causative agent, donkey/Shandong/10/2021 (GenBank accession: OL856098), was identified and isolated from the brain tissue of the dead donkey. Meanwhile, BALB...
Uldahl M, Bundgaard L, Dahl J, Clayton HM.This study addresses the presence and location of natural pigmentation, potentially pathological changes in pigment, interruptions of the natural lining (scars), roughness, and erosions/contusion (bruising) in and around the corners of the lips of 206 horses presented to a veterinarian for routine preventative dental treatment. After sedation, photographs were taken and later evaluated for the presence of lesions. During the photographic analysis, the Oral Commissure Assessment (OCA) protocol was developed to map precisely the areas of skin and mucosa around the corners of the lips, and the pr...
Derisoud E, Jouneau L, Margat A, Gourtay C, Dubois C, Archilla C, Jaszczyszyn Y, Dahirel M, Daniel N, Peynot N, Briot L, De Geoffroy F, Wimel L....No abstract available
Derisoud E, Auclair-Ronzaud J, Palmer E, Robles M, Chavatte-Palmer P.Although puberty can occur as early as 14-15months of age, depending on breed and use, the reproductive career of mares may continue to advanced ages. Once mares are used as broodmares, they will usually produce foals once a year until they become unfertile, and their productivity can be enhanced and/or prolonged through embryo technologies. There is a general consensus that old mares are less fertile, but maternal age and parity are confounding factors because nulliparous mares are usually younger and older mares are multiparous in most studies. This review shows that age critically affects c...
Tong P, Duan R, Palidan N, Deng H, Duan L, Ren M, Song X, Jia C, Tian S, Yang E, Kuang L, Xie J.EHV-1 is one of the most serious viral pathogens that frequently cause abortion in horses around the world. However, so far, relatively little information is available on EHV-1 infections as they occur in China. In January 2021, during an abortion storm which occurred in Yili horses at the Chinese State Studs of Zhaosu (North Xinjiang, China), 43 out of 800 pregnant mares aborted. Results: PCR detection revealed the presence of EHV-1 in all samples as the possible cause of all abortions, although EHV-4, EHV-2 and EHV-5 were also found to circulate in the aborted fetuses. Furthermore, the parti...
Lawton KOY, Arthur RM, Moeller BC, Barnum S, Pusterla N.More and more studies are reporting on the natural transmission of SARS-CoV-2 between humans with COVID-19 and their companion animals (dogs and cats). While horses are apparently susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 infection based on the homology between the human and the equine ACE-2 receptor, no clinical or subclinical infection has yet been reported in the equine species. To investigate the possible clinical role of SARS-CoV-2 in equids, nasal secretions from 667 horses with acute onset of fever and respiratory signs were tested for the presence of SARS-CoV-2 by qPCR. The samples were collected from...
Jasiński T, Zdrojkowski Ł, Kautz E, Juszczuk-Kubiak E, Ferreira-Dias G, Domino M.Endometritis is an important issue decreasing mares' fertility. In the case of endometritis, both inflammatory cells infiltration and proinflammatory molecules production are regulated by various cellular and gene regulatory mechanisms, including the nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB)-dependent pathway. NF-κB-signalling pathway has been recently studied in the equine endometrium in the context of endometrosis. Thus, this study aimed to determine gene transcription of NF-κB subunits (RelA; NF-κB1; NF-κB2), proinflammatory molecules (MCP-1; IL-6) and hyaluronan synthases (HAS 1; HAS 2; HAS 3) in en...
Nazari F, Seyedabadi HR, Noshary A, Emamjomeh-Kashan N, Banabazi MH.The genetic diversity and genomic regions being under putative natural selection in Kurdish horse population were studied. The samples from 72 horses were genotyped by using GGP Equine 70K SNP arrays. The Ne Slope (NeS) analyses revealed that a sharp decline in Ne has probably occurred around four generations ago, and high frequency of ROH with 2-4 Mbp in length suggested that the inbreeding has probably occurred around 20 generations ago. The effective population size (Ne) was 104 horses up to three generations ago and the average inbreeding (FROH) was 0.047(± 0.045). Using de-correlated com...
Júnior ÂMCA, da Silva AH, Bastos FL, Seidner JT, Filho LAJM, Faleiros RR, Gobesso AAO.This study evaluated the incidence of gastritis in foals subjected to different weaning management methods. Sixteen crossbreed foals [230 ± 35 kg], were enrolled in an experiment with a randomized block design. After weaning, foals were housed in either individual pens or a group pen. Gastritis in the foals was evaluated through gastroscopy. Data were submitted to analysis of variance by the non-parametric Friedman test at 0.05 significance level. Before weaning, gastritis was observed in 87.5% of the foals, and the scores for the number of gastric lesions were 2.10 and 1.56 for foals housed ...
Frippiat T, van Beckhoven C, Moyse E, Art T.Heart rate is evaluated in exercising horses to monitor the level of fitness to exercise, and it is usually acquired using heart rate monitors (HRM) or telemetric electrocardiograms (ECG). While HRM are commonly available and easy-to-use for horse's owners, ECG is a more expensive equipment requiring user's experience. Interest for heart rate variability (HRV) in horses is increasing for both research and clinical purposes. HRV is usually calculated from interbeat intervals (IBI) obtained by ECG. The aim of this study was to determine the accuracy of an HRM to detect IBI for the calculation of...
Shilton CA, Kahler A, Davis BW, Crabtree JR, Crowhurst J, McGladdery AJ, Wathes DC, Raudsepp T, de Mestre AM.The first 8 weeks of pregnancy is a critical time, with the majority of pregnancy losses occurring during this period. Abnormal chromosome number (aneuploidy) is a common finding in human miscarriage, yet is rarely reported in domestic animals. Equine early pregnancy loss (EPL) has no diagnosis in over 80% of cases. The aim of this study was to characterise aneuploidies associated with equine EPL. Genomic DNA from clinical cases of spontaneous miscarriage (EPLs; 14-65 days of gestation) and healthy control placentae (various gestational ages) were assessed using a high density genotyping arr...
Hardy ME, Woode GN, Xu ZC, Williams JD, Conner ME, Dwyer RM, Powell DG.Equine group A rotaviruses isolated over a 10-year period in New York State, New Jersey, Kentucky, and Texas were compared serotypically and electropherotypically. All isolates were determined to be serotype 3 by reaction with hyperimmune antiserum to the serotype 3 H-2 strain of equine rotavirus. All displayed RNA electrophoretic migration patterns related to that of the H-2 strain but distinct from that of serotype 5 strain H-1. A serologic survey of 184 mares in Kentucky, which was done to determine the incidence of H-1 and H-2 infections, showed geometric mean serum neutralizing titers to ...
Madani H, Casal J, Alba A, Allepuz A, Cêtre-Sossah C, Hafsi L, Kount-Chareb H, Bouayed-Chaouach N, Saadaoui H, Napp S.Antibodies against bluetongue virus were detected in cattle, sheep, goats, and camels in Algeria in 2008. Antibodies against epizootic hemorrhagic disease virus were detected in cattle, but antibodies against African horse sickness virus were not detected in horses and mules. Epizootic hemorrhagic disease in northern Africa poses a major risk for the European Union.
Tucker RL, Farrell E.Horses are frequently presented with clinical conditions warranting diagnostic imaging of the head. Unfortunately, evaluation of the equine head can be difficult using conventional radiography. The anatomic complexity and superimposition of the osseous, dental, and soft tissue structures complicate radiographic interpretation and diagnoses. Multiple radiographic projections may be necessary to image specific regions, and side-to-side comparison is often essential.
Jang SS, Hirsh DC.During the years from 1984 through 1991, 1,067 specimens from canine, equine, exotic, feline, porcine, and ruminant animal sources were found to contain members of the genus Fusobacterium: The most common sites or conditions from which members of this genus were isolated were abscesses, the respiratory tract, and pleural and peritoneal cavities. Most specimens contained a single Fusobacterium species. The most commonly isolated species was Fusobacterium necrophorum. Almost all of the specimens contained other obligate anaerobes together with facultative and obligate aerobes. The identities of ...
Yates P, Mumford JA.To investigate the level of cross-protection induced by equine influenza H3N8 vaccines derived from different lineages, two studies have been carried out with ponies vaccinated with 'American-like' and 'European-like' vaccines and experimentally challenged with a European-like strain. The results demonstrated that equine influenza vaccines clearly protect against challenge with homologous virus if serum antibody titres are sufficiently high. On the other hand, protection is incomplete even when animals vaccinated with heterologous strains have comparative antibody levels. Nevertheless, the pro...
Dietz WH, Galindo P, Johnson KM.In late June 1973, a small outbreak of equine encephalitis caused by eastern equine encephalomyelitis (EEE) virus occurred in the Republic of Panama. At least 100 horses were affected by the disease and 40 died. More than 1,700 human sera were obtained from areas of virus activity but no serological evidence for infection was found. Four isolates of EEE virus were recovered, one of which was from a small pool of Culex taeniopus mosquitoes. Serologic studies of infected horses and classification by the short incubation hemagglutination-inhibition tests revealed that these isolates were South Am...
Vidament M, Dupere AM, Julienne P, Evain A, Noue P, Palmer E.The freezability of stallion semen defined as the number of selected ejaculates/total number of ejaculates frozen from 161 different stallions was analyzed. Of the stallions, 19, 30, 27 and 24% had a freezability of 0%, 0 to 33%, 33 to 66%, over 66%, respectively In 85 different stallions, the correlation of freezability between first and second year was 0.60 (P < 0.001). The relationship between fertility with fresh and frozen semen and freezability was analyzed in 40 stallions whose freezability and fertility information was recorded during 5 years. There was a strong relationship between fe...
Ertelt A, Barton AK, Schmitz RR, Gehlen H.This review summarizes similarities and differences between the metabolic syndromes in humans and equines, concerning the anatomy, symptoms, and pathophysiological mechanisms. In particular, it discusses the structure and distribution of adipose tissue and its specific metabolic pathways. Furthermore, this article provides insights and focuses on issues concerning laminitis in horses and cardiovascular diseases in humans, as well as their overlap.
Bundgaard L, Stensballe A, Elbæk KJ, Berg LC.Similar to humans, the horse is a long-lived, athletic species. The use of mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) is a relatively new frontier, but has been used with promising results in treating joint diseases, e.g., osteoarthritis. It is believed that MSCs exert their main therapeutic effects through secreted trophic biomolecules. Therefore, it has been increasingly important to characterize the MSC secretome. It has been shown that the effect of the MSCs is strongly influenced by the environment in the host compartment, and it is a crucial issue when considering MSC therapy. The aim of this stud...
Equine sarcoids are benign fibroblastic skin tumours that are recognized throughout the world. Infection with bovine papillomavirus (BPV) types 1 and 2 has been implicated as a major factor in disease development; however, the cellular mechanisms underlying fibroblast transformation remain poorly defined. The present study further characterizes aspects of the association with BPV in 15 equine sarcoids. BPV DNA was demonstrated in 12/15 tumours collected from different areas of Italy. Nine of these 12 tumours expressed the BPV oncoproteins E5 and E7, but these oncoproteins were not expressed by...
Denoix JM, Thibaud D, Riccio B.Bisphosphonates, such as tiludronate, are used to normalise bone metabolism via inhibition of bone resorption. Areas of increased bone resorption and formation are typical lesions in a diseased navicular bone. Objective: To determine if bone remodelling changes occurring in navicular disease may be corrected with therapies regulating bone metabolism. Methods: We designed a double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial to compare 2 doses of tiludronate, 0.5 mg/kg and 1 mg/kg bwt administered via daily i.v. injections over 10 days for the treatment of navicular disease. Seventy-three horses, s...
Marycz K, Szłapka-Kosarzewska J, Geburek F, Kornicka-Garbowska K.Equine metabolic syndrome (EMS) is characterized by adiposity, insulin dysregulation and increased risk for laminitis. Increased levels of specific liver enzymes in the peripheral blood are typical findings in horses diagnosed with EMS. Current management of EMS is based on caloric restriction and increased physical activity. However, new potential treatment options are arising such as the transplantation of autologous adipose stem cells (ASC). However, cytophysiological properties of ASC derived from EMS horses are impaired which strongly limits their therapeutic potential. We hypothesized, t...
Plummer G, Goodheart CR, Studdert MJ.Equine herpesviruses with a deoxyribonucleic acid density of 1.716 to 1.717 g/cm(3) were compared with one another by the plaque-reduction test and by the rate of development of cytopathic effect as indicated by plaque size in rabbit kidney cultures. Of the 19 isolates studied, the 9 which had already been tentatively labeled equine abortion viruses were serologically similar to one another; each of them grew more quickly than did any of the other 10 isolates although the mean plaque sizes formed a series of gradations with no clear hiatus which would permit the unequivocal delineation of the ...
Tirosh-Levy S, Gottlieb Y, Apanaskevich DA, Mumcuoglu KY, Steinman A.Ticks are important ectoparasites of horses that can affect animal welfare and vector several infectious, including zoonotic, diseases. In order to investigate the species distribution, epidemiology and seasonal dynamics of ticks infesting horses in Israel, 3267 ticks were collected from 396 horses in 24 farms across the country from July 2014 to June 2015. Results: Ticks were found on 50% of the farms and on 25% of the horses, with Hyalomma being the most prevalent genus (70% of ticks). Pasture was the most prominent risk factor for tick infestation (99% of ticks, P < 0.001), and is repres...
Karagianni AE, Lisowski ZM, Hume DA, Scott Pirie R.The mononuclear phagocyte system (MPS) is a family of cells of related function that includes bone marrow progenitors, blood monocytes and resident tissue macrophages. Macrophages are effector cells in both innate and acquired immunity. They are a major resident cell population in every organ and their numbers increase in response to proinflammatory stimuli. Their function is highly regulated by a wide range of agonists, including lymphokines, cytokines and products of microorganisms. Macrophage biology has been studied most extensively in mice, yet direct comparisons of rodent and human macro...
Franck T, Grulke S, Deby-Dupont G, Deby C, Duvivier H, Peters F, Serteyn D.Equine inflammatory disease is accompanied by a neutrophil activation resulting in the release of granulocytic enzyme myeloperoxidase (MPO). To measure MPO in horse plasma as marker of neutrophil activation, the authors purified equine neutrophil MPO and developed a specific enzyme immunoassay using 2 specific polyclonal antibodies obtained from rabbit (primary antibody) and guinea pig (secondary antibody). The sandwich complex "primary antibody-MPO-secondary antibody" was detected using a goat anti-guinea pig immunoglobulin antibody conjugated to alkaline phosphatase. The enzyme-linked immuno...
Ranera B, Remacha AR, Álvarez-Arguedas S, Romero A, Vázquez FJ, Zaragoza P, Martín-Burriel I, Rodellar C.Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) derived from bone marrow (BM-MSCs) and adipose tissue (AT-MSCs) are being applied to equine cell therapy. The physiological environment in which MSCs reside is hypoxic and does not resemble the oxygen level typically used in in vitro culture (20% O2). This work compares the growth kinetics, viability, cell cycle, phenotype and expression of pluripotency markers in both equine BM-MSCs and AT-MSCs at 5% and 20% O2. Results: At the conclusion of culture, fewer BM-MSCs were obtained in hypoxia than in normoxia as a result of significantly reduced cell division. Hypoxi...
Butler CM, Sloet van Oldruitenborgh-Oosterbaan MM, Stout TA, van der Kolk JH, Wollenberg Lv, Nielen M, Jongejan F, Werners AH, Houwers DJ.Equine piroplasmosis (EP) has not been considered indigenous in The Netherlands. However, following the detection of an apparently indigenous subclinical Babesia caballi infection in a horse on Schouwen-Duiveland (an island in the Zeeland Province), a survey was undertaken between May and September 2010 to assess the prevalence of the causative agents of EP in the South-West of The Netherlands. Blood samples from 300 randomly selected horses were tested for specific antibodies against Theileria equi and B. caballi using an indirect fluorescence antibody test (IFAT), and for parasite DNA using ...
Mouser VHM, Dautzenberg NMM, Levato R, van Rijen MHP, Dhert WJA, Malda J, Gawlitta D.The implantation of chondrocyte-laden hydrogels is a promising cartilage repair strategy. Chondrocytes can be spatially positioned in hydrogels and thus in defects, while current clinical cell therapies introduce chondrocytes in the defect depth. The main aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of spatial chondrocyte distribution on the reparative process. To reduce animal experiments, an ex vivo osteochondral plug model was used and evaluated. The role of the delivered and endogenous cells in the repair process was investigated. Full thickness cartilage defects were created in equine ost...
McLean AK, Navas González FJ, Canisso IF.Donkeys and mules often are misunderstood because of their behavioral differences compared with horses. Working with these animals requires more patience and ability to notice the slightest changes in behavior to diagnose disease. Mules and donkeys form strong bonds and trust with familiar people and other equids. Training mules and hinnies from an early age is key to modifying behavior and acceptance of unfamiliar people. Reproductive behavior is different from that of horses and requires more patience when collecting jacks. Practitioners working with mules and donkeys should take a methodolo...
Astakhova NM, Perelygin AA, Zharkikh AA, Lear TL, Coleman SJ, MacLeod JN, Brinton MA.Toll-like receptors 3, 7, and 8 (TLR3, TLR7, and TLR8) were studied in the genomes of the domestic horse and several other mammals. The messenger RNA sequences and exon/intron structures of these TLR genes were determined. An equine bacterial artificial chromosome clone containing the TLR3 gene was assigned by fluorescent in situ hybridization to the horse chromosomal location ECA27q16-q17 and this map location was confirmed using an equine radiation hybrid panel. Direct sequencing revealed 13 single-nucleotide polymorphisms in the coding regions of the equine TLR 3, 7, and 8 genes. Of these p...
Bunpapong N, Charoenkul K, Nasamran C, Chamsai E, Udom K, Boonyapisitsopa S, Tantilertcharoen R, Kesdangsakonwut S, Techakriengkrai N, Suradhat S....To investigate an outbreak of African horse sickness (AHS) on a horse farm in northeastern Thailand, we used whole-genome sequencing to detect and characterize the virus. The viruses belonged to serotype 1 and contained unique amino acids (95V,166S, 660I in virus capsid protein 2), suggesting a single virus introduction to Thailand.
Schwarz ER, Long MT.West Nile virus (WNV) neuroinvasive disease threatens the health and well-being of horses and humans worldwide. Disease in horses and humans is remarkably similar. The occurrence of WNV disease in these mammalian hosts has geographic overlap with shared macroscale and microscale drivers of risk. Importantly, intrahost virus dynamics, the evolution of the antibody response, and clinicopathology are similar. The goal of this review is to provide a comparison of WNV infection in humans and horses and to identify similarities that can be exploited to enhance surveillance methods for the early dete...
