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.
McGuire TC, Perryman LE, Banks KL.Following the descriptions of immunodeficiencies in horses beginning in 1973, there has been considerable effort to develop methods for differential diagnosis and to determine the cause and prevalence of the disorders. In addition, the equine immunodeficiencies, especially combined immunodeficiency, have been studied from a comparative viewpoint with the goal of finding information applicable to similar diseases of children. Coincident with the development of knowledge about the immunodeficiencies per se, considerable information about several aspects of immunology has been obtained. It is the...
Joyner LP, Donnelly J, Huck RA.The results of complement fixation (CF) test for equine piroplasmosis on sera from horses destined for international movement from Great Britain and Ireland are presented and analysed. No horses born and continuously resident in the British Isles were found carrying CF antibodies to either Babesia equi or B caballi. Positive animals were found to have association with the following countries where known tick vectors occur: Spain, Portugal, Belgium, France, Poland, USSR and Arabian Gulf countries. Data on the persistence of CF antibodies in animals subjected to repeated testing showed that some...
Webster JH, Baird JD, Gunawan M, Martin IC, Kelly JD.The susceptibility of a known thiabendazole-resistant population of small strongyles to anthelmintics of both benzimidazole and non-benzimidazole groups, was determined. In the first study, 42 horses infected with thiabendazole-resistant small strongyles were allocated to 6 groups. Treatment groups received one of the following anthelmintics: mebendazole, febantel, febantel plus trichlorphon, morantel tartrate, or a combination of thiabendazole, piperazine and trichlorphon. Morantel tartrate and the thiabendazole/piperazine/trichlorphon combination produced highly significant (p less than 0.00...
Dietz HH.Diagnostic tests in horses showing signs of gastrointestinal diseases are reviewed. The use of rectal exploration is emphasized, and paracentesis as a diagnostic aid is mentioned. Special attention is given to the absorption tests as they are easy to conduct and give a relative measure of the absorptive capability of the intestinal epithelium. Glucose, D(+)-xylose and carbohydrate digestion-absorption tests are compared, and the D(+)-xylose absorption test is preferred because of the univocal curve of absorption (see Figure 1 and 2). The absorption curve in a horse suffering from alimentary ly...
Mackay RJ, Iverson WO, Merritt AM.A 4-year-old stallion was examined because of a 2-month history of inappetance and weight loss. Diarrhoea had also developed a month before presentation. Abnormal clinical findings were emaciation, diarrhoea, ventral oedema, palpable mesenteric lymph node enlargement and a large mass in the left cranial portion of the abdomen. Significant laboratory findings were anaemia (packed cell volume 0.21 litres/litre), hypoalbuminaemia (16 g/litre) and xylose malabsorption. The horse was euthanased and at necropsy a 10.5 kg pendunculated mass composed of granulation tissue was found within and attached...
Rowlands IW.The world-wide foaling rate in the mare is low and in the Hannoverian breed has remained asymptotic at about 50 per cent for over 150 years. In an attempt to discover some of the possible reasons for this low fertility rate, the evolutionary history of the perissodactyls, the odd-toed ungulates, is reviewed here. Of the 156 genera of this order, 152 are in the fossil record; this gives them the highest extermination rate of all the mammal groups. Some of the unusual and unique features of the reproductive physiology of the mare and their possible association with low fertility are considered.
Kelly JD, Webster JH, Griffin DL, Whitlock HV, Martin IC, Gunawan M.A survey was conducted to determine whether benzimidazole resistant populations of equine strongyles are present in New South Wales and north central Victoria; what is their frequency and geographical distribution; which species are involved; and whether different methods of parasite control could be related to the occurrence and frequency of anthelmintic resistant populations. Resistant populations of strongyles were found over wide areas of New South Wales and in north central Victoria. There was no relationship between geographical location and the occurrence of benzimidazole resistance. Th...
Derksen FJ, Robinson NE, Stick JA.A surgical technique is described for preparation of chronic cervical vagal loops in ponies. Vagal blockade was induced by circulating methanol (-2 C) through coils which enclosed the loops. Vagal blockade increased tidal volume, heart rate, and systemic blood pressure and decreased respiratory rate. Atropine, given at a dose of 0.04 mg/kg IV, increased heart rate and systemic pressure but did not alter respiratory variables, indicating that vagal cooling caused both afferent and efferent blockade. The effects of vagal blockade were rapidly reversed when refrigerated coils were removed.
Irwin DH, Howell DW.An easy diagnostic technique for recognising fibrotic myopathy and scarring in the caudal popliteal area is described. A simplified corrective surgical technique is offered and discussed briefly. Some aspects of haematomas are reviewed.
Milde AK.The objective of this study was to establish whether the carpal joints in horses are subject to development of arthrosis to a larger extent than previously assumed. Furthermore, an attempt has been made to clarify whether clinical diagnostical resources presently available are sufficient for accurate evaluation of the status in carpus. The present results show that an analysis of the synovia fluid is of little value in case of chronica arthrosis in carpus. Histilogical examination of the synovia membrane has been of limited value in this cases as it has not been possible to arrive at a definit...
Pascoe RR.The effect on the fertility of mares during two outbreaks of equine coital exanthema have been described. Conception was not prevented, nor was pregnancy terminated in mares showing active lesions of coital exanthema. Normal pregnancy rates occurred in mares served during active infection of the stallions. Origin of the disease was not determined.
Blue MG.The objective of this study was to investigate an hypothesis that chromosome anomalies are an important cause of prenatal loss in the mare. An attempt was made to analyse, cytogenetically, a series of 26 equine abortuses. Cell cultures were prepared from a range of tissues, but failed to grow, and chromosome analysis was therefore not possible for any of these specimens. Consequently, a study was made of the metaphase chromosomes prepared from 22 equine embryos after their surgical removal from mares' uteri. The karyotypes prepared for each specimen were normal. The current findings are discus...
Munk Z, Dusek J.The fertility problems were studied in the herd of the English Thoroughbred horse on the Napajedla stud farm. Breeding records for the period from 1880 to 1972 were used as the starting data. The survey comprised 32 stallions. The relationship between fertility and the number of matings was calculated by the chi 2 quantity. The calculated values are highly variable. However, it is generally seen in most of the stallions that the number of matings per heat (i. e. one or several matings) had no significant influence on the pregnancy of mares and on the fertility values of the stallions. A higher...
Brown MP, Stover SM, Kelly RH, Farver TB, Knight HD.Six adult mares were given a single intravenous injection of oxytetracycline HCl (50 mg/ml) at a dosage of 5 mg/kg. Serum, synovial fluid, peritoneal fluid, and urine oxytetracycline concentrations were measured serially over a 48-h period. The highest measured serum oxytetracycline concentration was 8.01 mcg/ml at 1/2 h. Oxytetracycline was detected in synovial fluid and peritoneal fluid, which obtained mean peak oxytetracycline concentrations of 4.43 mcg/ml and 4.20 mcg/ml, at 1/2 h and 1 h, respectively. These concentrations steadily declined in parallel with serum concentrations and were n...
Gingerich DA, Auer JA, Fackelman GE.A single intra-articular injection of 20 or 40 mg of purified hyaluronic acid of rooster comb origin resulted in restoration of normal joint function in horses with experimentally induced osteoarthritis. The functional improvement, measured by pressure sensitive force plate techniques, was detectable within one week after treatment and persisted throughout a four week experimental period despite continued use of the joints. The response was dose dependent in that injection of 0 (saline), 5 or 10 mg hyaluronic acid per joint space resulted in no significant change in joint function while dosage...
Doig PA, McKnight JD, Miller RB.The results of a study on endometrial biopsies obtained from 700 infertile mares are reported. Infiltrative endometritis was present in 51% consisting of a combination of an acute and chronic cellular response in 6%, mild chronic infiltrations in 35% and moderate to severe chronic infiltrations in 10%. Demonstrable endometrial fibrosis was found in 88% of the mares with the majority having mild (51%) or moderate (35%) changes. The age of the mares and the average number of years barren gradually increased with the severity of endometrial fibrosis, as did the combined incidence of fetal loss (e...
Araujo-Viel MS, Juliano L, Prado ES.The synthetic tridecapeptide Gly-Leu-Met-Lys-Arg-Pro-Pro-Gly-Phe-Ser-Pro-Phe-Arg was used as a model substrate for horse urinary and porcine pancreatic kallikreins. The Met-Lys bond is hydrolyzed selectively by both enzymes. Oxidation of the methionine residue to sulfoxide made the peptide resistant to both kallikreins. Substitution of either the methionine or lysine residues by norleucine led to peptides in which the Nle-Lys or the Met-Nle bonds, respectively, were susceptible to the urinary kallikrein. The esterolytic and Met-Lys bond-splitting activities of both enzymes were inhibited simil...
Kumar S, Yokoyama N, Kim JY, Bork-Mimm S, Inoue N, Xuan X, Igarashi I, Sugimoto C.Theileria equi is a tick-transmitted intraerythrocytic protozoan parasite in equids. Equine merozoite antigen (EMA)-1 and EMA-2 of T. equi have been identified as immunodominant proteins co-expressed on the surface of extra-erythrocytic merozoites. Additionally, only the EMA-2 is shed into the cytoplasm of infected erythrocyte or inside the erythrocytic membrane during their early developmental stage. In this study, we initially performed West-Western blot analysis on Triton X-100-insoluble erythrocytic skeleton collected from a healthy horse, using a glutathione S-transferase (GST)-tagged rec...
Rinnovati R, Xenos S, Beltrame A, Marigo A, Forni G, Morini M.A neurofibroma was excised from the subcutis on the medial side of the left thigh of a 15-year-old Warmblood gelding, which had shown lameness of the left hind limb. No other source of lameness was found. Two weeks after surgery, the horse was sound at a lameness examination.
van 't Klooster AT, Hallebeek JM, Beynen AC.The diet of horses should cover the energy and nutrient requirements of these animals. The desired composition of the ration depends on its digestion in the equine gastrointestinal tract. Nutritional problems or diseases caused by incorrect composition of the ration or by incorrect feeding should be prevented. The digestion of carbohydrates, fats, and proteins in the different parts of the gastrointestinal tract is described. In addition, the recently introduced net energy and digestible protein evaluation systems for feeds, and the energy and protein requirements of horses are presented.
Menard L, Marcoux M, Halle G.A case of unilateral front leg lameness with bone changes in the pedal bone suggestive of osteodystrophia fibrosa cystica is reported in an eight year old crossbred gelding. The changes were diagnosed at postmortem examination. The known possible causes are briefly reviewed.
Craig AF, Packer GC, Guthrie AJ, Venter EH.A prospective study was undertaken during 2013 and 2014, to determine the prevalence of African horse sickness virus (AHSV) in Culicoides midges and the incidence of infection caused by the virus in 28 resident horses on two equine establishments on the East Rand, Gauteng Province, South Africa. Field caught Culicoides midges together with whole blood samples from participating horses were collected every two weeks at each establishment. Culicoides midges and blood samples were tested for the presence of AHSV RNA by real-time quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. Nine i...
Menzies-Gow NJ, Patterson-Kane JC, McGowan CM.The clinical signs of chronic nodular panniculitis in a three-year-old mare were consistent with a diagnosis of sterile nodular panniculitis, but the mare had histopathological signs of both generalised steatitis and sterile nodular panniculitis. The mare was deficient in vitamin E and selenium.