Omneity® Pellets
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Topic:Equine Health
Equine health encompasses the study and management of diseases, disorders, and overall well-being of horses. It involves understanding various physiological systems, preventive care, and treatment strategies to maintain optimal health in equine populations. Common areas of focus include nutrition, infectious diseases, orthopedic conditions, and reproductive health. Research in equine health aims to advance knowledge on diagnostic methods, therapeutic interventions, and management practices that improve horse welfare and performance. This page collects peer-reviewed research studies and scholarly articles that explore the diverse aspects of equine health, offering insights into current findings and advancements in the field.
Daily rhythm of circulating fat soluble vitamin concentration (A, D, E and K) in the horse. BACKGROUND: Many physiological processes of mammalian species exhibit daily rhythmicity. An intrinsic relationship exists between fat soluble vitamins (A, D, E and K) and several body functions. Few investigations on the rhythmic pattern of vitamins in domestic animals have been carried out. The present study evaluated the circadian rhythmicity of fat soluble vitamins in the horse. METHODS: Blood samples from 5 Thoroughbred mares were collected at four-hour intervals over a 48-hour period (starting at 8:00 hours on day 1 and finishing at 4:00 on day 2) via an intravenous cannula inserted into ...
Effects of different artificial insemination techniques and sperm doses on fertility of normal mares and mares with abnormal reproductive history. The effects of different artificial insemination (AI) techniques and sperm doses on pregnancy rates of normal Hanoverian breed mares and mares with a history of barrenness or pregnancy failure using fresh or frozen-thawed sperm were investigated. The material included 187 normal mares (148 foaling and 39 young maiden mares) and 85 problem mares with abnormal reproductive history. Mares were randomly allotted into groups with respect to AI technique (routine AI into the uterine body, transrectally controlled deep intracornual AI ipsilateral to the preovulatory follicle, or hysteroscopic AI onto...
[The influence of centrifugation on quality and freezability of stallion semen]. The aim of the present study was to investigate the influence of various centrifugation methods on sperm loss and quality of frozen-thawed semen. From at a total of 8 Warmblood stallions of the National Stud Farm in Avenches, 3 ejaculates each were collected and seminal plasma was removed using 3 different centrifugation regimes. In method I (reference method) centrifugation occurred by a speed of 600 x g during 10 minutes. In method II 1000 x g was used during 2 minutes while in method III centrifugation was performed by 2000 x g during 2 minutes. After centrifugation 90%, of the supernatant ...
Polymorphisms of the equine major histocompatibility complex class II DRA locus. The full extent of the polymorphism of ELA-DRA in Equidae is not yet known. Given the apparent differences in DRA polymorphisms between Equidae and other species, the aims of this study were to more fully characterize ELA-DRA, determine the extent of gene polymorphism and establish the allele-frequency distribution. An allele reference panel for the second exon of ELA-DRA was established by sequence-based typing of 69 equine DNA samples consisting of various breeds of domestic horse (Equus caballus), together with donkeys (Equus asinus), Grant's zebras (Equus boehmi) and one onager (Equus hemi...
Investigation of an outbreak of encephalomyelitis caused by West Nile virus in 136 horses. To describe an outbreak of encephalomyelitis caused by West Nile virus (WNV) in horses in northern Indiana. Methods: Case series. Methods: 170 horses. Methods: Horses with clinical signs suggestive of encephalomyelitis caused by WNV were examined. Date, age, sex, breed, and survival status were recorded. Serum samples were tested for anti-WNV antibodies, and virus isolation was attempted from samples of brain tissue. Climate data from local weather recording stations were collected. An epidemic curve was constructed, and case fatality rate was calculated. Results: The most common clinical sign...
The pathogenic equine streptococci. Streptococci pathogenic for the horse include S. equi (S. equi subsp. equi), S. zooepidemicus (S. equi subsp. zooepidemicus), S. dysgalactiae subsp. equisimilis and S. pneumoniae capsule Type III. S. equi is a clonal descendent or biovar of an ancestral S. zooepidemicus strain with which it shares greater than 98% DNA homology and therefore expresses many of the same proteins and virulence factors. Rapid progress has been made in identification of virulence factors and proteins uniquely expressed by S. equi. Most of these are expressed either on the bacterial surface or are secreted. Notable e...
Equine viral vaccines: the past, present and future. The increasing international movement of horses combined with the relaxation of veterinary regulations has resulted in an increased incidence of equine infectious diseases. Vaccination, along with management measures, has become the primary method for the effective control of these diseases. Traditionally modified live and inactivated vaccines have been used and these vaccines have proven to be very successful in preventing disease. However, there are a number of equine infectious diseases for which conventional technology has shown its limitations. The advent of recombinant technology has sti...
Rhodococcus equi. Rhodococcus equi is an important cause of subacute or chronic abscessating bronchopneumonia of foals up to 3-5 months of age. It shares the lipid-rich cell wall envelope characteristic of the mycolata, including Mycobacterium tuberculosis, as well as the ability of pathogenic members of this group to survive within macrophages. The possession of a large virulence plasmid in isolates recovered from pneumonic foals is crucial for virulence. The plasmid contains an 27 kb pathogenicity island (PI) that encodes seven related virulence-associated proteins (Vaps), including the immunodominant surface...
Association between race history and risk of superficial digital flexor tendon injury in Thoroughbred racehorses. To determine whether race history, including the number of races and total race distance, was associated with risk of superficial digital flexor tendon (SDFT) injury in Thoroughbred racehorses in Japan. Methods: Matched case-control study. Methods: 515 Thoroughbred racehorses (case horses) that sustained an SDFT injury during training or racing in Japan during 2002 and 951 horses (control horses) without SDFT injury that were matched with case horses on the basis of age and month of the latest race. Methods: Variables related to race history were compared between case and control horses by mea...
Current perspectives on control of equine influenza. Influenza A viruses of the H3N8 subtype are a major cause of respiratory disease in horses. Subclinical infection with virus shedding can occur in vaccinated horses, particularly where there is a mismatch between the vaccine strains and the virus strains circulating in the field. Such infections contribute to the spread of the disease. Rapid diagnostic techniques are available for detection of virus antigen and can be used as an aid in control programmes. Improvements have been made to methods of standardising inactivated virus vaccines, and a direct relationship between vaccine potency measur...
Prevalence of antibodies to spotted fever group rickettsiae in humans and domestic animals in a Brazilian spotted fever-endemic area in the state of São Paulo, Brazil: serologic evidence for infection by Rickettsia rickettsii and another spotted fever group Rickettsia. In serum samples obtained from all the healthy humans, horses, dogs, and donkeys present on three farms in the Pedreira Municipality, an endemic area for Brazilian spotted fever, an indirect immunofluorescence assay (IFA) detected antibodies against Rickettsia rickettsii in 17 (77.3%) horses, 5 (31.3%) dogs (titers ranging from 64 to 4,048), and none of 4 donkeys or 50 humans. Five canine and eight equine sera with high antibody titers to R. rickettsii were also tested by IFA against R. bellii, R. akari, and R. africae antigens. Sera from two horses and two dogs that showed similar high antibo...
Endocrine-paracrine cells of the male urogenital apparatus: a comparative histochemical and immunohistochemical study in some domestic ungulates. Specimens of testis, excurrent duct including the male accessory glands and urethra, were studied in boars, bulls, horses and donkeys, in order to localize endocrine/paracrine cells. Silver impregnation methods were used to test the argentaffinity and/or argyrophilia of cells. Immunoreactivities to chromogranin A, 5-hydroxytryptamine, somatostatin, [met]- and [leu]- enkephalins, gastrin-releasing peptide, calcitonin gene-related peptide, neuropeptide Y, substance P, vasoactive intestinal peptide, beta-endorphin antisera were tested by a streptavidin-biotin method. In the testis, epididymis, du...
West Nile virus infection of horses. West Nile virus (WNV) is a flavivirus closely related to Japanese encephalitis and St. Louis encephalitis viruses that is primarily maintained in nature by transmission cycles between mosquitoes and birds. Occasionally, WNV infects and causes disease in other vertebrates, including humans and horses. West Nile virus has re-emerged as an important pathogen as several recent outbreaks of encephalomyelitis have been reported from different parts of Europe in addition to the large epidemic that has swept across North America. This review summarises the main features of WNV infection in the horse, ...
Recent developments in research into the Cyathostominae and Anoplocephala perfoliata. Intestinal helminths are an important cause of equine disease. Of these parasites, the Cyathostominae are the commonest group that infect horses. These nematodes consist of a complex tribe of 51 species, although individual horses tend to harbour 10 or so common species, in addition to a few rarer species. The Cyathostominae can be extremely pathogenic, and high levels of infection result in clinical symptoms ranging from chronic weight loss to colic, diarrhoea and death. As part of their life cycle, immature cyathostomins penetrate the large intestinal wall, where they can enter a state of in...
Equine Infectious Anemia Virus (EIAV): what has HIV’s country cousin got to tell us? Equine Infectious Anemia Virus (EIAV) is a lentivirus, of the Retrovirus family, with an almost worldwide distribution, infecting equids. It causes a persistent infection characterized by recurring febrile episodes associating viremia, fever, thrombocytopenia, and wasting symptoms. The disease is experimentally reproducible by inoculation of Shetland ponies or horses with EIAV pathogenic strains. Among lentiviruses, EIAV is unique in that, despite a rapid virus replication and antigenic variation, most animals progress from a chronic stage characterized by recurring peaks of viremia and fever ...
Excision as treatment of dermal melanomatosis in horses: 11 cases (1994-2000). To determine whether excision was an acceptable treatment for dermal melanomatosis in horses. Methods: Retrospective study. Methods: 11 horses with dermal melanomatosis involving the perineal, perianal, or perirectal region or ventral surface of the tail in which treatment consisted of tumor excision. Methods: Medical records were reviewed. Follow-up information was obtained from owners through telephone interviews. Results: 9 of the 11 horses were alive at the time of follow-up interviews. None of the horses had regrowth at the surgery site where the primary tumor was removed. There were no c...
Detection of Anaplasma phagocytophilum in animals by real-time polymerase chain reaction. The aim of this study was to detect Anaplasma phagocytophilum in wild and domesticated animals and to identify the phylogenetic relationships of different strains of this bacterium. We adapted six published conventional methods targeting 16S fragments for real-time polymerase chain reaction. Initial screening of samples from 419 animals found 37 Anaplasma positives, later confirmed with several different primers and a TaqMan probe. We also performed DNA quantification and melting curve analysis. The nucleic acid of Anaplasma sp. was detected in a higher percentage of cases in members of the de...
Validated capillary electrophoretic method for the analysis of ivermectin in plasma after intragastric administration in pigs and horses. A capillary electrophoretic (CE) method has been developed for the determination of ivermectin (CAS 70288-86-7), a new generation drug with antiparasitic activity, in pig and horse plasma. The method was statistically validated for its linearity, accuracy, precision and selectivity. The linear range was from 1 to 30 ng mL(-1) with correlation coefficients greater than 0.999. The limit of detection was 0.3 ng mL(-1), while the quantitative limit was 1 ng mL(-1), using a 0.5 mL sample size. The validated procedure was used to determination of pharmacokinetic parameters of ivermectin after ingest...
Haemolysins of Salmonella, their role in pathogenesis and subtyping of Salmonella serovars. Haemolysin patterns of 175 strains of different Salmonella enterica subspecies enterica serovars isolated from different animal sources and places were determined using 11 different blood agar media made with either non-washed horse/sheep erythrocytes or with washed erythrocytes of cattle, sheep, horse, goat, rabbit, guinea pig, and human A, O and B blood groups. Study on 47 strains belonging to 10 serovars of Salmonella from buffalo meat (buffen), 42 strains of 11 serovars from goat meat (chevon): 16 strains of Salmonella enterica serovar Paratyphi B and 25 of S. enterica serovar Paratyphi B ...
Factors associated with mortality and morbidity in small intestinal volvulus in horses. To determine historical, physical, and clinical factors that may affect morbidity and mortality in horses with small intestinal volvulus unrelated to other causes (e.g., incarceration, lipoma, etc.). Methods: Retrospective study. Methods: Client-owned horses (115), aged 1 month to 21 years. Methods: Data were obtained from medical records, identified by computer search and manual review. Continuous variables were compared between affected and non-affected horses with Mann-Whitney U-tests and non-continuous variables with Fisher's exact test (2 x 2 tables) or chi(2)-tests (larger tables). Stepw...
Performance after partial arytenoidectomy without mucosal closure in 27 Thoroughbred racehorses. To examine the effect of partial arytenoidectomy without mucosal closure on postoperative racing performance and long-term complications in Thoroughbred racehorses treated for laryngeal hemiplegia, arytenoid chondropathy, or failed laryngoplasty. Methods: Retrospective study. Methods: Twenty-seven Thoroughbred racehorses. Methods: Medical records of Thoroughbred racehorses that had partial arytenoidectomy without mucosal closure between 1992 and 2002 were reviewed. Horses were divided into groups: horses that had not raced (Group 1) and those that had raced (Group 2) before surgery. Lifetime r...
Parainguinal laparocystotomy for urolith removal in geldings. To describe parainguinal laparocystotomy for urolith removal and to report outcome. Methods: Prospective clinical study. Methods: Ten geldings with uroliths. Methods: Signalment, number, size, type of uroliths, surgical technique, and complications were recorded. Long-term follow-up was obtained by telephone interviews with the client and/or examination by the referring veterinarian. Results: Cystic calculi, 3-9 cm in diameter, were removed by parainguinal laparocystotomy. Mean surgical time was 59 minutes (range, 40-100 minutes). With this approach, ligation of the pudendal or superficial epi...
Quantification of Staphylococcus aureus adhesion to equine bone surfaces passivated with Plasmalyte and hyperimmune plasma. To quantify the adhesion of Staphylococcus aureus to 4 equine bone surfaces passivated in a balanced polyionic solution (Plasmalyte) or hyperimmune equine plasma (Polymune plasma). Methods: In vitro comparative study. Methods: Third metacarpal bone (MC3) surface explants from 9 equine cadavers. Methods: Approximately 1 cm(2) sections of periosteum were removed from MC3 and stapled to sterile stainless steel screens. Three bone surface explants were cut using a surgical saw to present 1 cm(2) surfaces of subperiosteal bone, cut cortical bone, or endosteum. Duplicate explants of each surface wer...
Acute recumbency associated with Anaplasma phagocytophilum infection in a horse. An 11-year-old Hanoverian-cross gelding was evaluated because of acute onset of ataxia, recumbency, and fever. At the stable, this and other horses had recently been infested with ticks. Results of analysis of a sample of CSF were within reference limits, but hematologic abnormalities included lymphopenia, thrombocytopenia, mild anemia, and intracytoplasmic inclusion bodies in neutrophils that were consistent with Anaplasma phagocytophilum (previously Ehrlichia equi). Results of serum biochemical analyses were characteristic of infection and included high, unconjugated bilirubin concentration....
Idiopathic gastroesophageal reflux disease in an adult horse. Chronic gastroesophageal reflux disease was diagnosed in a 22-year-old female Tennessee Walking Horse that had signs of bruxism and ptyalism. Esophageal ulceration was detected via endoscopy. Compared with the damage to the proximal portions of the esophagus, the severity of the ulceration increased toward the gastroesophageal junction. Esophageal ulceration attributable to chronic gastric acid reflux is usually secondary to pyloric outflow obstruction in horses. In the horse of this report, there was no evidence of either a chronic pyloric or duodenal obstruction that could have resulted in e...
Estimate of size and total number of neurons in superior cervical ganglion of rat, capybara and horse. The superior (cranial) cervical ganglion was investigated by light microscopy in adult rats, capybaras (Hydrochaeris hydrochaeris) and horses. The ganglia were vascularly perfused, embedded in resin and cut into semi-thin sections. An unbiased stereological procedure (disector method) was used to estimate ganglion neuron size, total number of ganglion neurons, neuronal density. The volume of the ganglion was 0.5 mm3 in rats, 226 mm3 in capybaras and 412 mm3 in horses. The total number of neurons per ganglion was 18,800, 1,520,000 and 3,390,000 and the number of neurons per cubic millimetre was...
Small intestinal volvulus in 115 horses: 1988-2000. To evaluate the historical data, signalment, clinical signs, results of laboratory analyses, treatment, and outcome of horses with small intestinal (SI) volvulus. Methods: Retrospective study. Methods: One hundred and fifteen client-owned horses, aged 1 month to 21 years. Methods: Clinical signs, laboratory data, surgical or necropsy findings, and outcome for horses with SI volvulus were obtained from medical records, identified by computer search and manual review. Results: There was no statistical difference in signalment between cases and the hospital population. Seventy-four percent of hor...
Arthroscopic removal of axial osteochondral fragments of the proximoplantar aspect of the proximal phalanx using electrocautery probes in 23 standardbred racehorses. To describe the outcome after arthroscopic electrosurgical excision of axial osteochondral (OC) fragments of the proximal plantar aspect of the 1st phalanx (P1) in horses. Methods: Retrospective study. Methods: Twenty-three Standardbred racehorses. Methods: Medical records of Standardbred racehorses that had arthroscopic dissection of axial OC fragments of the proximal plantar aspect of P1 with electrocautery probes were reviewed. Horses were positioned in dorsal recumbency; a 1.5% glycine solution was used to maintain joint distension. The arthroscope portal was in the proximal plantar joint ...
