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.
Zhou K, Dong Z, Zhou X, Zhai B, Li B, Zhang J, Cheng F.The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence and association of EGUS in horses of different ages, breeds and occupations. Gastroscopies were performed on 395 horses, and gastric ulcers were graded on a scoring system from 0 to 4. The relationship between age, breed, and work, along with the prevalence of gastric ulcers and their influences, were evaluated. The prevalence rate of ulcers in this herd was 78%. Older horses were prone to ulcers in both the glandular and squamous mucosal areas. Across the different jobs surveyed, 60% of the horses had a score of 2 or above. For the horses ...
Toft K, Honoré ML, Ripley N, Nielsen MK, Mardahl M, Fromm B, Hedberg-Alm Y, Tydén E, Nielsen LN, Nejsum P, Thamsborg SM, Cirera S, Pihl TH.The equine bloodworm, Strongylus vulgaris, is a common and highly pathogenic parasite in horses due to its migratory life cycle involving the intestinal arteries. Current diagnostic techniques cannot detect the prepatent migrating stages of S. vulgaris, highlighting the need for new biomarkers. Parasites release microRNAs (miRNAs) into their environment, which could potentially be detectable in host blood samples. Additionally, host miRNA expression patterns may change in response to infection. This study aimed to identify miRNAs associated with S. vulgaris infection by profiling the horse's m...
Dahm E.Emma Dahm introduces a new society in the world of showing that aims to give horses that have come back from neglect and abuse a platform to show off their talents and resilience.
Peere S, Van den Branden E, Broothaers K, Polfliet E, Smits K, Govaere J.Transfer of in vitro-produced (IVP) equine embryos is associated with a higher incidence of monozygotic multiple pregnancies, but this remains a rarity. The outcome of monozygotic twin gestation is poor, and good management techniques are lacking. In addition, hydrops conditions are exceptional in horses, with hydroallantois occurring more frequently than hydramnion. Most hydrops conditions will lead to compromise or death of the foal and mare. A 6-year-old multiparous standardbred recipient mare, 332 days pregnant, diagnosed with a monozygotic twin and hydrops with a dead co-twin, gave birth ...
LeCompte Lazić RA, Nielsen BD, Robison CI, Schott HC, Herdt TH, Larson CK.The 2007 Horse NRC reduced cobalt (Co) requirements from 0.1 ppm to 0.05 ppm in dietary dry matter, though preliminary research suggested increasing dietary-Co enhanced fiber digestion in horses. This study aimed to evaluate fiber digestion with varying dietary Co amounts, as well as to compare serum Co concentrations with dietary Co content. Four geldings (mean body weight [BW] 503 ± 37 kg) were studied in a 4 × 4 Latin square design consisting of four 5-week periods, each comprising a 2-week washout phase followed by a 3-week treatment phase. Supplementing 0.0, 5.6, 16.8, or 28.0 mg of Co ...
Matsubara T, Fukatsu R, Yamamoto M, Moriya M, Hano K, Nakamura K, Ohba Y, Takasu M.Including Internet of Things (IoT) technology in horse-rearing management can potentially mitigate problems such as human resource shortages and time limitations in performing daily behavior monitoring. In this study, a small and inexpensive activity meter used to monitor dogs and cats (PLUS CYCLE, JARMeC, Kanagawa, Japan) was used to monitor the daily behavior of horses. A study was performed to examine the suitability of the PLUS CYCLE device for monitoring horses and to determine whether it could estimate horse behavior. The device was equipped with an accelerometer and was used to monitor ...
Egli P, Boone L, Huber L, Higgins C, Gaonkar PP, Arrington J, Naskou MC, Peroni J, Gordon J, Lascola KM.Platelet lysate (PL) demonstrates antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory properties offering potential for treatment of bacterial pneumonia in horses. It remains unknown whether nebulization is suitable for PL administration in horses. This pilot study characterized particle size and flow rate of pooled equine PL (single preparation) nebulized using an equine-specific nebulizer (Flexivent®). Unassigned: Protein composition and antimicrobial activity were compared before and after nebulization. Protein composition was evaluated according to growth factor, antimicrobial peptide and cytokine concen...
Watanabe M, Sato F, Innan H.We investigated the changes in inbreeding levels in Japanese Thoroughbred horses over the past 46 years. Our results show a significant increase in inbreeding over the past 30 years, primarily due to the influence of two sires, Northern Dancer and Sunday Silence. Northern Dancer's bloodline spread gradually through descendants like Northern Taste, leading to a slower increase in the inbreeding coefficient. In contrast, Sunday Silence was directly imported and became a leading sire, causing a rapid increase in his blood proportion and inbreeding coefficient. Our findings suggest that monitoring...
Allen SE, Taylor S, Given J, Verheyen KL.The British horseracing industry is committed to reducing equine fatalities in jump racing. Race-related fatalities are a major welfare concern and threaten the sport's social licence to operate. Objective: To describe the risk of, and determine risk factors for, fatality in British jump racing. Methods: Retrospective cohort. Methods: Analyses included all starts made in British jump races between January 2010 and April 2023. Available information for each horse, race, racecourse, trainer and jockey was collated and combined with details of all fatalities recorded by official veterinary office...
Damdinjav B, Raveendran S, Mojsiejczuk L, Ankhanbaatar U, Yang J, Sadeyen JR, Iqbal M, Perez DR, Rajao DS, Park A, Viana M, Murcia PR.Recent outbreaks of influenza A(H5N1) have affected many mammal species. We report serologic evidence of H5N1 virus infection in horses in Mongolia. Because H3N8 equine influenza virus is endemic in many countries, horses should be monitored to prevent reassortment between equine and avian influenza viruses with unknown consequences.
Robertson T, Thomas E, Starbuck G, Yarnell K.As a free-ranging, social species, the housing of horses () may limit their opportunity to display natural behaviour, compromising well-being. This review records and presents studies that have investigated horse housing design, evaluates the location and number of studies carried out to date, and reports the methods used to assess impact on equine well-being. A Boolean search was conducted in two databases: Web of Science and Scopus, filtered according to Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) protocol, resulting in 60 peer-reviewed papers for evaluation. ...
So YM, Kwok WH, Ching CCW, Wong COL, Wan TSM, Ho ENM.Anabolic-androgenic steroids (AAS) are banned substances in both human and equine sports. They are often administered intramuscularly to horses in esterified forms for the purpose of extending their duration of action. As such, the detection of intact esters of endogenous steroids in hair is particularly advantageous, as it can provide unequivocal proof of their external origin. Compared with urine and blood matrices, hair in general allows a longer detection window as long as the administered drug can be incorporated into hair and has not degraded. This can be useful in doping control of equi...
Aragona F, Tabbì M, Gugliandolo E, Giannetto C, D'Angelo F, Fazio F, Interlandi C.Cannabidiol (CBD) is a non-psychotropic cannabinoid obtained from hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) used for pain management in companion animals including horses. The present study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of cannabidiolic acid (CBDA) and cannabigerol/cannabidiol oil (CBG/CBD) oral administration in alleviating pain in adult horses affected by chronic osteoarthritis (OA). Twenty-four horses (10 geldings and 14 mares), aged between 11 and 18 years old, were equally divided into two groups. One group received CBDA 15% oil and the other group received CBG/CBD oil (CBG20%-CBD10%) for 14 consecuti...
Rutberg AT, Grams KA.Wildlife managers and the public have expressed considerable interest in the use of contraception to help manage the populations of wild horses and burros (Equus caballus and E. asinus). Field testing has shown that two preparations of the porcine zona pellucida (PZP) vaccine, a simple emulsion (ZonaStat-H) and PZP-22 (which supplements ZonaStat-H with a controlled-release component) effectively prevent pregnancy in individual mares and can substantially reduce population foaling rates. To determine whether some PZP preparations might have secondary effects that harm treated mares or their foa...
Scott I, Lawrence KE, Gee EK.Shortened egg reappearance periods (ERP) have been seen as an early warning of anthelmintic resistance development in cyathostomins in horses. The hypothesis has been that in these instances, efficacy against egg laying adult cyathostomins remains high, but a decline in activity against later larval stages leads to the earlier resumption of egg shedding after treatment. In this study using a single herd of horses we investigated the ERP of a number of commonly used equine anthelmintics and examined whether ERP might show seasonal variation between winter and summer. Four main Faecal egg count ...
Farkas A, Thieme K, Soimala T, Jensen CK, Eule JC.This retrospective study evaluates the efficacy of povidone-iodine (PI) and polyhexamethylene biguanide (PHMB) as preoperative antiseptics in equine ophthalmic procedures. Methods: Horses that underwent routine ophthalmic surgery and procedures. Methods: Data were collected retrospectively from the medical records of equine patients undergoing ophthalmic procedures. Inclusion criteria were sampling for aerobic microbial culture at three different time points (T0: pre-irrigation, T1: post-irrigation, and T2: postoperatively) and T0 showing bacterial growth. Microbiological outcomes were assesse...
Nassar AFC, Chiebao DP, Fava CD, Miyashiro S, Castro V, Ogata RA, Yamamora JM, Monteiro CAS, Monteiro EJB.Glanders is a zoonotic disease of equids caused by the bacterium Burkholderia mallei, responsible for considerable economic loss. This study aimed to describe the clinical manifestations, pathological findings, and also bacteriological and molecular methods for agent detection in naturally infected animals (16 adult horses and one fetus) detected by serological survey from three glanders outbreaks. Of the 16 horses, 6 (37.5%) did not show clinical signs. After necropsy,samples of organs, lymph nodes, lesions and secretions were collectedfor histopathology, bacterial isolation, and PCR. The cli...
Korac L, Golestani N, MacNicol J, Souccar-Young J, Witherspoon S, Wildish A, Topfer S, Pearson W.The purpose was to determine local (articular) and systemic effects of intra-articular interleukin-1 in horses supplemented with a dietary PUFA supplement [STRUCTURE-Joint (ST-J)]. Sixteen (16) healthy, mature, light breed horses were randomly assigned to diets containing 0 or 120 mL (n = 8 per group) of ST-J for 30 d. On days 0 (prior to beginning supplementation) and 27, recombinant equine interleukin-1β (reIL-1 β) (75 ng) was injected into the left or right intercarpal joint to induce mild, transient synovitis. Synovial fluid was obtained by aseptic arthrocentesis at postinjection hou...
Padalino B, Pellegrini F, Felici M, Zappaterra M, Catella C, Cordisco M, Lorusso E, Cirone F, Pratelli A.Respiratory disorders (RDs) are a common transport-related welfare consequence in horses. This prospective study described the journeys of horses transported to two slaughterhouses in Italy, documented the prevalence of potentially RD-related pathogens, and identified possible predisposing factors. Data were recorded from arrival until 48 h after arrival and included the collection of Deep Nasopharyngeal Swabs (DNS), journey details and welfare assessment of horses (n = 155). PCR was used to quantify the presence of influenza A virus, reovirus, equine herpesvirus type 1 and 4, adenovirus, r...
DeBoer M, Rieck T, Johnson L, Redenius H, Martinson K.Horses have become more intensively managed, including the use of hay nets to increase intake time and reduce hay waste, but their impact on health is not well known. The objectives were to compare changes in subluxations, range of motion, and the pain-pressure threshold in the axial skeleton of horses fed hay with (NET) or without (CON) hay nets. In September 2021, 13 adult horses were blocked by bodyweight (BW) and randomly assigned to the NET or CON treatments for one year. After one year, horses switched treatments and the trial concluded in September 2023. Horses were housed in dry lots w...
Jung C, Gentil M, Müller E.The objective of the study was to investigate the age dependent occurrence of different infectious agents in foals with diarrhea. Methods: Fecal samples, which were submitted to a commercial laboratory for a PCR-profile "Foal Diarrhea Pathogens" from 01.01.2021 up to 31.12.2022 (n=144), were examined for Equine Coronavirus (ECoV), , (), toxin-encoding genes , , , and , toxin-encoding genes and , as well as Rotavirus A via PCR. Results: Pathogens could be detected in a high proportion (42.9%) of the samples. Rotavirus A was the most prevalent pathogen in the current study, followed by clos...
Equine asthma, a prevalent chronic inflammatory condition affecting the equine population, significantly compromises the performance and quality of life in affected horses. Inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) are often the first-line pharmacological intervention due to their potent anti-inflammatory properties. This meta-analysis investigates the clinical efficacy of ICS in treating equine asthma, emphasizing the number needed to treat (NNT) and the likelihood of achieving a clinical response. A comprehensive literature search identified relevant studies comparing ICS with placebo (PCB) controlled t...
Samper JC, Hernandez Aviles JC, Ramirez-Agamez LF, Love CC, Gonzalez-Marin C, Fleury P, Dini P, De La Fuente A, Foss R, Campos FL, Ross PJ.The application of sex-sorted semen in horses has historically lagged the bovine industry due to differences in the reproductive physiology and grater variability in equine semen quality. Recent advancements, including SuperGen™ sorters and Ultraplus™ semen processing methods developed by STgenetics® (Navasota, Texas), have significantly improved the efficiency of the sex-sorting process and reduced the sperm damage previously reported. To facilitate the broader use sex-sorted semen in the equine industry, it is essential to address challenges such as shipping cooled semen to a central so...
Folk KM, White RR, Gleason CB.Cryotherapy is often used to reduce inflammation in acute equine laminitis cases. Certain hoof temperatures have been suggested as effective in minimizing the inflammatory process; however, there is limited evidence on which methods are best at achieving these temperatures. Our objective was to determine how different methods of cryotherapy influence the rate and extent of cooling for the equine hoof wall. Four horses received three hoof cooling treatments and a control (CON; no treatment application) in a 4 × 4 Latin square design. Treatments included (1) ice surrounding the hoof in a 5 L fl...
Liu Y, Zhou F, Zheng W, Bai T, Chen X, Guo L.The sleeping and eating behaviors of horses are important indicators of their health. With the development of the modern equine industry, timely monitoring and analysis of these behaviors can provide valuable data for assessing the physiological state of horses. To recognize horse behaviors in stalls, this study builds on the SlowFast algorithm, introducing a novel loss function to address data imbalance and integrating an SE attention module in the SlowFast algorithm's slow pathway to enhance behavior recognition accuracy. Additionally, YOLOX is employed to replace the original target detecti...
Blatter M, Chapman HS, Heinzel-Gutenbrunner M, von Plato G, Rijkenhuizen A.Desmotomy of the accessory ligament of the superficial digital flexor tendon (AL-SDFT) has been described for the treatment of superficial digital flexor tendon (SDFT) tendinopathy in Thoroughbred and Standardbred racehorses, and in event horses. To our knowledge, the outcome of this procedure has not been described in a population of warmblood horses. Objective: To report on the outcome of treatment of SDFT tendinopathy in warmblood horses using tenoscopic desmotomy of the main part of the AL-SDFT. Methods: Prospective observational case series. Methods: All 62 horses included in the case ser...
Kaufman KL, Suagee-Bedore JK, Johnson SE, Ely KM, Ghajar SJ, McIntosh BM.Forage is essential for equine health and performance, but intake of elevated pasture nonstructural carbohydrates (NSC) may exacerbate metabolic disorders. This study aimed to investigate the influence of laminitis history on metabolic and morphometric responses in grazing horses. Twelve non-pregnant mares (15 ± 3.4 yrs) were selected based on previous diagnosis of laminitis (PRELAM; n=6) or not (NOLAM; n=6). Horses were maintained on 8.5-ha pasture. Weekly pasture samples were clipped at random for nutrient analysis. Monthly blood samples were collected and analyzed for glucose and insulin c...
Navas de Solis C, Solomon C, Durando M, Stefanovski D.Exercising arrhythmias can be clinically irrelevant or associated with poor performance, collapse and sudden cardiac death. Objective: To test if readable exercising ECGs can be recorded by grooms or riders and to describe arrhythmias in ECGs from different types of exercise in Eventing horses and investigate associations with type of workout, the presence of previous cardiac signs and intensity of exercise. Methods: Cohort study. Methods: Single lead exercising ECGs were obtained by riders or grooms during training and competition from a convenience sample of horses in training for Eventing c...
Terlinden A, Jacquet S, Manivong S, Cullier A, Cassé F, Legendre F, Garcia AA, Roullin G, Moldovan F, Sirois P, Banquy X, Galéra P, Audigié F....Osteoarthritis is a leading cause of pain and retirement in athletic horses. Hydro-expansive functionalized nanogels, acting as Drug Delivery Systems, constitute one of the current therapeutic prospects. These nanogels have the potential to combine mechanical benefits through polymers with the biological effect of prolonged release of bioactive molecules. The purpose of this double-blinded randomized tolerance study versus negative control was to evaluate the response of healthy joints to a single injection of the expected efficient dose (further referred to as the trial dose) and overdose of ...
Brandi LA, Nunes AT, Faleiros CA, Poleti MD, Oliveira ECM, Schmidt NT, Sousa RLM, Fukumasu H, Balieiro JCC, Brandi RA.Different energy sources are often used in horse diets to enhance health and performance. Understanding how diet impacts the cecal and fecal microbiota is crucial for meeting the nutritional needs of horses. High-throughput sequencing and qPCR were used to compare the fecal and cecal microbiota of five healthy horses receiving three different diets: hay diet (HAY), hay + starch and sugar (SS), and hay + fiber and oil ingredients (FO). Assessment of short-chain fatty acids, pH, and buffer capacity was also performed. The HAY diet was associated with the highest values of fecal pH; the FO and SS...
Warnken T, Huber K, Feige K.Exact analysis of equine insulin in blood samples is the key element for assessing insulin resistance or insulin dysregulation in horses. However, previous studies indicated marked differences in insulin concentrations obtained from sample analyses with different immunoassays. Most assays used in veterinary medicine are originally designed for use in human diagnostics and are based on antibodies directed against human insulin, although amino acid sequences between equine and human insulin differ. Species-specific assays are being used more frequently and seem to provide advantages compared to ...
Felkel S, Vogl C, Rigler D, Dobretsberger V, Chowdhary BP, Distl O, Fries R, Jagannathan V, Janečka JE, Leeb T, Lindgren G, McCue M, Metzger J....Analysis of the Y chromosome is the best-established way to reconstruct paternal family history in humans. Here, we applied fine-scaled Y-chromosomal haplotyping in horses with biallelic markers and demonstrate the potential of our approach to address the ancestry of sire lines. We de novo assembled a draft reference of the male-specific region of the Y chromosome from Illumina short reads and then screened 5.8 million basepairs for variants in 130 specimens from intensively selected and rural breeds and nine Przewalski's horses. Among domestic horses we confirmed the predominance of a young'c...
In 2001, West Nile virus (WNV) activity was reported from 359 counties in 27 states and the District of Columbia (DC) to ArboNET, a web-based, surveillance data network maintained by 54 state and local public health agencies and CDC. This activity represented a marked increase from 2000, when WNV activity was reported from 138 counties in 12 states and DC. This report summarizes surveillance data for 2001, which indicate that 66 human illnesses were reported from 10 states and that widespread WNV activity in birds, horses, and mosquitoes extended into the midwestern United States and several s...
Cortinovis C, Caloni F.Alkaloids, nitrogen-containing secondary plant metabolites, are of major interest to veterinary toxicology because of their occurrence in plant species commonly involved in animal poisoning. Based on epidemiological data, the poisoning of cattle and horses by alkaloid-containing plants is a relatively common occurrence in Europe. Poisoning may occur when the plants contaminate hay or silage or when forage alternatives are unavailable. Cattle and horses are particularly at risk of poisoning by Colchicum autumnale (meadow saffron), Conium maculatum (poison hemlock), Datura stramonium (jimson wee...
Seltenhammer MH, Heere-Ress E, Brandt S, Druml T, Jansen B, Pehamberger H, Niebauer GW.Equine melanoma shows striking features particularly with regard to clinical development in grey horses: in contrast to malignant melanoma in humans and in solid coloured horses that are characterized by early onset of metastasis, pigment cell tumours display almost benign clinical features in ageing grey horses. Through evolution, grey horses appear to be in a favourable position in regard to the biological behaviour of melanomas. Yet unknown factors inhibiting or retarding early melanoma metastasis may be responsible for this phenomenon. In this study, immunostaining profiles and histopathol...
Fortier LA, Smith RK.After tendon injury, the scar tissue that replaces the damaged tendon results in a substantial risk for reinjury. The goal of regenerative therapies is to restore normal structural architecture and biomechanical function to an injured tissue. Successful restoration processes for any tissue are thought to recapitulate those of development, in which there are spatial and temporal interactions between scaffold, growth factors, and cell populations.
Tamzali Y, Borde L, Rols MP, Golzio M, Lyazrhi F, Teissie J.Sarcoids are the commonest form of equine skin tumour. Several therapeutic measures have been described but none is considered to be universally effective. Electrochemotherapy (ECT) is a new anticancer therapy that utilises electrical field pulses to induce increased cell membrane permeability to antitumour hydrophilic drugs, such as cisplatin. The increased intracellular concentration of the drugs has a significant therapeutic benefit. The procedure has not been previously reported in a large number of horses. Objective: To validate ECT as a novel alternative treatment for equine sarcoids. Me...
Contentin R, Demoor M, Concari M, Desancé M, Audigié F, Branly T, Galéra P.Osteoarthritis (OA) remains incurable in humans or horses and mesenchymal stromal/stem cells (MSCs) represent an attractive solution for producing a neocartilage substitute. However, the best MSC source still needs to be identified. This study compared the chondrogenic potential of equine MSCs derived from bone marrow (BM) and umbilical cord blood (UCB), at their undifferentiated status to check if one cell source is better proned, and after chondrogenic-induced differentiation. Chondrogenesis was induced by culture in collagen scaffold with BMP-2 + TGF-ß1 in hypoxia or normoxia. MSCs cho...
Santos AS, Rodrigues MA, Bessa RJ, Ferreira LM, Martin-Rosset W.Having evolved as a grazing animal, a horse's digestive physiology is characterized by rapid gastric transit, a rapid but intense enzymatic digestion along the small intestine, and a long and intense microbial fermentation in the large intestine. The process of understanding and describing feed degradation mechanisms in the equine digestive system in general, and in the hindgut ecosystem in particular, is essential. Regardless of its importance for the nutritional status of the host, the significance of the cecum-colon ecosystem has not yet been fully understood, and few reports have focused d...
Frisbie DD, Smith RK.Stem cells have received much attention in recent times because of their potential to improve healing of othropaedic problems. This manuscript presents the genesis, issues and current state of stem cell treatment in equine medicine. Current literature supports the use of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) for treatment of orthopaedic problems.
Nakamura K, Takimoto-Inose A, Hasegawa T.Humans have domesticated many kinds of animals in their history. Dogs and horses have particularly close relationships with humans as cooperative partners. However, fewer scientific studies have been conducted on cognition in horses compared to dogs. Studies have shown that horses cross-modally distinguish human facial expressions and recognize familiar people, which suggests that they also cross-modally distinguish human emotions. In the present study, we used the expectancy violation method to investigate whether horses cross-modally perceive human emotions. Horses were shown a picture of a ...
Geburek F, Roggel F, van Schie HTM, Beineke A, Estrada R, Weber K, Hellige M, Rohn K, Jagodzinski M, Welke B, Hurschler C, Conrad S, Skutella T....Adipose tissue is a promising source of mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) for the treatment of tendon disease. The goal of this study was to assess the effect of a single intralesional implantation of adipose tissue-derived mesenchymal stromal cells (AT-MSCs) on artificial lesions in equine superficial digital flexor tendons (SDFTs). During this randomized, controlled, blinded experimental study, either autologous cultured AT-MSCs suspended in autologous inactivated serum (AT-MSC-serum) or autologous inactivated serum (serum) were injected intralesionally 2 weeks after surgical creation of cen...
Cemazar M, Tamzali Y, Sersa G, Tozon N, Mir LM, Miklavcic D, Lowe R, Teissie J.Electropermeabilization is a method that uses electric field pulses to induce an electrically mediated reorganization of the plasma membrane of cells. Electrochemotherapy combines local or systemic administration of chemotherapeutic drugs such as bleomycin or cisplatin that have poor membrane permeability with electropermeabilization by direct application of electric pulses to the tumors. Preclinical studies have demonstrated excellent antitumor effectiveness of electrochemotherapy on different animal models and various tumor types, minimal toxicity, and safety of the procedure. Based on resul...
Ander M, Meiswinkel R, Chirico J.The outbreak of bluetongue (BT) in northern Europe 2006 initiated the monitoring of vectors, biting midges of the genus Culicoides in Sweden. In order to determine the diversity, distribution and seasonal dynamics of Culicoides, weekly collections were made during 2008 and during March-December 2009 using the Ondestepoort Veterinary Institute black light trap. Twenty sampling sites were selected in 12 provinces. In total of 30,704 Culicoides were collected in 2008 and 32,252 in 2009. The most abundant species were the potential vectors of BTV Culicoides obsoletus/C. scoticus that comprised of ...
Brown DJ, Rush JE, MacGregor J, Ross JN, Brewer B, Rand WM.A novel method for quantitative echocardiographic interpretations is introduced based on the calculation of ratio indices in which each raw M-mode measurement is divided by the aortic root dimension (Ao). "Aorta-based" indices were calculated with the animal's measured aortic root dimension (Ao(m)) as the length standard. Conversely, "weight-based" indices employed an idealized estimate of aortic dimension (Ao(w)) with a weighted least squares linear regression against the cube root of body weight (Ao(w) = kW(1/3)). Use of these indices circumvented undesirable statistical characteristics inhe...
Bosch G, de Mos M, van Binsbergen R, van Schie HT, van de Lest CH, van Weeren PR.Extracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT) is frequently used in equine practice, but little is known about its biological action. Objective: To study the effects of ESWT on matrix structure and gene expression levels in normal, physiologically loaded tendinous structures in ponies. Methods: Six Shetland ponies, free of lameness and with ultrasonographically normal flexor and extensor tendons and suspensory ligaments (SL), were used. ESWT was applied at the origin of the suspensory ligament and the mid-metacarpal region of the superficial digital flexor tendon (SDFT) 6 weeks prior to sample taki...
Frontiers in zoologyFebruary 11, 2017
Volume 14 8 doi: 10.1186/s12983-017-0193-1
Briefer EF, Mandel R, Maigrot AL, Briefer Freymond S, Bachmann I, Hillmann E.Non-human animals often produce different types of vocalisations in negative and positive contexts (i.e. different valence), similar to humans, in which crying is associated with negative emotions and laughter is associated with positive ones. However, some types of vocalisations (e.g. contact calls, human speech) can be produced in both negative and positive contexts, and changes in valence are only accompanied by slight structural differences. Although such acoustically graded signals associated with opposite valence have been highlighted in some species, it is not known if conspecifics disc...
Villalta M, Pla D, Yang SL, Sanz L, Segura A, Vargas M, Chen PY, Herrera M, Estrada R, Cheng YF, Lee CD, Cerdas M, Chiang JR, Angulo Y, León G....The proteomes of the venoms of the snakes Viridovipera stejnegeri and Protobothrops mucrosquamatus from Taiwan were characterized by N-terminal sequencing, MALDI-TOF mass fingerprinting, and collision-induced dissociation tandem mass spectrometry of in-gel generated tryptic peptides. Proteins belonging to the following toxin classes were identified: metalloproteinase, phospholipase A(2) (PLA(2)), serine proteinase, C-type lectin-like, CRISP, l-amino acid oxidase, disintegrin, and peptides (vasoactive and inhibitors of SVMPs). Nine horses were immunized with a mixture of these venoms. All horse...
Hemida MG, Chu DKW, Perera RAPM, Ko RLW, So RTY, Ng BCY, Chan SMS, Chu S, Alnaeem AA, Alhammadi MA, Webby RJ, Poon LLM, Balasuriya UBR, Peiris M.Equine coronaviruses (ECoV) are the only coronavirus known to infect horses. So far, data on ECoV infection in horses remain limited to the USA, France and Japan and its geographic distribution is not well understood. We carried out RT-PCR on 306 nasal and 315 rectal swabs and tested 243 sera for antibodies to detect coronavirus infections in apparently healthy horses in Saudi Arabia and Oman. We document evidence of infection with ECoV and HKU23 coronavirus by RT-PCR. There was no conclusive evidence of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus infection in horses. Serological data suggest...
Bowling AT, Del Valle A, Bowling M.Through DNA sequence comparisons of a mitochondrial D-loop hypervariable region, we investigated matrilineal diversity for Arabian horses in the United States. Sixty-two horses were tested. From published pedigrees they traced in the maternal line to 34 mares acquired primarily in the mid to late 19th century from nomadic Bedouin tribes. Compared with the reference sequence (GenBank X79547), these samples showed 27 haplotypes with altogether 31 base substitution sites within 397 bp of sequence. Based on examination of pedigrees from a random sampling of 200 horses in current studbooks of the A...
Wang E, Bowen RA, Medina G, Powers AM, Kang W, Chandler LM, Shope RE, Weaver SC.Following a 19-year hiatus, Venezuelan equine encephalitis (VEE) reemerged in western Venezuela in December 1992. This outbreak is important in understanding VEE emergence because phylogenetic studies imply that sympatric, enzootic, subtype ID VEE viruses mutated to generate the epizootic/epidemic. Although the 1992-1993 strains belong to subtype IC, a serotype implicated in extensive outbreaks during the 1960s and in 1995, relatively small numbers of human and equine cases occurred in 1992-1993. We, therefore, evaluated the pathogenicity of these Venezuelan enzootic ID and epizootic IC viruse...
Cerri D, Ebani VV, Fratini F, Pinzauti P, Andreani E.Serological data on leptospira infection were reported and discussed. From 1995 to 2001, the blood serum samples of 9885 domestic and wild animals and humans, living in Northern and Central Italy, were examined by the macroagglutination test (MAT) employing bratislava, ballum, canicola, grippotyphosa, icterohaemorrhagiae, pomona, hardjo and tarassovi serovars as antigens. Considering sera with > or = 1:400 antibody titers as positive, 674 (6.81%) animals scored positive. Sheep, horses, pigs and dogs gave the highest number of positive responses, particularly against the serovar bratislava and,...
Boyde A, Firth EC.To characterise and explain the increase in density evident by computerised tomography (CT) and radiography in companion studies as a response to training, in bone in the palmar and dorsal regions of the condyles of the third metacarpal bone (Mc3) of 2-year-old Thoroughbred horses. Methods: Compositional back-scattered electron (BSE) imaging in scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and confocal scanning laser microscopy (CSLM) were conducted on polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA)-embedded mediolateral slices of the right distal Mc3 from seven 2-year-old Thoroughbred horses trained on a racetrack and s...
Di Sabatino D, Bruno R, Sauro F, Danzetta ML, Cito F, Iannetti S, Narcisi V, De Massis F, Calistri P.West Nile virus (WNV) transmission has been confirmed in the last four years in Europe and in the Mediterranean Basin. An increasing concern towards West Nile disease (WND) has been observed due to the high number of human and animal cases reported in these areas confirming the importance of this zoonosis. A new epidemiological scenario is currently emerging: although new introductions of the virus from abroad are always possible, confirming the epidemiological role played by migratory birds, the infection endemisation in some European territories today is a reality supported by the constant r...
Ebani VV, Bertelloni F, Pinzauti P, Cerri D.The aim of the study was to determine the seroprevalence of Leptospira spp. and Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato in healthy horses living in 7 provinces of central Italy. In the period 2007-2009, sera from 386 horses were tested by microagglutination test (MAT) to detect antibodies to Leptospira spp., employing the following serovars as antigens: Bratislava, Ballum, Canicola, Icterohaemorrhagiae, Grippotyphosa, Hardjo, Pomona, Tarassovi. 3 animals were positive for the serovars Icterohaemorrhagiae, 2 to Bratislava, and 1 to Pomona, for a total 1.5% seroprevalence. All sera were examined by immu...
Becerra P, Valdés Vázquez MA, Dudhia J, Fiske-Jackson AR, Neves F, Hartman NG, Smith RK.This study aimed to investigate immediate cell survival and distribution following different administration routes of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) into naturally occurring tendon injuries. Ten million MSCs, labeled with technetium-99m hexamethylpropyleneamine oxime, were implanted into 13 horses with naturally occurring tendon or ligament injuries intra-lesionally, intravenously and by regional perfusion, and traced for up to 48 h using planar gamma scintigraphy. Labeling efficiencies varied between 1.8% and 18.5% (mean 9.3%). Cells were retained in the damaged area after intra-lesional adm...
Weinstock J, Willerslev E, Sher A, Tong W, Ho SY, Rubenstein D, Storer J, Burns J, Martin L, Bravi C, Prieto A, Froese D, Scott E, Xulong L, Cooper A.The rich fossil record of horses has made them a classic example of evolutionary processes. However, while the overall picture of equid evolution is well known, the details are surprisingly poorly understood, especially for the later Pliocene and Pleistocene, c. 3 million to 0.01 million years (Ma) ago, and nowhere more so than in the Americas. There is no consensus on the number of equid species or even the number of lineages that existed in these continents. Likewise, the origin of the endemic South American genus Hippidion is unresolved, as is the phylogenetic position of the "stilt-legged"...
Mackie RI, Wilkins CA.Samples from the duodenum, jejunum, and ileum, as well as from the cecum and colon, were obtained from 11 mature grass-fed horses. Viable counts of total culturable and proteolytic bacteria were made on habitat-simulating media containing 40% clarified ruminal fluid. The mean pHs in the duodenum, jejunum, and ileum were 6.32, 7.10, and 7.47, respectively; the mean pH decreased to 6.7 in the hindgut. The acetate concentration increased along the length of the small intestine and was the only volatile fatty acid present in this gut segment. Molar proportions of acetate, propionate, and butyrate ...
Pybus OG, Thézé J.Just 5 years ago the hepatitis C virus (HCV) - a major cause of liver disease infecting >3% of people worldwide - was the sole confirmed member of the Hepacivirus genus. Since then, genetically-diverse hepaciviruses have been isolated from bats, dogs, cows, horses, primates and rodents. Here we review current information on the hepaciviruses and speculate on the zoonotic origins of the viruses in humans, horses and dogs. Recent and direct cross-species transmission from horses to dogs appears plausible, but the zoonotic origins of HCV in humans remain opaque. Mechanical transmission by biting ...
