"Horses" is a broad topic that encompasses various aspects of equine biology, behavior, and management. This category includes studies on the anatomy, physiology, and genetics of horses, as well as their behavior, nutrition, and care. Research in this area may also cover the historical and cultural significance of horses, their roles in agriculture, sport, and therapy, and the challenges associated with their conservation and welfare. The page aggregates peer-reviewed research articles and scholarly studies that explore the multifaceted relationships between humans and horses, examining both scientific and socio-economic perspectives.
Souza CE, Pinter A, Donalisio MR.Brazilian spotted fever (BSF) is a disease transmitted by ticks for which the etiological agent is Rickettsia rickettsii. The present essay evaluates the risk factors associated with the transmission of cases of BSF in the time period between 2003 and 2013 in the Piracicaba river basin, state of São Paulo. Methods: This essay presents a retrospective study to identify the factors associated with the transmission of cases of BSF among all suspected cases identified by the System for Epidemiological Surveillance of São Paulo (CVE). After the description of temporal distribution (onset of sympt...
Li H, Dong GD, Liu JM, Gao JX, Shi YJ, Zhang YG, Jin YM, Lu K, Cheng GF, Lin JJ.Schistosomiasis japonica is a major public health problem in China. Domestic animals play a major role in the transmission of Schistosoma japonicum to humans. To better understand the epidemiology of schistosomiasis japonica in domestic animals in the mountainous areas of China, we performed a 5-year longitudinal study of schistosomiasis in cattle and horses in Yunnan Province from 2009 to 2013. We also performed a concurrent drug-based intervention study in three settlement groups in Yunnan Province aimed at developing an effective means of controlling transmission in this region. The prevale...
Thorpe CT, Chaudhry S, Lei II, Varone A, Riley GP, Birch HL, Clegg PD, Screen HR.Tendon injury is thought to involve both damage accumulation within the matrix and an accompanying cell response. While several studies have characterized cell and matrix response in chronically injured tendons, few have assessed the initial response of tendon to overload-induced damage. In this study, we assessed cell response to cyclic loading. Fascicle bundles from the equine superficial digital flexor tendon were exposed to cyclic loading in vitro, designed to mimic a bout of high-intensity exercise. Changes in cell morphology and protein-level alterations in markers of matrix inflammation...
McCarty CA, Thomason JJ, Gordon K, Hurtig M, Bignell W.To add to the existing data on impact loading of the metacarpophalangeal (MCP) joint as a precursor to assessing the potential role of impact in joint disease. Objective: To examine the effect of impact loading on contact areas of the first phalanx (P1) and proximal sesamoids (PS) with the third metacarpal (McIII) under 3 hoof-strike conditions (toe-first, flat, heel-first). Methods: Randomised, repeated controlled experiment using cadaver material. Methods: Eight cadaver limbs were subjected to randomised, repeated controlled trials where the hoof was struck by a pendulum impact machine (impa...
Santos MP, Gutierrez-Nibeyro SD, McKnight AL, Singh K.With the recent introduction of a 0.25T rotating MRI system, clinical evaluation of the equine stifle joint is now possible in the average equine athlete. A recent publication described common abnormalities of horses with stifle lameness detected with a low-field MRI system; however, postmortem corroboration of the lesions detected was not possible. Therefore, our objective was to compare postmortem findings with low-field MRI findings in equine cadaver stifle joints. Ten fresh cadaver stifle joints from horses without clinical signs of stifle disease were evaluated using low-field MRI, gross ...
Bullone M, Lavoie JP.Animal models have been studied to unravel etiological, immunopathological, and genetic attributes leading to asthma. However, while experiments in which the disease is artificially induced have helped discovering biological and molecular pathways leading to allergic airway inflammation, their contribution to the understanding of the causality of the disease has been more limited. Horses naturally suffer from an asthma-like condition called "heaves" which presents sticking similarities with human asthma. It is characterized by reversible airway obstruction, airway neutrophilic inflammation, an...
Tomczuk K, Kostro K, Grzybek M, Szczepaniak K, Studzińska M, Demkowska-Kutrzepa M, Roczeń-Karczmarz M.For this study, 724 gastrointestinal tracts of slaughter horses were investigated to determine the prevalence, intensity of Anoplocephala perfoliata and tapeworm development stages over the second, third and fourth quarter of 2012 and the first quarter of 2013. For each positive horse, faecal samples were collected from the rectum or small colon for coproscopic examinations. The samples were analysed using dedicated modified sedimentation-flotation methods. In total, 52 horses were infected with A. perfoliata in the course of the study, with an overall prevalence of 7.2 %. The prevalence chang...
Haugaard MM, Hesselkilde EZ, Pehrson S, Carstensen H, Flethøj M, Præstegaard KF, Sørensen US, Diness JG, Grunnet M, Buhl R, Jespersen T.Small-conductance calcium-activated potassium (SK) channels have been found to play an important role in atrial repolarization and atrial fibrillation (AF). Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the existence and functional role of SK channels in the equine heart. Methods: Cardiac biopsies were analyzed to investigate the expression level of the most prominent cardiac ion channels, with special focus on SK channels, in the equine heart. Subcellular distribution of SK isoform 2 (SK2) was assessed by immunohistochemistry and confocal microscopy. The electrophysiologic and anti-...
Khatibzadeh SM, Gold CB, Keggan AE, Perkins GA, Glaser AL, Dubovi EJ, Wagner B.To compare antibody responses of horses naturally infected with West Nile virus (WNV) and those vaccinated against WNV, to identify whether vaccination interferes with the ability to diagnose WNV infection, and to determine the duration of antibody responses after vaccination. Methods: Sera from horses naturally infected with WNV (n = 10) and adult WNV-naïve horses before and after vaccination with a live canarypox virus-vectored vaccine (7) or a killed virus vaccine (8). Methods: An established WNV IgM capture ELISA was used to measure IgM responses. Newly developed capture ELISAs were used ...
Schliewert EC, Lascola KM, O'Brien RT, Clark-Price SC, Wilkins PA, Foreman JH, Mitchell MA, Hartman SK, Kline KH.To compare CT and radiographic images of the lungs in sedated healthy foals positioned in sternal recumbency and to investigate whether a relationship exists between CT-derived measurements of lung attenuation and Paco2 and Pao2. Methods: 6 healthy Standardbred foals < 14 days of age. Methods: Thoracic CT images were acquired followed by radiographic views with each foal sedated and positioned in sternal recumbency. For each foal, both CT and radiographic images were evaluated for severity and extent of changes by lung regions on the basis of a subjective scoring system by 3 investigators. ...
Grissom MJ, Temple-Wong MM, Adams MS, Tom M, Schumacher BL, McIlwraith CW, Goodrich LR, Chu CR, Sah RL.Following various types of naturally-occurring traumatic injury to an articular joint, the lubricating ability of synovial fluid is impaired, with a correlated alteration in the concentration and/or structure of lubricant molecules, hyaluronan and proteoglycan-4. However, the effect of arthroscopic cartilage repair surgery on synovial fluid lubricant function and composition is unknown. Objective: Arthroscopic treatment of full-thickness chondral defects in horses with (1) platelet-enriched fibrin or (2) platelet-enriched fibrin+mesenchymal stem cells leads to equine synovial fluid with impair...
Do Carmo GM, Da Silva AS, Klauck V, Pazinato R, Moura AB, Duarte T, Duarte MM, Bochi GV, Moresco RN, Stefani LM.Toxoplasmosis is an important parasitic disease affecting several species of mammals, but little is known about this disease in horses. This study aimed to investigate the levels of several immunological variables and markers of cell damage in the serum of seropositive horses for Toxoplasma gondii. Sera samples of adult horses from the Santa Catarina State, Brazil used on a previous study were divided into groups according to their antibody levels for T. gondii determined by immunofluorescence assay, i.e. 20 samples from seronegative horses (Group A - control), 20 samples from horses with tite...
Claessen C, Favoreel H, Ma G, Osterrieder N, De Schauwer C, Piepers S, Van de Walle GR.Equid herpesvirus 1 (EHV1) is an ubiquitous alphaherpesvirus that can cause respiratory disease, abortion and central nervous disorders. EHV1 is known to infect a variety of different cell types in vitro, but its tropism for cultured primary equine mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) has never been explored. We report that equine MSC were highly permissive for EHV1 and supported lytic replication of the virus in vitro. Interestingly, we observed that an infection of MSC with EHV1 resulted in a consistent downregulation of cell surface molecules CD29 (β1-integrin), CD105 (endoglin), major histocompat...
Barsuren E, Namkhai B, Kong HS.The objective of this study was to assess differences in serum protein expression profiles of Przewalski's (Mongolian wild horse) and thoroughbred horses using proteome analysis. The serum proteins were separated by two-dimensional electrophoresis (2-DE) and five different gene products were identified. Proteins represented by the five spots were identified by matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry (MS)/MS technology. The identities of all proteins were deduced based on their similarity to proteins in the human plasma protein database. Three pr...
Nowakowicz-Dębek B, Pawlak H, Wlazło Ł, Kuna-Broniowska I, Bis-Wencel H, Buczaj A, Maksym P.A growing interest in the horse business has resulted in the increased engagement of many people in this area, and the health problems occurring among workers create the need to search for prophylactic measures. Objective: The objective of the study was evaluation of the level of exposure to air pollution in a stable, and estimation of the degree of work load among workers engaged in tending horses. Methods: The study was conducted twice, during the winter season, in a stable maintaining race horses, and in a social room. In order to evaluate workers' exposure, air samples were collected by th...
Munoz T, Leclere M, Jean D, Lavoie JP.The purpose of this study is to measure the effect of long-term administration of inhaled fluticasone proprionate on cortisol concentrations in heaves-affected horses. Eleven horses with heaves were treated with fluticasone at least once daily at dosages required to improve lung function or with antigen avoidance alone for 1 year. Morning serum cortisol was measured before and after 10, 30, 110, 190, 230, 280, and 320 days of treatment. Cortisol was also measured in the afternoon of day 330. Cortisol was significantly lower in the Fluticasone group on days 30, 110, and 190 when compared with t...
Pakkanen SA, Raekallio MR, Mykkänen AK, Salla KM, de Vries A, Vuorilehto L, Scheinin M, Vainio OM.To investigate MK-467 as part of premedication in horses anaesthetized with isoflurane. Methods: Experimental, crossover study with a 14 day wash-out period. Methods: Seven healthy horses. Methods: The horses received either detomidine (20 μg kg(-1) IV) and butorphanol (20 μg kg(-1) IV) alone (DET) or with MK-467 (200 μg kg(-1) IV; DET + MK) as premedication. Anaesthesia was induced with ketamine (2.2 mg kg(-1) ) and midazolam (0.06 mg kg(-1) ) IV and maintained with isoflurane. Heart rate (HR), mean arterial pressure (MAP), end-tidal isoflurane concentration, end-tidal carbon ...
Mitchell CF, Fugler LA, Eades SC.Laminitis is an extremely painful condition resulting in damage to the soft tissues anchoring the third phalanx to the hoof, which can result in life-threatening debilitation. Specific therapy is not available. The most important principles of therapy include aggressive nutritional and medical management of primary disease processes, cryotherapy, anti-inflammatory therapy, pain management, and biomechanical support. This review focuses on the principles of evidenced-based therapies.
Carregaro AB, Freitas GC, Ribeiro MH, Xavier NV, Dória RG.Continuous-rate infusion (CRI) of drugs results in more stable plasma drug concentrations than administration of intermittent boluses, thus providing greater stability of physiological parameters. The aim of this study was to evaluate the physiologic and analgesic effects of the administration of morphine, butorphanol, tramadol or methadone by CRI in horses with induced synovitis of the radiocarpal joint. Results: Increased values of cardiorespiratory parameters and body temperature were observed in all groups after initiation of opioid administration, and these increases were sustained throug...
Newman SJ.Equine pancreatic disease is considered rare, and successful treatment is limited. Additionally, antemortem diagnosis of equine pancreatitis is difficult because of the lack of definitive diagnostic tests. Although a paucity of information exists on this entity in the horse, pancreatic disease has typically been shown to be secondary to other gastrointestinal, hepatic, and endocrine conditions. No predisposition based on age, sex, or breed appears to exist, but several conditions predispose a horse to pancreatitis, including grain overload, endocrine disease, and parasite migration. A retrospe...
Carvallo FR, Poppenga R, Kinde H, Diab SS, Nyaoke AC, Hill AE, Arthur RM, Uzal FA.Five horses originating from 4 different California race tracks were submitted to the California Animal Health and Food Safety Laboratory for necropsy and diagnostic workup. The 5 horses had a history of sudden collapse and death during exercise. In all of them, massive hemoperitoneum and hemorrhages in other cavities or organs were observed. The liver from these 5 animals and from 27 horses that had been euthanized due to catastrophic leg injuries (controls) were subjected to a rodenticide anticoagulant screen. Traces of brodifacoum, diphacinone, or bromadiolone were detected in the 5 horses ...
Miller CA, Durham AC, Schaffer PA, Ehrhart EJ, Powers BE, Duncan CG.Equine cutaneous lymphoma is an uncommon disease that can present with variable clinical signs, immunosuppression, and rapid systemic disease progression. Various subtypes of equine lymphoma have been described and classified according to a veterinary adaptation of the World Health Organization classification system, but little data is available regarding the association between lymphoma subtypes and epidemiological criteria and/or clinical outcome. The objective of the current study was to classify previously diagnosed cases of equine cutaneous lymphoma and correlate subtypes with clinical da...
Sedlák K, Zelená H, Křivda V, Šatrán P.The West Nile virus (WNV) is an important mosquito-borne flavivirus occurring around the world. Occasionally found in Central Europe, the virus spread massively through whole Hungary between 2008 and 2009. The aim of our study was to determine the recent prevalence of the WNV infection in horses in the Czech Republic. Methods: Overall, 2349 serum samples, collected from healthy unvaccinated adult horses in the Czech Republic between 2011 and 2013, were tested. A commercially available competitive ELISA kit (cELISA) was used for this purpose and positive samples were confirmed by virus neutrali...
Dias BP, Araújo MA, Deschk M, Trein TA, Pinheiro NC, Perri SH, Rodrigues CA, Santos PS.To assess the cardiorespiratory parametes, recovery, gastrointestinal motility and serum cortisol concentrations in horses anesthetized with isoflurane with or without a continuous rate infusion (CRI) of butorphanol for orchiectomy. Methods: Twelve adult, intact, male horses weighing 332 ± 55 kg were included in the study. Xilazine was administered as premedication. Anesthesia was induced with ketamine and midazolam and maintained with isoflurane. Butorphanol (0.025 mg kg-1 bolus) or an equivalent volume of saline (0.9%) was given intravenously followed by a CRI of butorphanol (BG) (13 µg kg...
Medina-Torres CE, Underwood C, Pollitt CC, Castro-Olivera EM, Hodson MP, Richardson DW, van Eps AW.Lamellar perfusion is thought to be affected by weightbearing and limb load cycling; this may be critical in the development of supporting limb laminitis. Objective: To document the effects of unilateral weightbearing and altered limb load cycling on lamellar energy metabolism and perfusion. Methods: Randomised, controlled (within subject), experimental trial. Methods: Nine Standardbred horses were instrumented with microdialysis probes in the foot lamellar tissue and skin (over the tail base). Urea (20 mmol/l) was added to the perfusate. Samples were collected every 15 min for a 1 h con...
Tofflemire KL, Whitley EM, Flinn AM, Dufour VL, Ben-Shlomo G, Allbaugh RA, Griggs AN, Peterson CS, Whitley DR.To compare the effect of commercially available solution and compounded ointment formulations of dorzolamide(2%)-timolol(0.5%) on intraocular pressure (IOP) of normal horses. Methods: Eighteen clinically normal horses. Methods: A randomized, masked prospective design was used with horses divided into two equal groups. One eye of each horse was selected for topical ophthalmic treatment with either 0.2 mL of dorzolamide(2%)-timolol(0.5%) solution or 0.2 g of dorzolamide(2%)-timolol(0.5%) ointment every 12 h for 5 days. The contralateral eye of horses in both groups was untreated. Rebound tonomet...
Zanet S, Battisti E, Labate F, Oberto F, Ferroglio E.Nematodes are an important cause of disease and loss of performance in horses. Changes in the parasitic fauna of horses have occurred in the past few decades, making cyathostomins the major parasites in adult horses, while large strongyles have become less prevalent. spp. remains the most important parasite infecting foals and weanlings. Anthelmintic resistance is highly prevalent in cyathostomins and spp. worldwide and it must be factored into treatment decisions. To assess anthelmintic efficacy in Northern Italy, we sampled 215 horses from 17 sport and horse-breeding farms. Fecal egg count...
Veronesi MC, Tosi U, Villani M, Govoni N, Faustini M, Kindahl H, Madej A, Carluccio A.This experiment was designed to determine the effects of sexual stimulation on plasma concentrations of oxytocin (OT), vasopressin (VP), 15-ketodihydro-PGF(2alpha) (PG-metabolite), luteinizing hormone (LH), testosterone (T), estrone sulfate (ES), and cortisol (C) in stallions. Semen samples were collected from 14 light horse stallions (Equus caballus) of proven fertility using a Missouri model artificial vagina. Blood samples were collected at 15, 12, 9, 6, and 3 min before estrous mare exposure, at erection, at ejaculation, and at 3, 6, and 9 min after ejaculation. Afterwards, blood sampling ...
He S, Zhang L, Li W, Liu M.Recently, a SNP (BIEC2-808543) was demonstrated to be associated with equine body size in horses. In this study, we genotyped BIEC2-808543 SNPs in 314 Yili horses in order to evaluate the association between genotype and body composition traits, such as body weight, withers height, chest circumference, and cannon circumference. Results indicate significant associations between polymorphisms of this SNP and body conformation in Yili horse populations. Based on these results, we hypothesize that BIEC2-808543 is strongly related to body conformation of Yili horses and has the potential to be used...
Mackay RJ, Tanhauser ST, Gillis KD, Mayhew IG, Kennedy TJ.To evaluate the effect of intermittent oral administration of ponazuril on immunoconversion against Sarcocystis neurona in horses inoculated intragastrically with S neurona sporocysts. Methods: 20 healthy horses that were seronegative for S neurona-specific IgG. Methods: 5 control horses were neither inoculated with sporocysts nor treated. Other horses (5 horses/group) each received 612,500 S neurona sporocysts via nasogastric tube (day 0) and were not treated or were administered ponazuril (20 mg/kg, PO) every 7 days (beginning on day 5) or every 14 days (beginning on day 12) for 12 weeks. Bl...
Holtan DW, Squires EL, Lapin DR, Ginther OJ.Pony mares were bilaterally ovariectomized at different stages of pregnancy between Days 25 and 210. Abortion or fetal resorption occurred within 2 to 6 days after operations in all 14 mares ovariectomized between Days 25 and 45 and after an interval of 10 to 15 days in 9 of 20 other ovariectomized between 50 and 70 days. All 12 mares ovariectomized on either 140 or 210 days carried their foals to normal term. The termination of early pregnancy was preceded by a loss of uterine tone and of a palpable uterine bulge. The mean length of gestation in all mares in which pregnancy was not interrupte...
Ricketts SW, Mackintosh ME.This study, performed over 3 breeding seasons, surveyed anaerobic and aerobic bacterial isolates from 362 clitoral and endometrial swabs and uterine washes from 263 Thoroughbred maiden, foaling, foal heat and barren mares, and from 113 urethral, urethral fossa, preputial and pre-ejaculatory fluid swabs from 29 Thoroughbred stallions. The significance of isolates was determined by their association with acute endometritis, as determined by concurrent endometrial smear results and by consideration of age and reproductive status before and after the survey. The results suggest that the horse uter...
Pennington MR, Cossic BGA, Perkins GA, Duffy C, Duhamel GE, Van de Walle GR.Horses commonly develop gastric mucosal ulcers, similar to humans, a condition known as equine gastric ulcer syndrome (EGUS) that can lead to poor performance and lost training time and care expenses. Unlike humans, however, an infectious bacterial cause of ulcers has not been conclusively identified. Herpesviruses, while well-established causative agents of diseases such as cold sores, genital lesions, and certain types of cancer, have also been implicated in the development of a subset of gastric ulcers in humans. The presence of equid herpesviruses in the gastrointestinal tract and their po...
Bamford NJ, Harris PA, Bailey SR.To compare circannual plasma concentrations of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) and seasonal dexamethasone suppression test (DST) results between three different equine breed groups. Methods: Six Standardbred horses, six Andalusian horses and six mixed-breed ponies were followed over a 1-year period, during which time groups were managed identically. Blood samples were collected monthly (around the autumn equinox) or in every second month (other times of the year) for the determination of plasma ACTH concentrations using a chemiluminescent immunoassay. Overnight DSTs were performed quarterly...
Novotna A, Birovas A, Vostra-Vydrova H, Vesela Z, Vostry L.The aim of this study was to estimate the genetic parameters of a one-day performance test together with the linear type traits of 3-year-old warmblood horses. The study of genetic parameters was based on 5958 tested horses in the period 1998-2021. A total of 22 traits of linear description, three quantitatively measured traits, and one summary mark from the performance test were tested. The model equation included the fixed effect of gender and combination effects of classifier-year of evaluation-place. A single-trait animal model was used for the estimation of heritability and genetic varian...
Boshuizen B, Moreno de Vega CV, De Maré L, de Meeûs C, de Oliveira JE, Hosotani G, Gansemans Y, Deforce D, Van Nieuwerburgh F, Delesalle C.Aleurone, a layer of the bran fraction, is deemed to be responsible for the positive health effects associated with the consumption of whole-grain products. Studies on rodents, pigs, and humans report beneficial effects of aleurone in five main areas: the reduction of oxidative stress, immunomodulatory effects, modulation of energy management, digestive health, and the storage of vitamins and minerals. Our study is the first aleurone supplementation study performed in horses. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of an increase in the dose levels of aleurone on the postprandial g...
Siqueira CC, Fraga DBM, Chagas-Junior AD, Athanazio DA, Silva MMN, Cerqueira RB, da C McBride FW, Pinna MH, Ayres MCC.Equine leptospirosis, although usually asymptomatic, has been associated with recurrent uveitis, abortion, and other systemic signs, constituting a major economic loss in the equine agribusiness sector. The occurrence of anti-Leptospira spp. agglutinins were investigated in 1200 serum samples of horses from 27 municipalities of the Recôncavo Baiano region, Bahia state (NE Brazil), besides the risk factors related to animals and their cattle farms. The microscopic agglutination test (MAT) was performed using 13 serogroups of Leptospira spp. as antigens. From 1200 analyzed equines, 97 (8%) were...
McCarthy RN, Jeffcott LB, Funder JW, Fullerton M, Clarke IJ.A controlled period of submaximal exercise on a treadmill was used as a standardised stress test in 6 young horses to monitor the effects of training. Circulating plasma concentrations of immunoreactive beta-endorphin (IR beta-EP) were measured before, during and after the exercise period. The stress test was conducted on 3 occasions during an intensive training program lasting 14 weeks. In week 3 a marked increase in plasma IR beta-EP (P = 0.003) was demonstrated as a result of training, but by the last exercise test performed in week 9 no significant increase in plasma IR beta-EP concentrati...
Mair TS, Brown PJ.Thirty-eight horses with confirmed thoracic neoplasia included 28 (37.7%) with lymphosarcoma, 4 (10.5%) with metastatic renal cell carcinoma, 2 (5.3%) with primary lung carcinoma, 2 (5.3%) with secondary squamous cell carcinoma from the stomach, 1 (2.6%) with pleural mesothelioma, and 1 (2.6%) with malignant melanoma. The major clinical features included weight loss, inappetence, dyspnoea and coughing, but in cases of lung metastases, they related more to the primary site of tumour formation. Haematological and serum biochemical abnormalities were non-specific. Specific pre-mortem diagnosis wa...
Rossignol F, Vitte A, Boening J, Maher M, Lechartier A, Brandenberger O, Martin-Flores M, Lang H, Walker W, Ducharme NG.To describe the clinical experience with standing laryngoplasty in a series of horses mostly nonracing. Methods: Case series. Methods: Seventy-one client-owned horses. Methods: Medical records (April 2008-February 2014) of horses treated by standing laryngoplasty for abnormal respiratory noise and or poor performance were reviewed. Horses were included if they had a diagnosis of idiopathic right or left recurrent laryngeal neuropathy confirmed by videoendoscopy. All horses underwent a unilateral laryngoplasty with a unilateral or bilateral ventriculectomy or ventriculocordectomy. Follow-up end...
Dionísio L, Medeiros F, Pequito M, Faustino-Rocha AI.Influenza is an extremely contagious respiratory disease, which predominantly affects the upper respiratory tract. There are four types of influenza virus, and pigs and chickens are considered two key reservoirs of this virus. Equine influenza (EI) virus was first identified in horses in 1956, in Prague. The influenza A viruses responsible for EI are H7N7 and H3N8. Outbreaks of EI are characterized by their visible and rapid spread, and it has been possible to isolate and characterize H3N8 outbreaks in several countries. The clinical diagnosis of this disease is based on the clinical signs pre...
Tabor G, Nankervis K, Fernandes J, Williams J.Outcome measures (OMs) are a requirement of professional practice standards in human and canine physiotherapy practice for measurement of health status. Measures such as pain and functional capacity of specific regions are used to track treatment impact and can be used to develop optimal management strategies. To achieve comparable patient care in equine physiotherapy, OMs must be incorporated into practice; however, no reliable and valid OMs exist for equine rehabilitation. This study utilised the experience and opinion of a panel of experts working in the equine rehabilitation sphere to gain...
Ward MP, Alinovi CA, Couëtil LL, Wu CC.The diagnostic accuracy of a PCR used to identify horses shedding Salmonella spp. in their feces during hospitalization was estimated, relative to bacterial culture of serially collected fecal samples, using longitudinal data. Five or more fecal samples were collected from each of 116 horses admitted as inpatients, for reasons other than gastrointestinal disease, between July 26, 2001 and October 25, 2002. All 873 fecal samples collected were tested with a PCR based on oligonucleotide primers defining a highly conserved segment of the histidine transport operon gene of Salmonella typhimurium, ...
Naylor JM, Robinson JA, Bertone J.The pedigrees of 17 horses with hyperkalemic paralysis were studied. All were first-, second-, or third-generation offspring of a common sire, 16 were registered Quarter Horses. Analysis indicated that it was unlikely that the concentration of hyperkalemic periodic paralysis in the offspring of this sire was attributable to chance. The familial nature of this condition should help veterinarians diagnostically. It also suggests that it is possible to reduce the incidence of this condition by breeding from non-affected lines of horses and reinforces the need for studies to determine whether the ...
Mosing M, MacFarlane P, Bardell D, Lüthi L, Cripps PJ, Bettschart-Wolfensberger R.To evaluate the effects of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) on intrapulmonary shunt, cardiac output and oxygen delivery in horses subjected to a 6 hour period of general anaesthesia. Methods: Randomized, experimental, crossover study. Methods: Ten healthy adult horses. Methods: Following medetomidine, diazepam and ketamine administration, orotracheal intubation was performed and horses positioned in dorsal recumbency. Anaesthesia was maintained with isoflurane carried in an oxygen and air mix (FiO 0.5) combined with a medetomidine infusion. Horses were anaesthetized twice and either...
Archer DC, Barrie Edwards G, Kelly DF, French NP, Proudman CJ.Idiopathic focal eosinophilic enteritis (IFEE) is a rare disease in the horse and few cases have been reported in the literature. The objective of this paper was to describe the clinical, surgical, histological features and post-operative progress of 12 horses with IFEE, a disease that had not been identified in the authors' hospital population prior to 2000. Diagnosis of IFEE was made at laparotomy and confirmed by histological examination of resected abnormal small intestine. In all 12 horses colic was associated with jejunal obstruction involving visibly striking and palpably thickened sero...
Geor RJ, Weiss DJ, Burris SM, Smith CM.The effects of furosemide and pentoxifylline on blood flow properties in horses were investigated. Hematologic and rheologic changes were examined in 4 horses before and 3 minutes after administration of epinephrine (1 mg, IV). The next day, hemorheologic changes were determined before and 3 hours after administration of furosemide (1 mg/kg of body weight, IM), and after administration of epinephrine at the sampling at 3 hours. Hematologic and rheologic changes were evaluated weekly in 3 horses given pentoxifylline (8.5 mg/kg, q 12 h, PO) for 28 days. In addition, hemorheologic responses to ep...
Lindegaard C, Ekstrøm CT, Wulf SB, Vendelbo JM, Andersen PH.Previous studies indicate similar overall survival of horses with nephrosplenic entrapment of the large colon (NSE), regardless of treatment strategy. Short-term survival of a primarily conservative treatment strategy without rolling under general anaesthesia (GA) and a low proportion of surgical intervention as well as indicators of short-term nonsurvival has not been documented. Objective: To document short-term survival of horses with NSE treated in a university referral hospital with a low rate of surgical interventions and to determine factors associated with the decision of treatment and...
Freitag FAV, Amora DDS, Muehlbauer E, Dornbusch PT, Machado M, Montiani-Ferreira F, Prisco Farias EL, Valverde A, Duque Moreno JC.To describe and evaluate an ultrasound-guided modified subcostal approach for the transversus abdominis plane (TAP) block in horse cadavers in lateral or dorsal recumbency. Methods: Prospective, experimental cadaveric study. Methods: Study of one preserved foal and eight fresh adult horse cadavers. Methods: The lateral and ventral abdominal wall of a preserved cadaver was dissected to identify the muscles and nerves. A unilateral standard TAP block technique was performed (60 mL of methylene blue dye-bupivacaine) on a fresh cadaver in right lateral recumbency. A modified subcostal technique wa...
Lyons ET, Tolliver SC, Stamper S, Drudge JH, Granstrom DE, Collins SS.Studies were conducted on transmission of natural infections of several species of internal parasites in horses born and kept on the same pasture on a farm in central Kentucky. Data for the first year (1989) of a 4 year study on this farm have been published recently. The present research represents the second (1990), third (1991), and fourth (1992) years of the investigation. The number of animals (n = 28) examined varied from eight born in 1990 to ten each born in 1991 and 1992. For each year, examination was made of one horse per month, beginning in June of the year of birth and extending t...
Radtke AV, Goodale MB, Fortier LA. Platelet rich plasma (PRP) is used extensively in equine regenerative medicine. Differences in preparation protocols give rise to significant variability in the cellular composition of PRP making it very difficult to establish a standard of care in the field. This study aimed to optimize the preparation protocol for leukocyte-reduced PRP (P-PRP). Blood (100 mL) was collected from horses ( = 5) and divided into 2 purple top EDTA tubes and 6 (15 mL) double syringes with a final concentration of 10% acid citrate dextrose anticoagulant. Six double syringes were collected from each horse; PRP sam...
Flanagan KL, Morton JM, Sandeman RM.The aims of the present study were to identify the common gastrointestinal nematodes, to assess the prevalence of infestation with gastrointestinal nematodes, and to assess some potential indirect determinants of nematode parasitism in Victorian Pony Club horses. Methods: A total of 106 horses from five Pony Clubs from outer Melbourne and Geelong, Victoria, Australia, were enrolled in a cross-sectional study. Fresh faecal samples were collected and faecal egg counts (FECs) performed on site within 2 h of collection. Potential determinants of the FEC were analysed using logistic and negative bi...
Carmalt JL, Montgomery J.Minimizing the volume of contrast administered for contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT) of the equine head is desirable for reducing costs and risks of adverse reactions, however evidence-based studies on the effects of varying volumes on image quality are currently lacking. The objective of the current study was to determine whether low-volume intraarterial administration of contrast medium would result in an equivalent image quality and tissue attenuation vs. high-volume intravenous bolus administration. A prospective cross-over experimental design was used in a sample of six horses. A...
