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Topic:Infection
Infections in horses encompass a range of diseases caused by various pathogens, including bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites. These infections can affect different systems within the horse, such as the respiratory, gastrointestinal, and integumentary systems, leading to a variety of clinical signs depending on the pathogen and the severity of the infection. Common infectious diseases in horses include equine influenza, strangles, and equine herpesvirus. Diagnosis often involves clinical examination, laboratory testing, and sometimes imaging, to identify the causative agent and assess the extent of the disease. Treatment strategies may include antimicrobial therapy, supportive care, and preventive measures such as vaccination and biosecurity practices. This page aggregates peer-reviewed research studies and scholarly articles that explore the pathogenesis, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of infectious diseases in equine populations.
Oral endoscopy as an aid to diagnosis of equine cheek tooth infections in the absence of gross oral pathological changes: 17 cases. Removal of cheek teeth in all but the aged horse or pony is a serious undertaking with potentially deleterious sequellae. Rigid endoscopy permits detailed examination of the oral cavity and erupted dental tissues and has the potential to assist in the correct identification of the diseased tooth. Objective: To document oral endoscopic findings associated with infected equine cheek teeth in cases without gross oral pathological changes and thereby determine the usefulness of rigid oral endoscopy as an aid to diagnosis of such infections. Methods: Records of all cases of equine cheek tooth remov...
Localization of the equine IgG-binding domain in the fibrinogen-binding protein (FgBP) of Streptococcus equi subsp. equi. Fibrinogen-binding protein (FgBP, also termed SeM) is a cell-wall-associated anti-phagocytic M-like protein of the equine pathogen Streptococcus equi subsp. equi, and binds fibrinogen (Fg) and IgG. FgBP binds Fg avidly through residues located at the extreme N terminus of the molecule, whereas the IgG-binding site is more centrally located between the A and B repeats. FgBP binds equine IgG4 and IgG7 subclasses through interaction with the CH2-CH3 interdomain region of IgG-Fc, and possesses overlapping Fc-binding sites with protein A and protein G. In this study, FgBP truncates containing defin...
Evaluation of systemic relaxin blood profiles in horses as a means of assessing placental function in high-risk pregnancies and responsiveness to therapeutic strategies. Placental insufficiency is regarded as the primary factor contributing to late-term abortion and perinatal death of foals. Often when problems associated with late-term pregnancy in the horse are manifest the condition is well-advanced and therapeutic intervention may not be effective in rescuing the pregnancy. If a compromised pregnancy due to placental insufficiency could be identified early, the pregnancy might be sustained through medical intervention. Because the placenta is the sole source of circulating relaxin in the mare, we hypothesized that systemic relaxin may serve as a biomarker ...
In vitro development of cyathostomin larvae from the third stage larvae to the fourth stage: morphologic characterization, effects of refrigeration, and species-specific patterns. A mixed population of equine cyathostomin (Nematoda, Strongyloidea) infective third stage larvae (L3) was cultured in vitro using a cell-free medium. Some L3 were cultured immediately after Baermann collection from fecal cultures, while others were kept in water at 4 degrees C for 7 days before initiating the in vitro cultures. Cultures were examined daily for viability. At days 2, 7, 14 and 21 larvae were collected for identification of developmental stage and morphological changes, using both light and scanning electron microscopy. Larvae were classified as early L3 (EL3), developing L3 (DL3...
Equine colitis X associated with infection by Clostridium difficile NAP1/027. A 14-year-old Quarter Horse with a 48-hr history of colic was euthanized after failure to respond to treatment. At necropsy, cecal and colonic mucosae were congested throughout, and there was segmental edema and significant thickening of the intestinal wall. Excessive numbers of mononuclear cells were found in mucosal lamina propria. Submucosal hemorrhage was diffuse and extensive, and Clostridium difficile toxins A and B were detected. Large numbers of C. difficile were isolated, and genetic characterization revealed them to be North American pulsed-field gel electrophoresis type 1, polymeras...
Comparison of two fecal egg recovery techniques and larval culture for cyathostomins in horses. To compare the McMaster and centrifugal flotation techniques and larval culture for recovery of cyathostomin (small strongyle) eggs from the feces of horses. Methods: Fecal samples from 101 horses. Methods: In experiment I, homogenized fresh feces from a single horse were randomly subsampled by use of each technique for 10 replicates. In experiment II, samples from 43 horses that had no anthelmintic treatment were analyzed by use of McMaster, centrifugal flotation, and larval culture techniques. In experiment III, 57 horses were treated with an anthelmintic by owners, and fecal samples were an...
Antifungal activity of tea tree oil from Melaleuca alternifolia against Trichophyton equinum: an in vivo assay. Dermatophytes are a group of keratinophilic and keratinolytic molds, some of which are responsible for ringworm. Among them Trichophyton equinum, which mostly infects equids, can cause extensive outbreaks in stud farms. The conventional treatment of equine trichophytosis is topic, based upon medicated shampoos to reduce the spread of infection among the animals. Nevertheless the popularity of phytotherapy is at an all-time peak, and the interest for natural alternatives or complements to conventional drug therapy is challenging both in human and veterinary field. Among herbal remedia Tea Tree ...
Prevalence and diagnosis of Babesia and Theileria infections in horses in Italy: a preliminary study. Babesia caballi and Theileria equi are the causative agents of equine piroplasmosis. In this preliminary epidemiological study, 412 horses reared in central and northern Italy were sampled and three diagnostic methods compared, namely, the microscopy, the indirect fluorescent antibody test (IFAT) and a PCR. Possible risk factors (such as area, season, breed, activity, sex, age, and grazing) associated with serological positivity were evaluated. A seroprevalence of 68.4% was found: 12.4% of the animals had anti-T. equi antibodies, 17.9% anti-B. caballi antibodies and 38.1% had antibodies agains...
Molecular and infection biology of the horse pathogen Rhodococcus equi. The soil actinomycete Rhodococcus equi is a pulmonary pathogen of young horses and AIDS patients. As a facultative intracellular bacterium, R. equi survives and multiplies in macrophages and establishes its specific niche inside the host cell. Recent research into chromosomal virulence factors and into the role of virulence plasmids in infection and host tropism has presented novel aspects of R. equi infection biology and pathogenicity. This review will focus on new findings in R. equi biology, the trafficking of R. equi-containing vacuoles inside host cells, factors involved in virulence and ...
Linear B-cell epitope mapping using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for libraries of overlapping synthetic peptides. The aim of this chapter is to provide a strategy for mapping linear antibody epitopes of protein antigens in order to discover candidates for vaccines or diagnostic tests. A set of overlapping peptides was designed and synthesised based upon a known amino acid sequence of the target protein, virulence-associated protein A (VapA) of the bacterium Rhodococcus equi, an important pulmonary pathogen in foals.The peptides were biotinylated and used in an ELISA to screen immune sera from foals. These biotinylated peptides were coated directly onto micro titre plates that had been pre-coated with Neut...
Herpesviruses in respiratory liquids of horses: putative implication in airway inflammation and association with cytological features. The objectives of this study were to estimate the prevalence and the potential role of equine herpesviruses (EHVs) detection in both bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) and tracheal wash (TW). The population included a control group (CTL; 37 TW and 25 BAL) and a pathological group (PAT; 259 TW and 387 BAL), including horses either suffering from respiratory diseases including syndrome of tracheal inflammation, inflammatory airway disease, recurrent airway obstruction, or submitted to respiratory investigation because of exercise intolerance or poor performance. Each respiratory liquid was submitted t...
Microarray identification of Clostridium difficile core components and divergent regions associated with host origin. Clostridium difficile is a gram-positive, spore-forming enteric anaerobe which can infect humans and a wide variety of animal species. Recently, the incidence and severity of human C. difficile infection has markedly increased. In this study, we evaluated the genomic content of 73 C. difficile strains isolated from humans, horses, cattle, and pigs by comparative genomic hybridization with microarrays containing coding sequences from C. difficile strains 630 and QCD-32g58. The sequenced genome of C. difficile strain 630 was used as a reference to define a candidate core genome of C. difficile a...
Detection of Trypanosoma evansi infection in clinically ill cattle, buffaloes and horses using various diagnostic tests. This study was undertaken to detect Trypanosoma evansi infection in clinically ill cattle, buffaloes and horses that were suspected of 'surra' infection. Various diagnostic tests were utilized in order to assess the prevalence of infection in the clinically ill and 'suspected' animals. Animals in the Eastern Region of India were systematically studied for T. evansi infection, which had not been tested for previously. Examination of Giemsa-stained blood smears detected 5.3%, 9.4% and 40.6% infections; the mouse inoculation test detected 18.4%, 15.6% and 46.9% infections whereas an in-house ELIS...
Intrinsic Factors Influencing the Infection by Helminth Parasites in Horses under an Oceanic Climate Area (NW Spain). A coprological survey to determine the influence of some intrinsic factors (breed, age, and sex) on the infection by helminth parasites in equine livestock (n = 418) under an oceanic climate area (NW Spain) was conducted. Faecal samples were individually collected and analyzed by the coprological techniques. The main strongylid genera identified were Trichonema and Cyalocephalus spp (small strongyles) and Strongylus and Triodontophorus (large strongyles). The prevalence of gastrointestinal nematode was 89% (95% CI 86, 92) and 1% cestoda (0, 2). The percentage of horses with strongyloid parasit...
Gene expression in the lamellar dermis-epidermis during the developmental phase of carbohydrate overload-induced laminitis in the horse. Gene expression in the lamellar dermis and epidermis was compared between healthy horses and horses in the developmental phase of carbohydrate overload-induced laminitis, in order to better understand the local biochemical and cellular events involved in the pathogenesis of laminitis. Methods: Six healthy adult horses, with no history or clinical evidence of laminitis. Methods: Horses were randomly divided into two groups: control (n=3) and laminitis (n=3). Control horses received no treatment and were humanely euthanatized at the same time as the laminitis group. Horses in the laminitis group...
Slow release antibiotics for treatment of septic arthritis in large animals. The search for an effective treatment for septic arthritis is ongoing. Current therapies are expensive since they require repeated joint lavage and long term antibiotic treatment. Local application of antimicrobial drugs is advantageous because high concentrations can be attained at the infection site, although repeated injections increase the risk of superinfection of the joint. Thus, slow release formulations, which have the advantage of local treatment yet single application of the drug, are appealing. Antibiotics used in slow release formulations are selected for tissue compatibility, an a...
Experimental infection of potential reservoir hosts with Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus, Mexico. In 1993, an outbreak of encephalitis among 125 affected equids in coastal Chiapas, Mexico, resulted in a 50% case-fatality rate. The outbreak was attributed to Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus (VEEV) subtype IE, not previously associated with equine disease and death. To better understand the ecology of this VEEV strain in Chiapas, we experimentally infected 5 species of wild rodents and evaluated their competence as reservoir and amplifying hosts. Rodents from 1 species (Baiomys musculus) showed signs of disease and died by day 8 postinoculation. Rodents from the 4 other species (Liomys s...
Novel approach for detection of enteric viruses to enable syndrome surveillance of acute viral gastroenteritis. Acute gastroenteritis is one of the most common diseases worldwide, with viruses, particularly noroviruses, being the leading cause in developed countries. In The Netherlands, systematic surveillance of gastroenteritis outbreaks of suspected viral etiology was established by the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment in 1994. Since 2002, the total number of outbreaks reported has been increasing, and with that comes the need for sensitive assays that can be performed quickly. In addition, the diagnostic demand changed so that now the proportion of samples from hospitals is hi...
[Surgical treatment of canker involving all hoofs in a warmblood gelding]. The following case report describes the treatment of canker in a 14 years old warmblood gelding. The horse showed the typical appearance with caseous surface and early detachment of the superficial horn layers. The histological results show a severe degradation in the germinal layer of the epidermis of the frog. Surgical therapy under general anaesthesia was performed. On all limbs a tourniquet was applied and all abnormal tissue in the region of the frog and also the subdermal tissue underneath were removed. Postoperatively the horse was treated with hoof bandages for 2 weeks. Treatment plate...
Equine PSGL-1 modifications required for P-selectin binding. Equine PSGL-1 (ePSGL-1) is widely expressed on equine PBMC as a homodimer with sialylation (sLeX) modifications that contribute to P-selectin binding affinity. To investigate the role of other potential post-translational modifications required for high-affinity P-selectin binding, ePSGL-1 was transfected into CHO cells expressing equine FucT-VII and/or C2GnT. P-selectin-IgG chimera binding by ePSGL-1 transfected into CHO cells only occurred when both FucT-VII and C2GnT were expressed, establishing that fucosylation and core-2 branching are required as post-translational modifications for high...
Leptospira seroprevalence and associations between seropositivity, clinical disease and host factors in horses. A cross-sectional study was carried out to determine the seroprevalence of different serovars of Leptospira spp. and their association with clinical disease and host factors in Swedish horses. Methods: Sera from 2017 horses brought to equine clinics during 1997-98 were investigated. The sera were examined by microscopic agglutination test for the presence of antibodies against the following L. interrogans serovars: Bratislava strain Jez, Icterohaemorrhagiae strain Kantorowicz and Pomona strain Pomona and also L. kirschneri sv Grippotyphosa strain Duyster and L. borgpetersenii sv Sejroe strain ...
Validation of a reliable set of primer pairs for measuring gene expression by real-time quantitative RT-PCR in equine leukocytes. Quantification of gene expression using real-time reverse transcription quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) is a reliable method to monitor cellular responses to pro-inflammatory stimuli. The main objective of this study was to validate a set of equine primer pairs that can be routinely used to monitor expression of genes that are central to inflammatory and immune responses. This paper describes the steps used to optimize and validate 29 equine primer pairs for RT-qPCR assays using SYBR Green detection. To validate these assays, monocytes were isolated from three horses and stimulated with Escherichia...
In vitro efficacy of nitro- and halogeno-thiazolide/thiadiazolide derivatives against Sarcocystis neurona. Sarcocystis neurona is an obligate intracellular parasite that causes equine protozoal myeloencephalitis (EPM). The aim of this work was to document inhibitory activities of nitazoxanide (NTZ, [2-acetolyloxy-N-(5-nitro 2-thiazolyl) benzamide]) and new thiazolides/thiadiazolides on S. neurona in vitro development, and investigate their structure-activity relationships. S. neurona was grown in bovine turbinate cell cultures. At concentrations varying from 1.0 to 5.0mg/L, nitazoxanide and 21 of 32 second generation thiazolide/thiadiazolide agents exerted a > or =95% maximum inhibition on S. neuro...
Feeding management of sick neonatal foals. Nutritional support of the foal can be challenging because of the constant changes in nutritional requirements and dietary composition during the transition from neonate to weanling. Additional complexity arises because of dilemmas regarding the means and route of delivery of nutrition to the foal, and the possibility that metabolic dysfunction may impair the ability of the foal to use nutrients appropriately. This article provides practical information on enteral and parenteral nutritional support of sick neonatal foals. The potential benefits of a conservative, hypocaloric feeding strategy, ...
Expression of toll-like receptor 2 mRNA in bronchial epithelial cells is not induced in RAO-affected horses. Airway inflammation in recurrent airway obstruction (RAO) is triggered by housing affected horses in stables.It has been suggested that RAO is an allergic condition, but innate immune mechanisms are also involved. Fungal products activate innate immune mechanisms through toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2). In human airway epithelium, TLR2 activation leads to interleukin (IL)-8 production. This pathway is negatively regulated by the zinc finger protein A20. This study was performed to enhance understanding of innate immune mechanisms in RAO. Objective: TLR2 and IL-8 mRNA are elevated in RAO during sta...
Aggregation-associated loss of antigenicity observed for denatured virion protein 1 of Equine rhinitis A virus in an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Equine rhinitis A virus (ERAV) is a picornavirus which causes an acute respiratory infection in horses worldwide, and virus neutralization (VN) has been the standard method for the detection of ERAV antibody in horse serum. Previous studies have identified recombinant virion protein VP1 (rVP1) purified under native conditions to be of high potential for the development of a diagnostic ERAV enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). This study presents an optimized protocol for the expression and purification of native full-length rVP1. Furthermore, we demonstrate that, upon denaturation, rVP1 ...
Biofilm evidence and the microbial diversity of horse wounds. Evidence of biofilms in human chronic wounds are thought to be responsible for preventing healing in a timely manner. However, biofilm evidence in horse wounds has not yet been documented. Consequently, this study aimed to determine whether biofilms could be detected in wounds, and to investigate the microbiology of chronic wounds in horses. Prior to analysis, wound surfaces were irrigated with 5 mL of sterile saline to remove debris. All wounds were swabbed twice (1 cm2 area) using sterile cotton-tipped swabs. In addition to this, 2 tissue biopsies were taken to investigate evidence of biofil...
