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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.
Evaluation of a multiplex PCR for detection of serotypes K1, K2 and K5 in Klebsiella sp. and comparison of isolates within these serotypes. A multiplex PCR using targets within the serotype-specific region of the capsular polysaccharide synthesis gene cluster of serotypes K1, K2 and K5 was evaluated using the 77 reference serotype strains of Klebsiella, and a panel of clinical isolates subjected previously to conventional serotyping. The PCR was highly specific for these serotypes, which are those most associated with virulence in humans and horses. PCR confirmed that isolates of the K5 serotype had cross-reacted with antiserum for other serotypes, particularly for K7. K5 isolates received by our laboratory were almost exclusively...
Monoclonal antibodies to equine interferon-alpha (IFN-alpha): new tools to neutralize IFN-activity and to detect secreted IFN-alpha. Interferon-alpha (IFN-alpha) is a type I interferon that is secreted during the early stages of the innate immune response and is often induced upon infection with viral pathogens. IFN-alpha production affects multiple downstream events influencing both innate and adaptive immune responses. Here, we describe the expression of an equine rIFN-alpha/IgG4 fusion protein in mammalian cells. The anti-viral activity of rIFN-alpha/IgG4 was found to be 70-fold higher than that of a previously described IFN-gamma/IgG1 as tested by bioassay. The purified rIFN-alpha was subsequently used for the generatio...
Concerted evolution of vertebrate CCR2 and CCR5 genes and the origin of a recombinant equine CCR5/2 gene. Chemokine receptors (CCRs) play an essential role in the initiation of an innate immune host response. Several of these receptors have been shown to modulate the outcome of viral infections. The recent availability of complete genome sequences from a number of species provides a unique opportunity to analyze the evolution of the CCR genes. A phylogenetic analysis revealed that the CCR2 gene evolved in concert with the paralogous CCR5 gene, but not with another paralogous gene, CCR3, in the opossum, platypus, rabbit, guinea pig, cat, and rodent lineages. In addition, evidence of concerted evolu...
Illustrated identification keys to strongylid parasites (Strongylidae: Nematoda) of horses, zebras and asses (Equidae). The Equidae (the horse, Equus caballus, the ass, Equus asinus, zebras and their hybrids) are hosts to a great variety of nematode parasites, some of which can cause significant morbidity or mortality if individual hosts are untreated. Worldwide the nematode parasites of horses belong to 7 suborders, 12 families, 29 genera and 83 species. The great majority (19 of 29 genera and 64 of 83 species) are members of the family Strongylidae, which includes the most common and pathogenic nematode parasites of horses. Only the Strongylidae are included in this treatise. The Strongylidae (common name str...
A clinical approach to managing the mare with placentitis. Placental infections in the mare are a diagnostic and therapeutic challenge. The following article will review techniques for identifying placental infections, approaches for treating placentitis, and methods for managing these mares after foaling.
Effects of bites by the European adder (Vipera berus) in seven Swedish horses. The effects on seven horses of bites by the European adder (Vipera berus) are described and compared with previously available information. The clinical signs varied from local swelling and mild systemic signs to severe systemic signs, including systemic inflammatory response, severe tissue necrosis, ventricular tachycardia and dysphagia. Two of the horses were treated with 'Zagreb' antiserum, and three that were not treated with antiserum were euthanased owing to complications related to the bites.
Epiphyseal cartilage canal blood supply to the distal femur of foals. The developmental pattern of the cartilage canal blood supply to epiphyseal growth cartilage has been linked to osteochondrosis (OC) in the tarsus of foals. This pattern has not yet been described in the distal femur, another site frequently affected by OC. Objective: To describe the developmental pattern of the blood supply to the distal femoral epiphyseal growth cartilage in 8 Standardbred foals age 0-7 weeks. Methods: One foal was sacrificed weekly from birth to age 7 weeks (n=8) to undergo a barium perfusion procedure to demonstrate vessels within cartilage canals of one hindlimb. The dist...
Persistently infected horses are reservoirs for intrastadial tick-borne transmission of the apicomplexan parasite Babesia equi. Tick-borne pathogens may be transmitted intrastadially and transstadially within a single vector generation as well as vertically between generations. Understanding the mode and relative efficiency of this transmission is required for infection control. In this study, we established that adult male Rhipicephalus microplus ticks efficiently acquire the protozoal pathogen Babesia equi during acute and persistent infections and transmit it intrastadially to naïve horses. Although the level of parasitemia during acquisition feeding affected the efficiency of the initial tick infection, infected t...
Massive pulmonary thromboembolism in six horses. This report involves 6 cases in which medical records and post mortem findings were reviewed leading to the diagnosis of massive pulmonary thromboembolism (MPTE). All horses were mature and MPTE has not been recognised previously as a sequel to generalised systemic illness in mature horses. The clinical data and pathological findings of the cases are reported and the authors conclude that MPTE is an uncommon but important complication of medical and surgical disorders in mature horses. In 3 of the cases, the condition was nonfatal suggesting that some horses having developed PTE survive and th...
Medical and surgical management of uroperitoneum in a foal. A 4-day-old, male, American paint foal was presented for abdominal distention, respiratory distress, and diarrhea. Bladder rupture and uroperitoneum were diagnosed following abdominal ultrasonography and abdominocentesis. The defect in the dorsocranial part of the bladder wall was surgically repaired. Un poulain American Paint mâle âgé de quatre jours est présenté pour ballonnement abdominal, détresse respiratoire et diarrhée. Une rupture de la vessie et un uropéritoine sont diagnostiqués après une échographie et une paracentèse abdominale. Le défaut dans la partie dorso-crânial...
[Construction of an infectious clone of equine infectious anemia virus by N-glycosylation reverse-mutations]. To elucidate the role of N-glycosylation in fetal donkey dermal cell (FDD)-attenuated equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV), we constructed an N-glycosylation reverse-mutation molecular clone, pLGN191N236N246. This viral molecular clone was derived from the infectious clone pLGFD3-8 by site-directed mutagenesis. This clone was used to transfect fetal donkey dermal (FDD) cells. Infectious characteristics of transfectants were monitored by RT-PCR, indirect immune fluorescence and reverse transcriptase activity assay. After three passages in FDD cells, viral replications in the supernatant of cel...
Peripheral blood mononuclear cells represent a reservoir of bovine papillomavirus DNA in sarcoid-affected equines. Bovine papillomaviruses of types 1 and 2 (BPV-1 and -2) chiefly contribute to equine sarcoid pathogenesis. However, the mode of virus transmission and the presence of latent infections are largely unknown. This study established a PCR protocol allowing detection of <or=10 copies of the BPV-1/-2 genes E5 and L1. Subsequent screening of peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) DNA derived from horses with and without BPV-1/2-induced skin lesions demonstrated the exclusive presence of E5, but not L1, in PBMCs of BPV-1/2-infected equines. To validate this result, a blind PCR was performed from ...
Dermatophytoses in animals. Dermatophytoses are one of the most frequent skin diseases of pets and livestock. Contagiousness among animal communities, high cost of treatment, difficulty of control measures, and the public health consequences of animal ringworm explain their great importance. A wide variety of dermatophytes have been isolated from animals, but a few zoophilic species are responsible for the majority of the cases, viz. Microsporum canis, Trichophyton mentagrophytes, Trichophyton equinum and Trichophyton verrucosum, as also the geophilic species Microsporum gypseum. According to the host and the fungal spec...
Full-length and internally deleted forms of interleukin-7 are present in horse (Equus caballus) lymph node tissue. Horse IL-7 (HIL-7) cDNA was isolated from adult lymph node tissue by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) using oligonucleotide primers based on horse genomic sequences (The Broad Institute). In addition, to the full-length (FL) 531bp reading frame encoding 176 amino acids, shorter open-reading frames of 477, 396 and 264bp were also amplified. Nucleotide sequence analysis of these RT-PCR products demonstrated they were homologous except the shorter species were missing internal sequences consistent with multiple RNA splicing events. Consequently, the shorter open-reading fr...
Evaluation of parasiticidal activity of fenbendazole, ivermectin, oxibendazole, and pyrantel pamoate in horse foals with emphasis on ascarids (Parascaris equorum) in field studies on five farms in Central Kentucky in 2007. Horse foals on five farms in Central Kentucky were used in field studies in 2007 evaluating activity of paste formulations of four compounds (fenbendazole-FBZ, ivermectin-IVM, oxibendazole-OBZ, and pyrantel pamoate-PRT) against internal parasites with emphasis on ascarids (Parascaris equorum). It has been well established the last few years that there is widespread resistance of P. equorum to ivermectin. The main purpose of the present research was to obtain current data on ascaridicidal activity of FBZ, OBZ, and PRT; also, to acquire further information on ascarid resistance to ivermectin. Ad...
Validation of an in-clinic enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kit for diagnosis of Borrelia burgdorferi infection in horses. Confirmation of Borrelia burgdorferi infection in horses has required enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) or Western blot tests performed by reference laboratories. An in-clinic C6 ELISA SNAP kit has been marketed for dogs. This canine kit was evaluated for horses using serum from experimentally infected ponies. Serum samples originated from 2 previous studies. In the first study, 7 ponies were exposed to B. burgdorferi-infected ticks; 4 ponies served as uninfected controls. Serum samples were obtained bimonthly for 9 months. In the second study, 16 ponies were exposed to B. burgdorferi-...
Blood arginine vasopressin, adrenocorticotropin hormone, and cortisol concentrations at admission in septic and critically ill foals and their association with survival. Sepsis is an important cause for neonatal foal mortality. The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPAA) responses to sepsis are well documented in critically ill humans, but limited data exist in foals. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the HPAA response to sepsis in foals, and to associate these endocrine changes with survival. Objective: Blood concentrations of arginine vasopressin (AVP), adrenocorticotropin hormone (ACTH), and cortisol will be higher in septic foals as compared with sick nonseptic and healthy foals. The magnitude of increase in hormone concentration will be negativ...
[The communities of cyathostomes (Cyathostominae) in year-old and two-year-old Pure Blood Arabian mares]. The objective of this study was to evaluate the strongyles species in 34 Pure Blood Arabian Horses: one-year-old mares (n = 12) and two-year old mares (n = 22) from the horse stud in 2005, kept under housed-pastured system and dewormed systematically, twice a year using the ivermectin compounds. Methods: The practical method of in vivo determination of strongyles species in horses is collection of these nematodes from the feaces after treatment. Nematodes were collected 24 hours after deworming from 1000 g sample of feaces, then were classified to appropriate species and relative abundance of ...
Species-specific concentrations of perfluoroalkyl contaminants in farm and pet animals in Japan. The persistent metabolites of perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) which have been detected in the tissues of both humans and wildlife, and human contamination by PFCs suggest differences in the exposure patterns to these compounds. However, studies focused on identifying human exposure pathways to PFCs are scarce. To provide a preliminary assessment of PFCs in farm animals such as chicken, cattle, pigs, goats and horses, blood and liver samples were collected from various regions in Japan. Additionally, dog sera samples representing pet animals were also employed for analysis. Perfluorooctane sulf...
Potential of enterococci isolated from horses. Faecal samples of 122 horses (from farms in Slovakia) were examined to select enterococci to study their probiotic potential for their further use as additives. Each gram of faeces contained 1.0-5.0 cfu (log 10) of enterococci. Of the 43 isolates, 25 (58.1%) were identified as Enterococcus faecium, 3 strains were (6.9%) Enterococcus mundtii and one strain was identified as E. faecalis. Fourteen isolates were not characterized further. A significant proportion of the isolates were resistant to kanamycin, vancomycin and gentamicin. Low urease activity of enterococci dominated. The values of lact...
Dermatophilus congolensis-associated placentitis, funisitis and abortion in a horse. Placentitis, funisitis and fetal bronchopneumonia were diagnosed in an aborted full-term Thoroughbred fetus and its placenta by histopathological examination. Dermatophilus congolensis organisms were isolated from placenta, lung and stomach content. The genotypic identification of aerobic culture was confirmed by sequential analysis of the entire 16S rDNA gene. This is the first report of Dermatophilus congolensis-associated abortion in any species.
A common theme in interaction of bacterial immunoglobulin-binding proteins with immunoglobulins illustrated in the equine system. The M protein of Streptococcus equi subsp. equi known as fibrinogen-binding protein (FgBP) is a cell wall-associated protein with antiphagocytic activity that binds IgG. Recombinant versions of the seven equine IgG subclasses were used to investigate the subclass specificity of FgBP. FgBP bound predominantly to equine IgG4 and IgG7, with little or no binding to the other subclasses. Competitive binding experiments revealed that FgBP could inhibit the binding of staphylococcal protein A and streptococcal protein G to both IgG4 and IgG7, implicating the Fc interdomain region in binding to FgBP. ...
Pathological, entomological, avian and meteorological investigation of a West Nile virus epidemic in a horse farm. Pathological, entomological and avian investigations were conducted during the summer of 2002, in a horse farm that had four cases of West Nile virus (WNV) infection in horses. All the four horses had encephalitis and WNV infection was confirmed by RT-PCR and in situ hybridization procedure. Forty-seven per cent of house sparrows that resided on the farm were tested positive for WNV infection. Mosquitoes (98%Culex pipiens) collected by trapping at the farm, during this period were positive for WNV. The meteorological data for year 2002 were compared to previous 16 years. The precipitation and ...
Trephination of the equine rostral maxillary sinus: efficacy and safety of two trephine sites. To examine 2 rostral maxillary sinus (RMS) trephine sites for safety and efficacy using skulls of horses of varying age. Methods: Descriptive study. Methods: Cadaveric equine skulls (n=40). Methods: Two RMS trephination sites (rostral, caudal) were made in each skull. Radiographic projections using markers at each site were used to determine if sites were within the RMS and directly overlying a cheek tooth. Sinusotomy in 14 skulls was used to determine correlation between radiographic and anatomic location of trephine sites, and of the rostrolateral aspect of the maxillary septum. Age-related ...
