Omneity® Pellets
All-In-One Vitamin & Mineral Pellet
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.
In vitro detection of equine arteritis virus from seminal plasma for identification of carrier stallions. Equine arteritis virus (EAV) was readily isolated in RK-13 cell monolayers by plaque assay from seminal plasma of experimental carrier stallions when they contained high titers of virus regardless of the presence of non-viral cytotoxicity in the seminal plasma. The cytotoxicity interfered with virus isolation from seminal plasma which contained virus at titers less than 10 PFU/ml. However, it was possible to detect the virus in seminal plasma pretreated with PEG (#6000). EAV was consistently identified by RT-PCR from crude seminal plasma which contained virus at titers of more than 10(2.7) PFU...
[The problem mare part 2: treatment]. In this article different possible treatments for problem mares are discussed. The therapeutic possibilities vary and can be classified into anatomical correction, anti-infectious therapy, and treatment to enhance the uterine defence mechanisms. Anatomical correction and treatment with antibiotics are valuable therapies and have been used for many years. In recent years, stimulation of the mechanical defence mechanism of the uterus, by flushing it with physiological solution combined with parenteral oxytocin, has been shown to increase the chance of getting problem mares in foal.
Development of a differential multiplex PCR assay for equine herpesvirus 1 and 4 as a diagnostic tool. In this study, a multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) procedure was developed for differentiation of strains and field isolates of equine herpesvirus type 1 (EHV-1) and type 4 (EHV-4). Specific oli-gonucleotide primers were combined to amplify the thymidine kinase (TK) gene region of EHV-1 and EHV-4, which would yield fragments of different lengths for each virus in the same amplification reaction. The specificity of the largest PCR amplicon for EHV-4 was confirmed by restriction digestion with HindIII. The multiplex PCR proved to be a fast and sensitive method for typing EHV-1 and EHV-4 ...
Equine viral arteritis. Equine viral arteritis (EVA) can cause prominent economic losses for the equine industry. The purpose of this review is to provide the pathologist some familiarity with the clinical history, lesions, pathogenesis, and diagnosis of EVA. EVA is caused by an arterivirus (equine arteritis virus, EAV), and the vascular system is the principal but not unique viral target. EVA has variable presentations, including interstitial pneumonia, panvasculitis with edema, thrombosis and hemorrhage, lymphoid necrosis, renal tubular necrosis, abortion, and inflammation of male accessory genital glands. EAV anti...
Equine viral arteritis. Equine viral arteritis (EVA) can cause prominent economic losses for the equine industry. The purpose of this review is to provide the pathologist some familiarity with the clinical history, lesions, pathogenesis, and diagnosis of EVA. EVA is caused by an arterivirus (equine arteritis virus, EAV), and the vascular system is the principal but not unique viral target. EVA has variable presentations, including interstitial pneumonia, panvasculitis with edema, thrombosis and hemorrhage, lymphoid necrosis, renal tubular necrosis, abortion, and inflammation of male accessory genital glands. EAV anti...
Equine viral arteritis. Equine viral arteritis (EVA) can cause prominent economic losses for the equine industry. The purpose of this review is to provide the pathologist some familiarity with the clinical history, lesions, pathogenesis, and diagnosis of EVA. EVA is caused by an arterivirus (equine arteritis virus, EAV), and the vascular system is the principal but not unique viral target. EVA has variable presentations, including interstitial pneumonia, panvasculitis with edema, thrombosis and hemorrhage, lymphoid necrosis, renal tubular necrosis, abortion, and inflammation of male accessory genital glands. EAV anti...
Equid herpesvirus 1: platelets and alveolar macrophages are potential sources of activated TGF-B1 in the horse. Cell mediated responses to Equid herpesvirus 1 (EHV-1) are of short duration in vivo and require considerable expansion to be detected in vitro. Raised serum levels of active transforming growth factor B (TGF-B1) have been shown to depress proliferative T cell responses in experimental infections with EHV-1 in ponies. The present work indicates that latent transforming growth factor B (TGF-B1) is present in circulating platelets, lymph node, bronchial epithelium and alveolar macrophages. Activation of platelets in vitro by thrombin resulted in the release of latent TGF-B1 from platelets, with ...
Parasite control methods used by horse owners: factors predisposing to the development of anthelmintic resistance in nematodes. One hundred and fifty horse owners, primarily private owners and riding schools, replied to a questionnaire concerning the practices they used to control parasites. Twenty-seven had experienced a parasite problem. Faecal samples from 188 horses selected at random showed that worm control practices were generally successful; however, many owners were not following recommendations for slowing the development of resistant parasites. In 1996, 86 per cent of the owners were using either three or two classes of anthelmintic a year, and they used a median of six doses with a range from one to 11. App...
Detection of Leptospira spp. in the aqueous humor of horses with naturally acquired recurrent uveitis. Leptospiral organisms have long been presumed to be associated with the presence of equine recurrent uveitis. This project was undertaken to determine the presence of Leptospira spp. in the aqueous humor of horses with uveitis to determine if there was an association with inflammation. Thirty horses were determined to have recurrent uveitis based on clinical evaluation or history. Sixteen horses were judged clinically and historically to be free of uveitis and were used as controls. Aqueous humor samples were cultured and evaluated by PCR for the presence of Leptospira DNA. Serum was collected...
Prospects for controlling animal parasitic nematodes by predacious micro fungi. Resistance against anthelmintics is widespread, particularly in parasitic nematode populations of small ruminants. Several new techniques or supplements have been developed or are under investigation. Biological control (BC) is one of these new methods. The net-trapping predacious fungus Duddingtonia flagrans produces thick walled resting spores, chlamydospores, which are able to survive passage through the gastrointestinal tract of cattle, horses, sheep and pigs. Under Danish climatic conditions it has been shown that the number of parasite larvae on pasture and the worm burden of the grazing...
Induction of apoptosis by equine arteritis virus infection. Equine arteritis virus (EAV) is the etiological agent of equine viral arteritis, a contagious viral disease of equids. EAV is the prototype virus of the arteriviruses, a group of small enveloped viruses with positive single-stranded RNA genomes. Because apoptosis or programmed cell death is believed to play an important role in the biogenesis of several cytopathogenic viruses, we examined whether EAV was able to induce cell apoptosis in vitro. To do this, Vero cells were infected with EAV at a multiplicity of infection of 0.1 tissue culture infectious dose (TCID50) per cell, and analyzed at va...
Occurrence of Thelazia lacrymalis (Nematoda, Spirurida, Thelaziidae) in native horses in Italy. A survey on the prevalence of Thelazia spp. in the province of Bari (Apulia region, Italy) in slaughtered native horses was conducted from June 20, 1995 to April 3, 1996. Both eyes from 409 ten-month- to 4-year-old native animals were examined. Sixty horses (14.7%) were found parasitized by Thelazia lacrymalis. Three hundred-sixty one parasite specimens (220 females, 99 males and 42 larvae) were collected with a mean count burden of 6.0-5.1 (range 1 to 20) per head. T. lacrymalis specimens were found free in the conjunctiva and behind the nictitancte, in the excretory ducts of the Harderian gl...
Clinical, bacteriologic, serologic, and pathologic features of infections with atypical Taylorella equigenitalis in mares. To characterize clinical, serologic, bacteriologic, cytologic, and pathologic endometrial responses of mares to 2 donkey-origin atypical bacterial isolates resembling Taylorella equigenitalis. Methods: Prospective in vivo study. Methods: 10 healthy mares. Methods: Mares in estrus (2/group) were inoculated by intrauterine infusion with 2 isolates of classic T equigenitalis or 2 isolates of atypical Taylorella sp or were sham-inoculated. Bacteriologic, serologic, clinical, uterine, cytologic, and pathologic endometrial responses were assessed 4, 11, 21, 35, and 63 days after inoculation and on d...
Tyzzer’s disease in an 11-day-old foal. An 11-day-old pony became depressed, anorectic, and pyrexic 2 days after the topsoil of its paddock had been turned over. Rapid progression to colic and head pressing occurred, despite intensive therapy for Tyzzer's disease, and the foal died within 7 h of the appearance of central nervous system signs.
Could treatment of pregnant mares prevent abortions due to equine piroplasmosis? Treatment of pregnant mares to prevent abortions due to equine piroplasmosis is a novel idea practised empirically at some Thoroughbred studs in South Africa. This paper presents the results of an investigation to ascertain whether imidocarb dipropionate crosses the equine placenta. Three pregnant mares were injected intramuscularly with imidocarb and their foetuses were mechanically aborted at varying time intervals thereafter. Imidocarb was found in foetal blood at a level similar to that in the dam's blood, suggesting that imidocarb administered to the dam would be available for anti-parasi...
Foaling-management practices associated with the occurrence of enterocolitis attributed to Clostridium perfringens infection in the equine neonate. Enterocolitis associated with Clostridium perfringens (C. perfringens) infection in neonatal foals is often severe and has been associated with a high case-mortality risk. We designed a premises-based survey to evaluate the associations of regional foaling practices, premises environmental management, periparturient foal and brood-mare management, and periparturient brood-mare ration with the occurrence of neonatal enterocolitis attributed to C. perfringens infection. Potential risk factors individually associated with enterocolitis were breed type, housing type at foaling and in the first thr...
Post-breeding endometritis in the mare. Post-breeding endometritis is a major cause of subfertility in the mare. Endometritis is a normal event in the immediate period after mating, but the presence of ultransonographically visible uterine fluid more than 12 h later is thought to be evidence of uterine pathology. In mares that are free of venerally transmitted endometritis, treatment is aimed at removing the intraluminal fluid. If the endometritis persists past day 5, when the embryo enters the uterine lumen, the cytotoxic environment will not be compatible with pregnancy. Reproductive anatomy, defective myometrial contractility, lo...
Bluetongue and equine viral arteritis viruses as models of virus-induced fetal injury and abortion. A number of viruses have the capacity to cross the placenta and infect the fetus to cause, among other potential outcomes, developmental defects (teratogenesis), fetal death and abortion. Bluetongue virus (BTV) infection of fetal ruminants provides an excellent model for the study of virus-induced teratogenesis. This model has shown that only viruses modified by passage in cell culture, such as modified live virus vaccine strains, readily cross the ruminant placenta, and that the timing of fetal infection determines the outcome. Thus, cerebral malformations only occur after fetal infection at ...
Immune responses and viral replication in long-term inapparent carrier ponies inoculated with equine infectious anemia virus. Persistent infection of equids by equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV) is typically characterized by a progression during the first year postinfection from chronic disease with recurring disease cycles to a long-term asymptomatic infection that is maintained indefinitely. The goal of the current study was to perform a comprehensive longitudinal analysis of the course of virus infection and development of host immunity in experimentally infected horses as they progressed from chronic disease to long-term inapparent carriage. We previously described the evolution of EIAV genomic quasispecies (C...
Mushroom toxicity in a horse with meningioangiomatosis. We describe a fatal case of mushroom intoxication in an 18-y-o horse presumably due to Amanita verna. Horses are normally regarded as too fastidious to eat the ill-flavored toadstools. In this case, the horse had a rare benign brain tumor, meningioangiomatosis, which may have altered the horse's normal eating behavior resulting in consumption of the mushrooms.
Cross-sectional study of faecal shedding of Giardia duodenalis and Cryptosporidium parvum among packstock in the Sierra Nevada Range. Faecal specimens from 305 horses and mules used as packstock at one of 17 commercial or governmental (National Park Service, US Forest Service) operations were examined for Giardia duodenalis and Cryptosporidium parvum using immunofluorescent microscopy. Fourteen packstock (4.6%) were shedding G. duodenalis cysts, with herd-level prevalences ranging 0-22%. Number of packstock in the corral, size of corral and density of packstock in the corral were associated with the odds of shedding G. duodenalis cysts. None of the horses had detectable C. parvum oocysts. Assuming a sensitivity of at least 4...
Equine dental disease part 4: a long-term study of 400 cases: apical infections of cheek teeth. Of 400 horses referred because of equine dental disease, 162 suffered from primary apical infections of their cheek teeth (CT), including 92 with maxillary CT infections and 70 with mandibular CT infections. Maxillary swellings and sinus tracts were more common (82 and 26% incidence, respectively) with infections of the rostral 3 maxillary CT, than with infections of the caudal 3 maxillary CT (39 and 5% incidence, respectively). Nasal discharge was more commonly present with caudal (95%) than rostral (23%) maxillary CT infections. Mandibular CT apical infections commonly had mandibular swellin...
Detection and quantitation of Ehrlichia risticii genomic DNA in infected horses and snails by real-time PCR. A real-time quantitative PCR using the TaqMan fluorogenic detection system (TaqMan PCR) was established for identification of Ehrlichia risticii, the agent of Potomac horse fever (PHF). The TaqMan PCR identified an 85 base pair section of the 16S rRNA gene by use of a specific fluorogenic probe and two primers. This technique was specific for eight tested E. risticii strains. The TaqMan system identified 10 copies of a cloned section of the 16S rRNA gene of E. risticii. The sensitivity and specificity of the TaqMan PCR were similar to those of conventional nested PCR. The TaqMan PCR was evalua...
Ehrlichia equi infection of horses from Minnesota and Wisconsin: detection of seroconversion and acute disease investigation. Equine granulocytic ehrlichiosis (EGE) is caused by infection with Ehrlichia equi. EGE has been reported primarily in northern California, where E equi is transmitted by the tick Ixodes pacificus. Reports of EGE and the emergence of human granulocytic ehrlichia in Minnesota prompted a seroprevalence study of E equi in horses of Minnesota and Wisconsin. Tick (Ixodes scapularis) endemic areas of Minnesota and Wisconsin were compared to nonendemic regions of Minnesota. Indirect fluorescent antibody was used to detect the presence of serum antibodies to E equi. Serum samples from healthy horses, 3...
Toxigenic Corynebacterium diphtheriae associated with an equine wound infection. No abstract available
Papillomatous pastern dermatitis with spirochetes and Pelodera strongyloides in a Tennessee Walking Horse. Papillomatous digital dermatitis is a common disease in cattle. The pastern dermatitis observed in a horse shared many of the gross characteristics of papillomatous digital dermatitis in cattle. Lesions included a mixture of proliferative and erosive changes, with a verrucose appearance in some areas. Microscopic similarities included pseudoepitheliomatous and papillomatous epidermal hyperplasia with hyperkeratosis, spongiosis of the epidermis, and intraepidermal spirochetes. The horse was also concurrently infected with Pelodera strongyloides. Papillomatous digital dermatitis in cattle is ass...
