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.
Farkas R, Hall MJ.Veterinarians in Hungary were asked to complete a questionnaire on traumatic myiasis; of the 664 veterinarians contacted, 247 replied (37.2 per cent) and of these 209 (84.6 per cent) reported myiasis to be a problem among the livestock they treated. Infestation levels of > 10 per cent of animals were reported in sheep, cattle and horses. The myiasis season lasted from March to November with most cases reported in July and August. Significantly more respondents reported that fly larvae were present deep in wounds rather than superficially, consistent with infestations due to the obligate parasi...
Poonacha KB, Gregory CR, Vickers ML.The primary lesions of eastern equine encephalomyelitis (EEE) virus infection in the horse are limited to the brain and spinal cord. Intestinal lesions in addition to the changes in the central nervous system were found in a 6-month-old male Tennessee Walking Horse. One week prior to death, this colt was vaccinated for EEE virus, western equine encephalomyelitis virus, influenza virus, equine rhinopneumonitis virus, and tetanus. The clinical signs consisted of ataxia and rear-end weakness, with a body temperature of 102.8 F. Gross lesions consisted of yellowish discoloration, swelling, edema, ...
Yasunaga S, Maeda K, Matsumura T, Kai K, Iwata H, Inoue T.Recently, a type-specific ELISA using equine herpesvirus type 1 (EHV-1) and type 4 (EHV-4) glycoprotein Gs (gGs) was developed by Crabb and Studdert [1993]. To investigate the dissemination of EHV-1 and -4 among horses in Japan, we applied their ELISA as suitable for discriminating between EHV-1 and -4 infections serologically. Type-specificity of the ELISA was confirmed by using paired sera of infected horses with either EHV-1 or -4. Application of the ELISA to sera collected before and after the winter season of 1995-1996 from 80 racehorses revealed that 30 horses showed significant antibody...
Hanafusa Y, Cho KO, Kanemaru T, Wada R, Sugimoto C, Onuma M.The present study was designed to investigate the role of cytokines in the pathogenesis of Babesia caballi in experimentally infected horses. The expression of cytokine mRNA was determined by using reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction in two B. caballi-infected horses for 2 weeks after the infection. In one horse, there was up-regulation of interferon-gamma, tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) and interleukin-2 mRNAs, while in the second horse, expression of only TNF-alpha mRNA was up-regulated. No change was observed in interleukin-4 mRNA in both of the horses. To know the rela...
Krüger B, Siesenop U, Böhm KH.In 1993 and 1994 a highly increased occurrence of equine dermatophilosis was observed, and a study was initiated to determine phenotypic heterogeneity among 120 clinical isolates using biochemistry, antibiotic resistance profiles, membrane protein profiles and Western blotting. The biochemical examinations contained 1% equine serum in medium. Moreover, the API ZYM-test from bioMérieux was used. The biochemical reactions were suited to identify Dermatophilus congolensis but did not allow a differentiation among the various isolates. Antibiotic resistance in one or more isolates was observed ag...
Puffer BA, Watkins SC, Montelaro RC.We have identified an interaction between the equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV) late assembly domain and the cellular AP-2 clathrin-associated adapter protein complex. A YXXL motif within the EIAV Gag late assembly domain was previously characterized as a sequence critical for release of assembling virions. We now show that this YXXL sequence interacts in vitro with the AP-50 subunit of the AP-2 complex, while the functionally interchangeable late assembly domains carried by the Rous sarcoma virus p2b protein and human immunodeficiency virus type 1 p6 protein, which utilize PPPY and PTAPP ...
Zhang W, Lonning SM, McGuire TC.Most equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV)-infected horses have acute clinical disease, but they eventually control the disease and become lifelong carriers. Cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) are considered an important immune component in the control of infections with lentiviruses including EIAV, but definitive evidence for CTL in the control of disease in carrier horses is lacking. By using retroviral vector-transduced target cells expressing different Gag proteins and overlapping synthetic peptides of 16 to 25 amino acids, peptides containing at least 12 Gag CTL epitopes recognized by virus-st...
Bueschel D, Walker R, Woods L, Kokai-Kun J, McClane B, Songer JG.A Thoroughbred-Quarter Horse crossbred foal developed hemorrhagic enteritis and died < 48 hours after birth. Gross and histologic findings were suggestive of Clostridium perfringens type C infection, and large numbers of C perfringens were isolated from intestinal contents. However, genotyping of isolates indicated that they were enterotoxigenic C perfringens type A, and isolates were found to produce C perfringens enterotoxin in vitro. This case suggests that enterotoxigenic C perfringens type A may cause enteric disease in horses.
Cole DJ, Cohen ND, Snowden K, Smith R.To determine prevalence of and risk factors for fecal shedding of Cryptosporidium parvum oocysts among 3 populations of horses. Methods: Cross-sectional study. Methods: 152 horses participating in the 1996 Texas State 4-H Horse Show, 144 horses examined by the veterinary teaching hospital, and 70 broodmares and their 10- to 21-day-old foals. Methods: Information on signalment and potential risk factors for fecal shedding of oocysts was obtained. Fecal samples were evaluated for oocysts by means of acid-fast (AF) staining, immunofluorescence assay (IFA), and, for selected samples, flow cytometr...
Raidal SL, Bailey GD, Love DN.Flow cytometry was used to assess the phagocytosis of fluorescent-labelled bacteria by equine peripheral blood neutrophils and pulmonary alveolar macrophages. Cell populations were prepared from venous blood following ammonium chloride lysis and from washed bronchoalveolar lavage derived samples. Discrete clusters of cells, corresponding to different leucocyte groups, were readily identified on the basis of differing light scattering properties and could thus be discriminated, negating the need for prior cell separation. Cells able to associate with fluorescent-labelled bacteria (by attachment...
Leber R, Wiler R, Perryman LE, Meek K.V(D)J rearrangement is the molecular mechanism by which an almost limitless number of unique immune receptors is generated. V(D)J rearrangement involves two DNA breaks and religations resulting in two DNA joints; coding and signal joints. If V(D)J recombination is impaired (as in murine SCID (C.B-17 mouse] or RAG [Recombinase Activating Genes) deficient mice), B lymphocyte and T lymphocyte development is blocked and severe immunodeficiency results. The first animal model of SCID was reported in Arabian foals in 1973. Recently we demonstrated that the mechanistic defect in SCID foals is V(D)J r...
Kondo T, Fukunaga Y, Sekiguchi K, Sugiura T, Imagawa H.To examine antibodies against equine arteritis virus (EAV), an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) using purified virus antigen was developed. The results of ELISA were compared with those of serum neutralization (SN) tests. The ELISA absorbance values and the SN titers in sera collected weekly from EAV-infected horses showed a similar pattern. The ELISA could detect antibody to EAV in horses experimentally infected with not only a homologous virus strain, which was used as the ELISA antigen, but also a heterologous strain. Using the ELISA, serum samples collected in 1996 from racehorses...
Balebona MC, Andreu MJ, Bordas MA, Zorrilla I, Moriñigo MA, Borrego JJ.The in vivo and in vitro pathogenic activities of whole cells and extracellular products of Vibrio alginolyticus for cultured gilt-head sea bream were evaluated. The 50% lethal doses ranged from 5.4 x 10(4) to 1.0 x 10(6) CFU/g of body weight. The strains examined had the ability to adhere to skin, gill, and intestinal mucus of sea bream and to cultured cells of a chinook salmon embryo cell line. In addition, the in vitro ability of V. alginolyticus to adhere to mucus and skin cells of sea bream was demonstrated by scanning electron microscopy. The biological activities of extracellular produc...
Marsh AE, Barr BC, Packham AE, Conrad PA.Neospora hughesi n. sp. was isolated from the central nervous system tissue of an adult equine (Equus caballus) from California. The tachyzoites are crescent-shaped, approximately 2 x 5 microm (1.8-3.0 x 4.0-7.0 microm), with characteristic apical complex structures consisting of an anterior polar ring, conoid, numerous rhoptries filled with a uniform electron-dense material, and 22 microtubules extending posteriorly from the polar ring. Comparison of N. hughesi to canine and bovine Neospora caninum isolates showed phenotypic differences in immunoreactive proteins. Molecular analysis of the sm...
Williamson RM, Beveridge I, Gasser RB.To compare the sensitivities of three coprological techniques for the diagnosis of Anoplocephala perfoliata infection in horses and to assess the value of the methods for diagnosis of horses at risk of clinical cestodiasis. Methods: Faecal samples were collected from necropsied horses with or without A perfoliata infection and examined using one sedimentation and two different flotation methods. The coprological results were compared with worm counts performed at necropsy of the horses and the degree of mucosal damage. In addition, the efficiency of recovery of A perfoliata eggs from faeces wa...
Vercruysse J, Eysker M, Demeulenaere D, Smets K, Dorny P.A controlled trial was carried out to evaluate the persistence of the effect against small strongyles of a 2 per cent moxidectin gel administered orally to foals at a dose rate of 0.4 mg/kg bodyweight. Five of nine helminth-free foals were treated on day 0, and the remaining four foals were used as controls. On days 0, 7, 14, 21 and 28 all nine foals were infected experimentally with 200,000 small strongyle larvae. Three treated and two control foals were necropsied on day 42 and the rest on day 43. Fourteen species of small or medium sized small strongyles were found in the control foals, 10 ...
Pusterla N, Lutz H, Braun U.Four clinically healthy horses which were negative for antibodies to Ehrlichia phagocytophila, the agent of bovine ehrlichiosis, were infected experimentally with E phagocytophila-containing bovine leucocytes, administered intravenously. The horses were examined daily for four weeks, and blood samples were collected daily for cytological, haematological and biochemical examination and for a nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR). An indirect immunofluorescence test was used to determine when the horses seroconverted and the duration of positive titres. There were no abnormal clinical, haematol...
Mainar-Jaime RC, House JK, Smith BP, Hird DW, House AM, Kamiya DY.To predict mortality of horses by use of clinical data from the first day of hospitalization, to determine whether fecal shedding of Salmonella organisms is related to severity of clinical disease, and to determine the impact of fecal shedding of Salmonella organisms on mortality. Methods: Prospective study. Methods: 1,446 hospitalized horses. Methods: Medical information was obtained from horses hospitalized in an intensive care unit or isolation facility during a 4.5-year period. A model was created to predict mortality, using covariates determined on the day of admission. Predicted mortalit...
Malmgren L, Olsson Engvall E, Engvall A, Albihn A.This study was initiated in order to investigate the bacterial flora of the stallion genital tract by taking consecutive samples from normal stallions in regular use. The objective was to determine whether any growth of potential pathogens, particularly P. aeruginosa and K. pneumoniae, in fresh semen and urethra was associated with the presence of inflammatory cells in the semen and whether bacterial growth had any effect on sperm morphology and pregnancy results. Sixteen stallions, only used for A.I., housed at 3 different commercial stud farms, were used. A wide variety of microorganisms was...
Ward CL, Wood JL, Houghton SB, Mumford JA, Chanter N.Seventy-three bacterial isolates from 65 horses with and without evidence of lower airway disease were identified to assess whether the association with disease was accounted for by a small or large number of species. Just over half (50.5 per cent were Actinobacillus equuli, 17.8 per cent were A suis-like, 11 per cent were Pasteurella pneumotropica, 8.2 per cent were A lignieresii, 6.8 per cent were P haemolytica and 5.5 per cent were P mairii. These results suggest that a range of Actinobacillus and Pasteurella species can be isolated from the lower airways of horses, with many of the isolate...
el Hasnaoui H, el Harrak M, Tber A, Fikri A, Laghzaoui K, Bikour MH.An indirect fluorescent antibody (IFA) technique was used to screen and quantify antibodies against African horse sickness virus (AHSV) in equine sera. Results obtained with the IFA assay were compared directly with those obtained with standard complement fixation (CF) and virus neutralisation (VN) tests using horse sera from experimental studies and samples from the field. Positive fluorescent antibody titres were detected from as early as 7 days after primary vaccination and persisted for at least six months. The IFA technique offers a clear advantage over CF tests, where the antibodies are ...
Zientara S, Sailleau C, Moulay S, Crucière C, el-Harrak M, Laegreid WW, Hamblin C.A coupled reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction assay (RT-PCR) for the detection of African horse sickness virus (AHSV) dsRNA, has been developed using genome segment 7 as the target template for primers. RNA from isolates of all nine AHSV serotypes were readily detected. The potential inhibitory effects of either ethylene diamine tetra acetic acid (EDTA) or heparin on the RT-PCR were eliminated by washing blood samples before lysis of the red blood cells and storage. There was a close agreement in the sensitivity and the specificity of the RT-PCR and an indirect sandwich ELISA. Conf...
Katz JB, Alstad D, Jenny AL, Carbone KM, Rubin SA, Waltrip RW.Borna disease was originally described as an equine neurologic syndrome over 200 years ago, although the infectious etiology of the disorder was unproven until the early 20th century. Borna disease virus (BDV) was finally isolated from horses dying of the disorder, and that virus has been used to experimentally reproduce Borna disease in several species of laboratory animals. However, BDV has never been inoculated back into horses to experimentally and etiologically confirm the classic clinical, pathologic, and serologic characteristics of the disease in that species. Three ponies were intrace...
Bougrine SI, Fihri OF, Fehri MM.A Western immunoblotting procedure has been developed for the detection of African horse sickness virus (AHSV) protein-specific antibody responses. This assay readily identifies antibodies specific for at least 4 distinct, AHSV proteins, including VP5, NS1, NS2 and NS3/NS3a. By using the AHSV non-structural proteins as 'markers', the Western blotting procedure could be employed to provide a reliable means of discriminating between animals vaccinated with a purified, inactivated AHSV vaccine and those either naturally infected or vaccinated with a live, attenuated AHSV vaccine.
Hamblin C, Salt JS, Mellor PS, Graham SD, Smith PR, Wohlsein P.Investigations have been carried out to elucidate the possible role of the donkey in the epidemiology of African horse sickness (AHS). These studies have shown that despite the absence of pyrexia or other observable clinical signs, donkeys become infected with virulent AHS virus serotype 4 (AHSV 4) and that they develop a viraemia which can persist for at least 12 days, albeit at a comparatively lower titre than that recorded for similarly infected ponies. AHSV 4 showed a similar tissue tropism in the pony and donkey but the virus appeared to replicate less efficiently in donkey tissues. The o...
Wohlsein P, Pohlenz JF, Salt JS, Hamblin C.African horse sickness virus (AHSV) antigen was demonstrated immunohistochemically in formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded sections of tissues collected from three ponies suffering from the peracute form of the disease and from one pony affected by the fever form. The pattern of the antigen distribution indicated a particular organ tropism characterised by an accumulation of AHSV antigen in cardio-pulmonary tissues of the animals with the peracute disease and in the spleen of the pony with the fever form. AHSV antigen was identified in endothelial cells of small blood vessels, particularly capill...
Eysker M, Jansen J, Kooyman FN, Mirck MH, Wensing T.The small strongylid infections of two groups of three yearling female Shetland ponies and one yearling Shetland tracer pony were studied. One group was set stocked from April to November and was treated monthly with 5 mg kg-1 albendazole from two days before turnout until July. The other group grazed similar pasture until July, was treated with 5 mg kg-1 albendazole and subsequently removed to pasture grazed by sheep from April to July. The tracer ponies were added to both groups in September. The efficacy of both methods was not completely satisfactory probably because of low efficacy of ant...
Duggan VE, Holyoak GR, MaCallister CG, Confer AW.The objectives of the present study were to determine whether induction of parturition in mares at term with low doses of oxytocin (2.5 i.u. i.v. every 20 min) affected the incidence of peri-partum complications or inflammatory responses in the neonatal foal. Parturition was induced in 11 of 26 mares and the remainder foaled spontaneously. Serum concentrations of amyloid A (AA; an acute phase protein) were measured (with a commercial ELISA) from 0 to 72 h postpartum in 18 of the neonatal foals. The incidence of dystocia and premature placental separation was higher in induced mares (2 of 11 an...
Baxter GM.Orthopedic infections-those involving bones, joints, tendon sheaths, or bursae-are some of the most difficult problems for equine surgeons to treat successfully. Sources of the infection are usually hematogenous, traumatic, or iatrogenic and knowledge of the most likely causative bacteria is very useful in selecting the most appropriate antimicrobial(s) to either prevent or treat these infections in horses. This article discusses the clinical findings, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of orthopedic infections in horses. More recent treatment methods such as synovial drainage techniques (ar...
Alonso JM, Filho PTH, Ávila AR, Machado VMV, Hataka A, Bueno LMC, Alves ALG, Hussni CA, Rodrigues CA, Watanabe MJ.There are no previous reports of cranial meningocele in horses. In this report, we present the case of a 1-day-old male Quarter Horse that was born with a mass in the occipital region. The newborn was brought to the veterinary hospital, and a meningocele was diagnosed. The patient then underwent surgical closure of the defect. After an initial favorable response, the patient displayed signs of infection. The antibiotic therapy was changed, and the patient's condition improved. On the 13th postoperative day, the patient exhibited ataxia, difficulty standing, and limb hypertonia. Hydrocephalus w...
van Harreveld PD, Gaughan EM, Valentino LW.To review the outcome of cases of left dorsal displacement of the large colon (LDDLC) treated with phenylephrine HCl and mild exercise. Methods: Physical parameters, laboratory data, ultrasonographic findings and outcome were analysed in a retrospective study of 12 horses with a confirmed diagnosis of LDDLC which were treated with phenylephrine HCl and mild exercise. Results: Administration of phenylephrine HCl and mild exercise resulted in the resolution of LDDLC in 11 of 12 treated horses. One horse failed to resolve the entrapment and required surgical correction. Conclusions: Administratio...
Freeman DE, Staller GS, Maxson AD, Sweeney CR.A mare with hemorrhage caused by guttural pouch mycosis was treated by insertion of a balloon-tipped catheter into the left internal carotid artery. During recovery from general anesthesia, the mare had profuse epistaxis, and was anesthetized again to determine the site of hemorrhage. The affected guttural pouch was opened to confirm that hemorrhage was from the left internal carotid artery. The mare was euthanatized, and, at necropsy, the balloon catheter was found in an aberrant branch that arose from the internal carotid artery and joined the basilar artery. The mycotic plaque was on the le...
Carrier SP, Bannister GL, Boulanger P.Twenty-nine lots of acetone-ether extracted liquid antigen were prepared from the pulp of 11 spleens collected from horses at the acute phase of experimental infection. The lots prepared from the highly reactive pulp resulted in general in a liquid antigen of greater activity than those extracted from weakly reactive pulps. Some variations in activity between lots of antigen prepared from the same spleen were also observed. No matter what the results, given a wide enough variation, all results were reproducible. The procedure permitted production of a greater number of antigen test doses from ...
Riemann HP, Kaneko JJ, Haghighi S, Behymer DE, Franti CE, Ruppanner R.Hospitalized animals and stray dogs were serologically tested for antibodies against Toxoplasma gondii. In addition, the data were examined for the possibility of toxoplasmosis infection being associated with the clinical diagnosis and with the discharge status (alive vs. dead). Among 1056 hospitalized animals, 17 (20%) of 86 cats, 112 (14%) of 804 dogs, 34 (26%) of 133 horses and 6 (18%) of 33 cattle had serological evidence of infection with T. gondii. Only 22 (6%) of 342 young (median age = one year) stray dogs were seropositive. The difference in antibody prevalence between hospitalized an...
Scotty NC, Brooks DE, Schuman Rose CD.To evaluate the in vitro efficacy of an ophthalmic drug combination against common corneal pathogens of horses. Methods: Representative isolates of 3 bacterial and 2 fungal corneal pathogens of horses. Methods: Pathogens were subjected to minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) testing of a drug combination that consisted of equal volumes of natamycin 3.33%, tobramycin 0.3%, cefazolin 5.5%, and equine serum. Proteinase inhibitory activity of the drug combination was assessed by use of a fluorescence microplate assay with gelatin and collagen I as substrates. The MICs of the drug combination wer...
Rumbaugh GE, Ardans AA, Ginno D, Trommershausen-Smith A.Four procedures for assessment of adequacy of colostral immunoglobulin (Ig) transfer in foals were evaluated. Results of zinc sulfate turbidity test, serum electrophoresis, total serum protein refractometry, and sodium sulfite precipitation test were compared with immunoglobulin G content determined by single radial immunodiffusion. The zinc sulfate turbidity test gave acceptable results for IgG, except that hemolyzed serum samples gave higher than expected values. A correction factor for hemolyzed serum was found to be useful. Serum electrophoresis was a satisfactory method of estimating IgG ...
Morris DL, Taylor DH, Daniels D, Riley EM, Richards KS.Ovine and equine protoscoleces of Echinococcus granulosus were cultured for 26 days with our without praziquantel and viability assessed, by eosin exclusion, for cultures in various drug concentrations (50, 250 and 500 micrograms/l) and periods of exposure (1, 3 or 7 days (d] before removing/'rescuing' to drug-free medium. Drug efficacy was proportional to drug concentration and to length of exposure. At higher drug concentrations shorter exposures were required to produce the effect of continuous drug treatment, 1d therapy at 500 micrograms/l killing 96% ovine protoscoleces by day 14 whereas ...
Fouché N, Gerber V, Thomann A, Perreten V.We report blood culture results of 43 foals admitted to an equine hospital for medical or surgical disorders and determine minimal inhibitory concentrations (MIC) of different antibiotics. Eleven foals had a positive blood culture result despite prior administration of antibiotics in 10 of these animals. MIC values above EUCAST and/or CLSI breakpoints were identified in coagulase-negative staphylococci, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and Enterococcus faecium. Gram-negative isolates were less frequently identified and did not appear to exhibit increased MIC values. This stud...
MacLeay JM, Kohn CW.Quantitative urine cultures were performed on 11 male and 11 female healthy adult horses. Urine was collected by free catch and catheterization using standard methods. Results showed that all samples collected by free catch contained less than 20,000 colony-forming units (CFU)/mL. All samples collected by catheterization contained 500 CFU/mL or less. A significant difference was found between collection methods (P < .005), with catheterization having less contamination. In samples collected by free catch, females had significantly greater contamination than did males (P < .03). Predominant bac...
Schmidt GM, Krehbiel JD, Coley SC, Leid RW.Equine eyes (368) were examined clinically and histologically for abnormalities associated with the presence of ocular microfilariae of naturally occurring Onchocerca sp infection. Forty of the eyes had microfilariae in the conjunctiva, but distinguishing clinical abnormalities were not associated with their presence. In 1 horse with ocular microfilariae that was treated with diethylcarbamazine daily for 2 weeks, ocular tissue samples were obtained before, during, and after the horse was treated, and the samples were compared histologically. During treatment of the horse, microfilariae apparen...
Chung TH, Park GB, Lim CY, Park HM, Choi GC, Youn HY, Chae JS, Hwang CY.Identification of the species and strain of dermatophyte can play an effective role in control of disease outbreaks by establishing the source of infection. Current methods of identification are based on cultural and microscopic methods, often involving weeks before a positive identification are made. A rapid molecular diagnostic method would therefore be an important laboratory technique, but requires confirmation in equine clinical practice. Objective: To test the sensitivity and specificity of molecular diagnostic methods applied to a racehorse herd from the Korean Racehorse Authority (KRA)...
Beech J.Tracheobronchial aspirates were obtained from 27 normal horses and from 57 horses with respiratory disease. Aspirates from normal horses contained mainly ciliated columnar epithelial cells, mononuclear cells, a few neutrophils and mucus. Aspirates from horses with acute suppurative bronchopneumonias or chronic bronchiolitis had predominantly neutrophils and usually large amounts of mucus; in severe suppurative inflammatory diseases, many of the cells were degenerated, and there were coils of fibrinous material resembling Curschmann's spirals. Eosinophils were rarely found, even from horses wit...
Brooks DE, Plummer CE, Mangan BG, Ben-Shlomo G.To describe clinical findings in equine subepithelial keratomycosis (SEK). Methods: Retrospective medical records study. Methods: Medical records of horses that had subepithelial keratomycosis (SEK) at the University of Florida Veterinary Medical Center from 2007 to 2011 were reviewed. Methods: Data collected from the medical records included signalment, clinical descriptions of ocular lesions, diagnostic techniques, and therapeutic outcomes. Results: Twenty-one horses, consisting of three Quarter horse geldings, two Morgan geldings, one Morgan mare, two Arabian mares, three Arabian geldings, ...
Schöniger S, Gräfe H, Wipplinger M, Schoon HA.In mares, placental diseases are a common cause of pregnancy failure and they can have an economic impact on the horse breeding industry. To our knowledge no published data on TLR expression in the equine placenta exist. This study examined the expression of TLR 2, 4 and 6 as transcript and protein in the placenta (chorioallantois) of 14 foals born alive. By PCR, all examined placental samples contained TLR 2, 4 and 6 transcripts. Using immunohistochemistry, trophoblasts and allantoic epithelium were immunopositive for TLR 2, 4 and 6 in all placental samples. The majority of placental samples ...
Goni JI, Hendrix K, Kritchevsky J.It is important to determine if a horse is shedding Salmonella spp., but a complete culture series can be cost prohibitive. Objective: Determine the optimal pooling technique to maintain high sensitivity of Salmonella spp. culture using spiked samples, and then demonstrate the efficacy of this protocol on clinical submissions. Objective: Pooled fecal samples are as sensitive as 5 individual cultures for the detection of Salmonella shedding. Methods: A single Salmonella-negative horse from the university herd, and 19 hospitalized horses. Methods: Salmonella-free fecal samples were spiked with d...
Davidson AJ, Edwards GB, Proudman CJ, Cripps PJ, Matthews JB.The aim of this study was to investigate cytokine expression patterns in the large intestinal mucosa of horses, particularly in diseases associated with inflammation. Many cases of equine colitis remain without a definitive diagnosis and survival rates are poor. In humans, colitis is associated with increased expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines. To examine if similar responses occur in horses, we investigated il -2, il -4, il -5, il -10, tnfalpha, ifngamma and tgfbeta messenger rna expression in large intestinal mucosa. Samples were obtained from animals with large intestinal disease (n=1...
Lem MF, Vincent KP, Pone JW, Joseph T.It is important to understand the biology and health impact of parasites affecting horses in the Western highlands of Cameroon. Objective: to evaluate the prevalence and intensity of infection of gastrointestinal helminths in these animals. Methods: A total of 894 horses (367 males and 527 females), and aged ≤1 to ≥7 years old were examined. A parasitological investigation of faeces was carried out using two techniques: concentration method of Full Born Willis (flotation in saturated solution of sodium chloride) and Mc Master Technique. Conclusions: From the results the overall prevalence ...
Hilton H, Aleman M, Madigan J, Nieto J.To describe the indications for, complications arising from, and outcome of horses that had standing lateral thoracotomy for pleural or pericardial disease. Methods: Case series. Methods: Horses (n=16). Methods: Medical records (January 1990-December 2008) of sedated standing horses that had lateral thoracotomy were reviewed. Clinical and surgical findings, perioperative and short-term complications were recorded. Long-term (>6 months) outcome was determined through telephone conversations with owners and veterinarians. Results: Mean (±SD) horse age was 6.6±5.3 years (range, 1-15 years). ...
Idrissi Bougrine S, Fassi Fihri O, el Harrak M, Fassi Fehri MM.A vaccination protocol involving three horses, with five repeated injections of inactivated serotype 4 African horse sickness virus, was undertaken to determine a possible threshold for the appearance of antibodies against the non-structural protein NS3. Using an indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, with the recombinant NS3 protein as an antigen, the authors detected a response to NS3 as of the second injection for the first horse and after four injections for the second horse. No response to NS3 was detected for the third horse. The results show that the inactivated vaccine is insuffic...
Köhne M, Hofbauer L, Böttcher D, Tönissen A, Hegger A, Görgens A, Ulrich R, Sieme H.Bacterial endometritis is one of the major problems in equine reproduction and usually treated with antimicrobial drugs. The study aimed to compare the effects of intrauterine ozone application and systemic antibiotic treatment (trimethoprim-sulfadimethoxine) on intrauterine bacterial growth and possible side effects on the endometrium in a clinical setting. Mares ( = 30) with signs of endometritis (positive uterine bacterial culture and cytological findings) were assigned randomly to different treatments: intrauterine insufflation of an ozone-air-mix (240 ml, 80 μg ozone/ml) twice at a 48 h-...
Monzón CM, Jara GA, Hoyos CB.The microhaematocrit (MH) technique was used to study the survival of Trypanosoma evansi in blood from two herds of naturally-infected horses. A comparison was made between samples treated with ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid and sodium citrate (alone or with 1% glucose), and sent to the laboratory packed in ice. In general, the number of samples yielding positive results by the MH technique showed the least variation during the first 24-36 h after sample collection. Survival varied with the anticoagulant used, but it declined rapidly from 48 h after collection, although live parasites were st...
Ross MW, Martin BB, Donawick WJ.The case records of 23 horses with cecal perforation (CP) were reviewed. The horses averaged 4.5 years of age (6 weeks to 13 years) and included 9 intact males, 12 mares, and 2 geldings. Twelve of the horses were Standardbreds, 9 were Thoroughbreds, and 1 each, a Belgian and Morgan. The horses were allotted to 2 groups: group I-13 hospitalized horses in which CP occurred unexpectedly, and group II-10 horses with CP at the time of admission. The horses characteristically had been sick or affected with disease unrelated to the cecum. Sixteen horses had been given nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory d...
Narváez SÁ, Fernández I, Patel NV, Sánchez S. is an important veterinary pathogen that takes the lives of many foals every year. With the emergence and spread of MDR to current antimicrobial treatment, new tools that can provide a fast and accurate diagnosis of the disease and antimicrobial resistance profile are needed. Here, we have developed and analytically validated a multiplex qPCR for the simultaneous detection of and related macrolide resistance genes in equine respiratory samples. The three sets of oligos designed in this study to identify housekeeping gene and macrolide resistance genes (46) and (51) showed high analytic se...
Kamel M, Pavulraj S, Osterrieder K, Azab W.Primary infection and pathogenesis of equine herpesvirus type 1 (EHV-1) require an intricate interaction of virus with the mucosal epithelium, mononuclear cells and the vascular endothelium. Studies on EHV-1 have been facilitated by the development of different models that recapitulate the tissue complexity. The available assays can be categorized into (i) models mimicking the epithelium-peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) interaction, which include mucosal (nasal and vaginal) explants and equine respiratory epithelial cells (EREC) cultures; and (ii) PBMC-endothelium mimicking models,...
Slocombe JO, McCraw BM, Pennock PW, Ducharme N, Baird JD.A preliminary investigation was made into the effect of fourth-stage Strongylus vulgaris larvae sequestered in the tunica media of ileocolic arteries of pony foals treated with ivermectin. The foals had been reared parasite-free, inoculated with infective larvae and given orally a placebo or ivermectin paste. Two foals received subsequently one or two further inoculations with larvae and treatment with ivermectin. Arteriography was used to identify the lesions in the ileocolic artery following inoculation and their regression following treatment. At necropsy, foals were examined for lesions an...
Hemberg E, Niazi A, Guo Y, Debnár VJ, Vincze B, Morrell JM, Kútvölgyi G.The presence of a microbiome/microbiota in the placenta is hotly debated. In previous studies, the presence of bacteria in equine amniotic fluid and umbilical blood was independent of foal health. The objective of the present study was to determine if the same bacteria are present in the equine placenta as in amniotic fluid and umbilical blood. Samples were obtained from 24 parturient mares and foals. Placental bacterial DNA was extracted, and the microbiome was identified using 16S rRNA sequencing. All amniotic fluid samples contained some polymorphonucleocytes; bacteria were isolated from fo...
