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.
Wise LN, Kappmeyer LS, Knowles DP, White SN.The equine parasite Theilera equi continues to curtail global equine commerce due primarily to its ability to persist indefinitely in the immunocompetent horse. Details regarding the parasite life cycle, pathogenesis and mechanism of persistence remain unclear. The recently discovered T. haneyi is also capable of persistence in the horse, creating a potential reservoir for additional infections. These two divergent parasites share a unique gene family that expresses surface merozoite antigens, or equi merozoite antigens (EMAs). The EMA family was maintained in number and size in both parasites...
Lundberg L, Fontenot J, Lin SC, Pinkham C, Carey BD, Campbell CE, Kehn-Hall K.Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus (VEEV) is a positive sense, single-stranded RNA virus and member of the New World alphaviruses. It causes a biphasic febrile illness that can be accompanied by central nervous system involvement and moderate morbidity in humans and severe mortality in equines. The virus has a history of weaponization, lacks FDA-approved therapeutics and vaccines in humans, and is considered a select agent. Like other RNA viruses, VEEV replicates in the cytoplasm of infected cells and eventually induces apoptosis. The capsid protein, which contains a nuclear localization and...
More SN, Hernandez O, Castleman WL.Rhinitis and sinusitis caused by fungal pathogens were studied in biopsy samples submitted from 52 horses distributed throughout subtropical and tropical regions of Florida. Methods included routine histopathology as well as polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with panfungal/panoomycete primers and DNA sequencing on extracted DNA (DNA barcoding). Granulomatous, pyogranulomatous, and fibrinopurulent lesions in nasal and sinus mucosa were associated with signs of upper airway obstruction and noise as well as nasal discharge. Morphologic and histochemical assessment of cases identified 31 cases of zy...
Peters-Kennedy J, Lange CE, Rine SL, Hackett RP.Equus caballus papillomavirus 8, a recently discovered virus, has been reported to cause generalised papillomavirus in horses. Objective: To describe a case in which multiple viral plaques, viral papillomas, squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) in situ and invasive squamous cell carcinoma (ISCC) were associated with EcPV8 in a horse. Methods: Case report. Methods: A 16-year-old mixed breed horse presented with dozens of raised crusted papular to nodular lesions over a course of 4 years. Masses had been surgically excised four times and cisplatin beads and emulsion were implanted on three different ...
Krajaejun T, Kittichotirat W, Patumcharoenpol P, Rujirawat T, Lohnoo T, Yingyong W.The oomycete Pythium insidiosum infects humans and animals worldwide, and causes the life-threatening condition, called pythosis. Most patients lose infected organs or die from the disease. Comparative genomic analyses of different P. insidiosum strains could provide new insights into its pathobiology, and can lead to discovery of an effective treatment method. Several draft genomes of P. insidiosum are publicly available: three from Asia (Thailand), and one each from North (the United States) and Central (Costa Rica) Americas. We report another draft genome of P. insidiosum isolated from Sout...
Kwak ML, Schubert J.Although forensic parasitology remains in its infancy compared with more developed fields like forensic entomology, parasites can be useful forensic indicators. We present the case of an individual who disobeyed animal health legislation and crossed animal quarantine boundaries and two state lines with a cattle tick (Rhipicephalus australis) infested horse. Following recognition of the infestation by animal health officers, the individual asserted that the infestation had occurred either during transport or upon arrival at the site of discovery, and that they had not contravened quarantine leg...
Hendrickson EHS, Lykkjen S, Dolvik NI, Olstad K.Young Standardbred horses frequently develop fragments in joints. Some fragments represent osteochondrosis; others are considered developmental, but it is uncertain whether they result from preceding osteochondrosis. Osteochondrosis occurs as a consequence of failure of the cartilage canal blood supply and ischaemic chondronecrosis. In heritably predisposed foals, failure was associated with incorporation of vessels into bone. However, bacterial vascular failure was also recently documented in foals suffering spontaneous infections, proving that bacteria can cause osteochondral lesions in foal...
Ditz T, Schnapka-Hille L, Noack N, Dorow J, Ceglarek U, Niederwieser D, Schiller J, Fuchs B, Cross M.Horse serum is commonly used as an additive to support the maintenance of hematopoietic progenitor cells in culture. However, the wide variability in the performance of different lots calls for parallel testing of multiple batches over extended periods of culture. Identification of the serum components that determine hematopoietic support would therefore save considerable time and effort and would help to standardize culture procedures. We report here that the ability of horse serum to support the self-renewal of multipotent murine hematopoietic progenitor FDCP-Mix cells is correlated to the c...
Delph KM, Beard LA, Trimble AC, Sutter ME, Timoney JF, Morrow JK.Streptococcus equi subspecies equi infection elicits M protein antibody titers in equids. Interpretation of titers is not generally accepted. Objective: The magnitude of S. equi M protein (SeM) antibody titer after infection (titer ≥1:12 800) will be useful to monitor for the presence of complications or the risk of development of complications. Methods: Forty-eight horses on 1 farm involved in strangles outbreak. Methods: Clinical and observational study. S. equi M protein antibody titers were measured on all horses 8 weeks after infection and select horses 12 and 28 weeks after infecti...
Cole SD, Stefanovski D, Towl S, Boyle AG.There is a lack of epidemiological studies about equine subsolar (hoof) abscesses even though they are among one of the most common causes of acute, severe lameness. The goals of this study were to (1) describe the equine subsolar abscess patient population of the University of Pennsylvania's New Bolton Center's Field Service and (2) to determine the factors that are associated with increased veterinary visits, prolonged treatment and complications. Descriptive statistics were performed on data collected from 160 cases of equine subsolar abscess. Inferential statistics were performed on a subs...
Elsohaby I, Riley CB, McClure JT.Neonatal foals with failure of transfer of passive immunity (FTPI) are at higher risk of morbidity and mortality. Successful treatment of FTPI is time-dependent, thus rapid and accurate measurement of serum IgG concentration is important for the management and care of neonatal foals. Objective: To validate the use of digital and optical refractometers for assessing FTPI in neonatal foals and compare the diagnostic performance and level of agreement of the two refractometers to the reference standard radial immunodiffusion (RID) assay. Methods: A retrospective validation study. Methods: Serum s...
Aitken MR, Stefanovski D, Southwood LL.To determine serum amyloid A (SAA) concentrations in the postoperative (PO) colic horse and its association with PO complications and infection. Methods: Prospective case series. Methods: Fifty-one horses after colic surgery. Methods: Blood samples from horses undergoing exploratory celiotomy were analyzed for quantitative SAA and fibrinogen concentrations and for neutrophil count at days 0, 1, 2, and 4-6 and at hospital discharge. Results: Complications developed in 35 (69%) horses and included PO colic (n = 13, 25%), PO reflux (n = 11, 22%), intravenous catheter (IVC) complications (...
Pégné JC, Duquesne F, Laugier C, Lequeux G, Petry S.The present study reports the isolation of A. hippocoleae from genital swabs of 15 apparently healthy mares (at least one had an abortion one month earlier) and describes the genotypic and phenotypic characterisation of these strains. The mares were of eight different breeds with a thoroughbred dominance and came from 11 breeding farms located in the French region of Brittany. 16S rRNA gene sequencing confirmed the species' identification by comparing it with reference strain A. hippocoleae CIP 106850. Some degree of natural divergence within A. hippocoleae was observed by 16S rRNA sequencing ...
Manuja A, Manuja BK, Singha H.Significant structural differences in the extracellular domain of toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9) account for species-specific recognition of its ligand CpG-ODN sequences. TLR9 is extensively studied in human, mice and some domestic animals. The recognition ability appears to be utilized differently by various species and breeds, but so far no comprehensive study exists about the equine TLR9 gene. We characterized TLR9 sequences of Marwari and Zanskari breeds of horses and Poitu donkey. We sequenced and identified the protein coding regions of equine TLR9 and compared with other animals and human ...
Jaworska J, Janowski T.Retained fetal membranes (RFM) is a prevalent postpartum disease in mares. During parturition, various proinflammatory cytokines are released in the placenta, which further facilitates uterine contractions, expulsion of the fetus and fetal membranes. We hypothesized that an altered inflammatory response in mares results in retained fetal membranes. Samples of the endometrium and the allantochorion were collected from 15 mares with RFM and from 29 control mares within 2 h of foal delivery. Next, the mRNA expression of IL-1β, IL-6 and TNFα proteins was analyzed by Real Time PCR and Western b...
Kamus LJ, Theoret C, Costa MC.To use next generation sequencing to characterize the microbiota of horses during healing of skin wounds in two anatomical locations (body and limb) known to present different healing patterns; and to investigate the impact of bandaging on bacterial communities of skin wounds located on the limbs of horses. Full-thickness skin wounds were created on the distal extremity of both thoracic limbs and on one lateral mid-thoracic wall of four healthy horses. Limb wounds were randomly assigned to bandaging or not. A full-thickness sample was collected with a biopsy punch from intact thorax and limb s...
Hodgson C, Pinchbeck G.Despite the regularity with which castration is performed, the types of complications and current best practice are unknown. Objective: The objective of this study was to perform a prospective audit of routine equine castrations performed in general practice to determine complication rates and factors associated with them. Methods: Multicentre, prospective audit of castrations. Methods: Data on castrations were collected on the day of surgery from 18 veterinary practices; 30-days post-operatively follow-up was obtained and complications recorded. Frequency of complications was reported, and mu...
Jones ARE, Ragle CA.CASE DESCRIPTION 2 fillies, aged 3 months and 1 month, were examined because of urinary incontinence and urine scalding. CLINICAL FINDINGS In horse 1, ultrasonography did not reveal any structural abnormalities of the kidneys; however, unilateral ureteral ectopia was diagnosed cystoscopically. In horse 2, CT revealed bilateral nephropathy, bilateral distended ureters (up to 3.6 cm in diameter), and bilateral ureteral ectopia. Cystoscopy revealed intramural ureteral ectopia with abnormally caudally positioned ureteral ostia in both horses. TREATMENT AND OUTCOME Ureteral ostioplasty was performe...
Charvet CL, Guégnard F, Courtot E, Cortet J, Neveu C.The control of parasitic nematodes impacting animal health relies on the use of broad spectrum anthelmintics. However, intensive use of these drugs has led to the selection of resistant parasites in livestock industry. In that respect, there is currently an urgent need for novel compounds able to control resistant parasites. Nicotine has also historically been used as a de-wormer but was removed from the market when modern anthelmintics became available. The pharmacological target of nicotine has been identified in nematodes as acetylcholine-gated ion channels. Nicotinic-sensitive acetylcholin...
Frees KE.The goal of wound cleansing and care is the control or removal of tissue infection to allow healing in the most functional, cosmetic, fastest, and least expensive manner possible. This is accomplished through the removal of debris and necrotic tissue while reducing the bacterial load via careful use of mechanical techniques and cleaning agents, accepting that some level of tissue trauma will result. Keep in mind that the benefit of a clean wound must be weighed against the trauma inflicted in the process of cleansing. Veterinary health care professionals should take steps to reduce hospital-ac...
Leise BS.Topical therapies are used in equine wound healing to clean and decontaminate the wound environment after acute injury and to promote healing and decrease the risk of infection once the wound has initially been treated. Evolving antibiotic resistance has prompted judicious use of systemic antimicrobials, particularly in the treatment of local infections, such as wounds. The use of topical antiseptics to disinfect acute wounds and topical antimicrobials to manage chronic wounds is necessary to achieve successful healing. In addition, many topical medications can alter the wound environment to p...
Ludwig EK, van Harreveld PD.Equine septic synovitis commonly occurs secondary to traumatic wounds. The distal limbs of horses have minimal soft tissue protection, thus wounds in these areas are more likely to involve adjacent synovial structures. Synovial sepsis can be debilitating due to difficulties clearing established infections and the degenerative changes that result from ongoing inflammation. Prompt diagnosis allows for immediate treatment, improving the prognosis. Goals for successful treatment of infected synovial structures due to wounds include early and accurate recognition of the condition, rapid resolution ...
Maher M, Kuebelbeck L.Nonhealing wounds present a common challenge to the equine practitioner. An underlying source of inflammation and infection is almost always present and needs to be resolved for healing to proceed. Wound débridement is the mainstay for this resolution. In addition, wound closure, wound dressings, and skin grafts can be used to achieve successful wound healing.
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 ...
Al-Kass Z, Spergser J, Aurich C, Kuhl J, Schmidt K, Morrell JM.Bacteria contaminate semen during collection and handling. The objective of this study was to identify the bacteria in pony stallion semen, the effects of antibiotics included in commercial semen extenders (lincomycin and spectinomycin) and the effect of modified single layer centrifugation (MSLC), on bacterial load. Ejaculates from six pony stallions, 3 ejaculates per animal, were extended in EquiPlus extender either with or without antibiotics. Aliquots were processed by MSLC to form four treatment groups: control and MSLC with antibiotics (CA and SA, respectively) and control and MSLC witho...
Jo A, Lee HE, Kim HS.Horses (Equus caballus) have been domesticated and bred to enhance speed, strength, and agility. Members of the Equus caballus Endogenous Retrovirus (EqERV) family affect several of these abilities in horses. EqERV elements have been integrated in the horse genome during evolution and generate repeat elements such as long terminal repeats (LTRs). LTR sequences are involved in retrovirus replication and play an essential function in post-transcriptional control mechanisms, such as by providing binding sites for microRNAs (miRNAs) or generating miRNA precursors. In this study, we identified a no...
Wimer CL, Schnabel CL, Perkins G, Babasyan S, Freer H, Stout AE, Rollins A, Osterrieder N, Goodman LB, Glaser A, Wagner B.The equine herpesvirus type 1 (EHV-1) ORF1 and ORF71 genes have immune modulatory effects in vitro. Experimental infection of horses using virus mutants with multiple deletions including ORF1 and ORF71 showed promise as vaccine candidates against EHV-1. Here, the combined effects of ORF1 and ORF71 deletions from the neuropathogenic EHV-1 strain Ab4 on clinical disease and host immune response were further explored. Three groups of EHV-1 naïve horses were experimentally infected with the ORF1/71 gene deletion mutant (Ab4ΔORF1/71), the parent Ab4 strain, or remained uninfected. In comparison t...
Attia MM, Khalifa MM, Mahdy OA. larvae are of veterinary and medical importance caused specific equine intestinal myiasis. (Botfly larvae) had a wide geographical distribution. The present study explores the prevalence rate of 3 stage larvae in Egypt from January- December 2017; besides, in vitro trials to control of this larvae and evaluation of this trial using Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and histopathology of treated larvae. In the present study, the 3 larval stage of was found in clusters in the epithelium of the investigated stomach and infested with prevalence rate 97.2%. The highest collected numbers of lar...
Mehdizadeh Gohari I, Boerlin P, Prescott JF.NetF-producing type A Clostridium perfringens, a pathotype of C. perfringens, causes necrotizing enteritis in neonatal foals and necrotizing and hemorrhagic enteritis in dogs. Recent core genome multilocus sequence typing study revealed that netF+ C. perfringens strains belong to two distinct clonal populations (clonal complexes I and II). There are no reports on susceptibility to antimicrobial drugs of isolates from this pathotype. The susceptibility to 13 different antimicrobial drugs of 49 netF+ strains recovered from foals or dogs with necrotizing enteritis in Canada, the United States, an...
Montes Cortés MG, Fernández-García JL, Habela Martínez-Estéllez MÁ.Two haemoparasites, Theileria equi and Babesia caballi, cause equine piroplasmosis (EP), one of the most prevalent tick-borne diseases in horses. The main aim of the present study was to develop and evaluate a multinested PCR (mn-PCR) for simultaneous detection of the equine piroplasmids T. equi and B. caballi, by amplification of five genetic markers (18S rRNA, β-tubulin, cytB, EMA-1 and RAP-1). This novel assay detected a high prevalence of equine piroplasmids in 235 horse blood samples collected in Castilla-León and Extremadura, Spain. The overall prevalence of infection with equine pirop...
Pitel PH, Romand S, Pronost S, Foucher N, Gargala G, Maillard K, Thulliez P, Collobert-Laugier C, Tainturier D, Fortier G, Ballet JJ.Neospora caninum, an apicomplexan protozoan parasite, is recognized as a major cause of abortion in cattle while limited information is presently available on association between equine Neospora infections and abortions. The aim of the present study was to document prevalence of antibodies against Neospora sp. in aborted mares as a clue to the role of N. caninum in mare reproductive failure in Normandy, France. Using an agglutination test, the number of animals with elevated (>80) anti-Neospora sp. antibody titer was higher in a group of 54 aborted mares than in randomly chosen groups of 45 ma...
Troedsson MH, Liu IK.The purpose of this study was to investigate the physical ability of the mare's uterus to eliminate non-antigenic 51Cr microspheres during an infectious challenge. Mares both potentially susceptible and resistant to chronic uterine infections were used in this study. The procedure described serves as a model of the uterine capacity to clear physically infectious agents and inflammatory products during the acute phase of an infection. Based on the results from intra-uterine bacterial challenges, reproductive history, examination per rectum and endometrial biopsies, mares were classified as pote...
Davitkov D, Vucicevic M, Stevanovic J, Krstic V, Slijepcevic D, Glavinic U, Stanimirovic Z.Equine piroplasmosis is significant tick-borne disease with wide distribution. The prevalence of equine piroplasmosis in Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina is unknown. In aim to obtain a first insight into the prevalence we performed molecular epidemiological study which included 142 horses, on seven locations in these three countries. We first performed PCR for the detection of a 450bp long section of the 18S rRNA of piroplasma-specific region. For all positive samples we have done multiplex PCR for the species detection. Species determination was further confirmed by sequencing PC...
Humber RA, Brown CC, Kornegay RW.A 15-year-old Arabian mare from southern Louisiana with a 2-month history of periodic epistaxis and severe weight loss had a large, fibrosing, granulomatous mass containing numerous nodules ("kunkers") projecting dorsally into the nasopharynx, and was euthanized at the owner's request. In addition to these kunkers, the mass contained a single trematode tentatively identified as Fasciola hepatica. Several kunkers were removed, washed thoroughly in sterile water and embedded in nutrient agars; the fungus that grew out of them was identified as Conidiobolus lamprauges Drechsler (Entomophthorales:...
Pringle J, Storm E, Waller A, Riihimäki M.Antibiotic treatment of horses with strangles is reported to impair the development of immunity to subsequent exposure to Streptococcus equi ssp equi (S. equi). However, apart from a single clinical report, evidence-based studies for this hypothesis are lacking. Objective: To determine whether penicillin treatment during clinical strangles influences the development or persistence of seropositivity to S. equi-specific antibodies. Methods: A natural outbreak of strangles with 100% morbidity in 41 unvaccinated mature Icelandic horses. Methods: A prospective longitudinal study of acute clinical s...
Akter R, El-Hage CM, Sansom FM, Carrick J, Devlin JM, Legione AR.Abortion in horses leads to economic and welfare losses to the equine industry. Most cases of equine abortions are sporadic, and the cause is often unknown. This study aimed to detect potential abortigenic pathogens in equine abortion cases in Australia using metagenomic deep sequencing methods. Results: After sequencing and analysis, a total of 68 and 86 phyla were detected in the material originating from 49 equine abortion samples and 8 samples from normal deliveries, respectively. Most phyla were present in both groups, with the exception of Chlamydiae that were only present in abortion sa...
Albert E, Biksi I, Német Z, Csuka E, Kelemen B, Morvay F, Bakos Z, Bodó G, Tóth B, Collaud A, Rossano A, Perreten V.Between July 2011 and May 2016, a total of 40 Staphylococcus aureus strains originating from 36 horses were confirmed as methicillin resistant (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus [MRSA]) in a university equine clinic. An additional 10 MRSA strains from 36 samples of clinic workers were obtained in October 2017. The first equine isolate represented the sequence type ST398, spa-type t011, and SCCmec IV. This isolate was resistant to a wide spectrum of antimicrobial agents. MRSA strains with the same genotype and with very similar resistance profiles were isolated on 21 more occasions fr...
Pronost S, Fortier C, Marcillaud-Pitel C, Tapprest J, Foursin M, Saunier B, Pitel PH, Paillot R, Hue ES.(1) Background: Equine hepacivirus (EqHV), also referred to as non-primate hepacivirus (NPHV), infects horses-and dogs in some instances-and is closely related to hepatitis C virus (HCV) that has infected up to 3% of the world's human population, causing an epidemic of liver cirrhosis and cancer. EqHV also chronically infects the liver of horses, but does not appear to cause serious liver damages. Previous studies have been looking to identify route(s) of EqHV transmission to and between horses. (2) Methods: In this retrospective study, we sought to evaluate the prevalence of vertical transmis...
Delcambre GH, Liu J, Herrington JM, Vallario K, Long MT.Phenotypic characterization of cellular responses in equine infectious encephalitides has had limited description of both peripheral and resident cell populations in central nervous system (CNS) tissues due to limited species-specific reagents that react with formalin-fixed, paraffin embedded tissue (FFPE). This study identified a set of antibodies for investigating the immunopathology of infectious CNS diseases in horses. Multiple commercially available staining reagents and antibodies derived from antigens of various species for manual immunohistochemistry (IHC) were screened. Several techni...
Niwa H, Kato H, Hobo S, Kinoshita Y, Ueno T, Katayama Y, Hariu K, Oku K, Senoh M, Kuroda T, Nakai K.Clostridium difficile is an important cause of acute enterocolitis in horses. We describe five cases of C difficile infection occurring postoperatively in Thoroughbred racehorses. Following diarrhoea or colic accompanied by a marked increase in packed cell volume (to ≥60 per cent) and leucopenia (≤4000 cells/μl) within two to four days after surgery in all five horses, four of them died or were euthanased because of colitis or severe diarrhoea. In these four horses, necrotising entero-typhlo-colitis was revealed by postmortem examination, and C difficile was recovered from the contents of...
Costa-Farré C, Prades M, Ribera T, Valero O, Taurà P.Decreased tissue oxygenation is a critical factor in the development of wound infection as neutrophil mediated oxidative killing is an essential mechanism against surgical pathogens. The objective of this prospective case series was to assess the impact of intraoperative arterial partial pressure of oxygen (PaO2) on surgical site infection (SSI) in horses undergoing emergency exploratory laparotomy for acute gastrointestinal disease. The anaesthetic and antibiotic protocol was standardised. Demographic data, surgical potential risk factors and PaO2, obtained 1h after induction of anaesthesia w...
Uehlinger FD, Clancey NP, Lofstedt J.A 16-year-old Paint stallion was presented with intermittent fever, inappetance, lethargy, icterus, distal limb edema, and submandibular lymphadenopathy. The horse was native to Nova Scotia and had never left that province. Morulae were detected in granulocytes. Ananaplasma phagocytophilum infection was confirmed by serology and polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The horse responded to treatment with oxytetracycline. Anaplasmose granulocytaire chez un cheval de la Nouvelle-Écosse causée par une infection par Anaplasma phagocytophilum. Un étalon Paint âgé de 16 ans a été présenté avec un...
Yamanaka T, Nemoto M, Bannai H, Tsujimura K, Kondo T, Matsumura T, Muranaka M, Ueno T, Kinoshita Y, Niwa H, Hidari KI, Suzuki T.Since equine influenza A virus (H3N8) was transmitted to dogs in the United States in 2004, the causative virus, which is called canine influenza A virus (CIV), has become widespread in dogs. To date, it has remained unclear whether or not CIV-infected dogs could transmit CIV to horses. To address this, we tested whether or not close contact between horses and dogs experimentally infected with CIV would result in its interspecies transmission. Methods: Three pairs of animals consisting of a dog inoculated with CIV (10(8.3) egg infectious dose 50/dog) and a healthy horse were kept together in i...
Barrandeguy M, Thiry E.Equine coital exanthema (ECE) caused by equid herpesvirus 3 (EHV-3) is a contagious venereal disease characterised by the formation of painful papules, vesicles, pustules and ulcers on the external genitalia of both mares and stallions. EHV-3 is an alphaherpesvirus that is distinct from the other equine herpesviruses and endemic in most horse breeding populations worldwide. The negative impacts of ECE on equine breeding enterprises are the forced, temporary disruption of mating activities of mares and stallions, the additional care and supportive treatment that is required for affected horses,...
Gough SL, Carrick J, Raidal SL, Keane S, Collins N, Cudmore L, Russell CM, Raidal S, Hughes KJ.During 2016-2018, 15 critically ill neonatal foals with acute respiratory distress associated with Chlamydia psittaci infection were presented to three referral hospitals in New South Wales. Chlamydia psittaci has not previously been associated with the development of neonatal respiratory disease. Objective: To investigate and describe the clinical features and outcome of C. psittaci infection in neonatal foals. Methods: Multicentre retrospective case series. Methods: The clinical, clinicopathological, necropsy and histological features of 15 foals with confirmed C. psittaci infection were r...
Zhang B, Sun C, Jin S, Cascio M, Montelaro RC.The equine lentivirus receptor 1 (ELR1), a member of the tumor necrosis factor receptor (TNFR) protein family, has been identified as a functional receptor for equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV). Toward defining the functional interactions between the EIAV SU protein (gp90) and its ELR1 receptor, we mapped the gp90 binding domain of ELR1 by a combination of binding and functional assays using the EIAV SU gp90 protein and various chimeric receptor proteins derived from exchanges between the functional ELR1 and the nonbinding homolog, mouse herpesvirus entry mediator (murine HveA). Complement...
Birch-Machin I, Rowan A, Pick J, Mumford J, Binns M.The nucleotide sequence of the nonstructural protein NS1 of the influenza virus A/equine 2/Suffolk/89 was determined and found to be 97% identical to that of A/equine 2/Miami/63. A similar level of identity was shown for the deduced NS1 amino acid sequence. The NS1 gene was expressed, in its entirety and in part, as fusion proteins with glutathione S-transferase using the pGEX-3X expression vector. Antibodies to NS1 protein were detected in serum samples from ponies experimentally infected with influenza virus, but not in animals vaccinated with whole inactivated virus or in unprimed control a...
Gustafsson A, Båverud V, Franklin A, Gunnarsson A, Ogren G, Ingvast-Larsson C.Six healthy adult horses were given repeated administrations of trimethoprim/ sulfadiazine (TMP/SDZ) intravenously (i.v.) (2.5 mg/kg TMP and 12.5 mg/kg SDZ) and orally (p.o.) as a paste (5 mg/kg TMP and 25 mg/kg SDZ). Both formulations were given twice daily for 5 days, with a 3-week interval between i.v. and oral administration. The influence of the drug combination on the intestinal microflora was examined and the plasma concentrations, pharmacokinetic parameters and plasma protein binding were determined. There were no major changes in the bacterial intestinal flora and no clinical evidence...
The Journal of hygieneJune 1, 1984
Volume 92, Issue 3 365-375 doi: 10.1017/s0022172400064585
Gray SJ.Faecal samples from 110 horses, 115 pigs, 111 sheep and 123 cows were examined for the presence of Aeromonas hydrophila, which was also sought in the available drinking water. The overall faecal rate was 11.8%, but significantly more bovine than other samples were found to be positive. There was significant association between the isolation of A. hydrophila from all animal faeces and its presence in drinking water, but this was not found when individual animal groups were analysed separately. An enrichment technique increased the total number of isolates by 77.1%. Strains of differing origins ...
Kim CH, Casey JW.Equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV) is a lentivirus that infects and persists in the monocyte/macrophage populations of blood and tissues. We employed polymerase chain reaction to investigate the distribution and the level of genome variability of EIAV DNA in different tissues of a horse infected with a highly virulent variant of the Wyoming strain of the virus. Long terminal repeat, gag, and pol primer pairs were used to direct the amplification of EIAV DNA from the peripheral blood mononuclear cells and from cells, presumably the macrophage subtypes, of the kidney, spleen, liver, lymph nod...
Strüder-Kypke MC, Kornilova OA, Lynn DH.Ciliates of the subclass Trichostomatia inhabit the fermentative regions of the digestive tract of herbivores. Most available small subunit ribosomal RNA (SSrRNA) gene sequences of trichostomes are from species isolated from the rumen of cattle or sheep and from marsupials. No ciliate species endosymbiotic in horses has yet been analyzed. We have sequenced the SSrRNA genes of five ciliate species, isolated from the cecum and colon of four Yakut horses: Cycloposthium edentatum, Cycloposthium ishikawai, Tripalmaria dogieli, Cochliatoxum periachtum, and Paraisotricha colpoidea. Based on their mor...
Christensen H, Bisgaard M, Olsen JE.Members of Bisgaard taxon 11 have been isolated from horses. These bacteria are of importance in the veterinary clinic and also to the medical profession, since they may be isolated from infected wounds of humans bitten by horses. Six strains from different continents were identified as taxon 11, with 16S rRNA similarities between 98.0 and 99.7%. A single isolate that represented the so-called (+)L-arabinose-positive Actinobacillus equuli isolated from a diseased foal showed 99.9% 16S rRNA similarity to the type strain of A. equuli. DNA-DNA hybridizations showed that (+)L-arabinose-positive st...
Sarkar S, Balasuriya UB, Horohov DW, Chambers TM.Equine herpesvirus-1 (EHV-1) is one of the most common and important respiratory viral pathogens of horses. EHV-1 in horses replicates initially in the respiratory epithelium and then spreads systematically to endothelial cells lining the small blood vessels in the uterus and spinal cord, and highly pathogenic virus strains can produce aborted fetuses or myeloencephalopathy. Like other herpes viruses, EHV-1 employs a variety of mechanisms for immune evasion. Some herpes viruses down-regulate the type-I interferon (IFN) response to infection, but such activity has not been described for EHV-1. ...
McCollum WH.Nineteen horses with no prior experience with equine arteritis virus (EAV) were inoculated IM with an avirulent live-virus vaccine against equine viral arteritis; the vaccinal virus had been passaged serially 131 times in primary cell cultures of equine kidney, 111 times in primary cell cultures of rabbit kidney, and 16 times in an equine dermis cell line (EAV HK-131/RK-111/ED-16). Three or 4 of the vaccinated horses each, along with appropriate nonvaccinated controls, were inoculated nasally with virulent EAV at each of months 3, 6, 9, 12, 18, and 24 after they were vaccinated. The following ...
Fitzpatrick DR, Studdert MJ.The specificity of selected immune responses to equine herpesvirus type 1 (EHV-1) and type 4 (EHV-4) was examined in 3 colostrum-deprived specific-pathogen-free foals. Single foals were vaccinated with inactivated EHV-1, inactivated EHV-4, or control cell lysate plus adjuvant followed by successive intranasal challenge exposures with EHV-1 and EHV-4 or with EHV-4 and EHV-1. Vaccination with inactivated virus preparations elicited cellular immune responses and antibody which were augmented by subsequent challenge exposures. Cellular immune responses, as measured by in vitro lymphocyte blastogen...
Vengust M, Wen X, Bienzle D.A 4-year-old donkey was evaluated for progressive neurological abnormalities consisting of depression, stupor, weakness, and recumbency. Diagnostic evaluation for viral involvement identified an asinine herpesvirus in DNA extracted from deep pharyngeal swabs. Specific primers were designed based on comparison with equine herpesviral DNA polymerase sequences and yielded an 875-base pair product from the donkey. This sequence had complete identity with short sequences of asinine herpesvirus previously identified in donkeys with interstitial pneumonia. Amino acid analysis of the entire sequence i...
Gustafsson K, Tatz AJ, Slavin RA, Sutton GA, Dahan R, Ahmad WA, Kelmer G.Medical grade honey has previously been described as a prophylactic treatment for wounds. Local prophylactic treatment may be valuable in preventing post-operative incisional infections in horses undergoing colic surgery but has not been evaluated. Objective: To establish whether medical grade honey gel, applied on the linea alba intraoperatively, decreases the prevalence of incisional infections in horses undergoing colic surgery with no associated adverse effects. Methods: Prospective blinded randomised controlled clinical study. Methods: Horses older than 4 months that underwent colic surg...
Onyiche TE, Taioe MO, Ogo NI, Sivakumar T, Biu AA, Mbaya AW, Xuan X, Yokoyama N, Thekisoe O.Babesia caballi and Theileria equi are biological agents responsible for equine piroplasmosis (EP). We conducted a robust and extensive epidemiological study in Nigeria on the prevalence and risk factors of EP. Blood (468, both horses and donkeys) and ticks (201 pools) were screened using polymerase chain reaction (PCR). DNA of equine piroplasms was observed in tick pools with B. caballi amplified in Rhipicephalus evertsi evertsi only [minimum infection rate (MIR) of 7.6%] while T. equi was observed in R. e. evertsi (MIR, 61.6%), Hyalomma dromedarii (MIR, 23.7%) and H. truncatum (MIR, 50.0%). ...
Cernanská D, Paoletti B, Králová-Hromadová I, Iorio R, Cudeková P, Milillo P, Traversa D.Five horse farms located in eastern Slovakia were investigated for the presence of benzimidazole-resistant strongyles by faecal egg count reduction test and egg hatch assay. Coprocultures were prepared for each farm from faecal samples taken pre- and post-treatment and harvested larvae were molecularly examined with a Reverse Line Blot assay. Faecal egg count reduction values ranged from 0 to 52.5% and all farms were positive for benzimidazole-resistant cyathostomins. Seven benzimidazole-resistant cyathostomin species were molecularly identified on farms before and also after treatment. These ...
Lia RP, Mutafchiev Y, Veneziano V, Giannelli A, Abramo F, Santoro M, Latrofa MS, Cantacessi C, Martin C, Otranto D, Bertuglia A, Riccio B.Equids can be infected by a range of skin-dwelling filarial nematodes, including four species of the genus Onchocerca. Current literature on equine onchocercosis is fragmentary and often limited to isolated case reports. The present study aimed to describe a clinical case of equine onchocercosis caused by Onchocerca boehmi (Supperer, 1953) (syn. Elaeophora boehmi) in an 8-year-old gelding Belgian show jumper from northern Italy. The horse was presented with a firm and painless mass on the proximal third of the right metacarpal region. Ultrasound examination showed a peritendinous enlargement a...
