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Topic:Infection
Infections in horses encompass a range of diseases caused by various pathogens, including bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites. These infections can affect different systems within the horse, such as the respiratory, gastrointestinal, and integumentary systems, leading to a variety of clinical signs depending on the pathogen and the severity of the infection. Common infectious diseases in horses include equine influenza, strangles, and equine herpesvirus. Diagnosis often involves clinical examination, laboratory testing, and sometimes imaging, to identify the causative agent and assess the extent of the disease. Treatment strategies may include antimicrobial therapy, supportive care, and preventive measures such as vaccination and biosecurity practices. This page aggregates peer-reviewed research studies and scholarly articles that explore the pathogenesis, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of infectious diseases in equine populations.
Characterization of Equine Infectious Anemia Virus Long Terminal Repeat Quasispecies In Vitro and In Vivo. The equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV) attenuated vaccine was developed by long-term passaging of a field-isolated virulent strain in cross-species hosts, followed by successive cultivation in cells To explore the molecular mechanism underlying the evolution of the EIAV attenuated vaccine, a systematic study focusing on long-terminal-repeat (LTR) variation in numerous virus strains ranging from virulent EIAV to attenuated EIAV was performed over time both and Two hypervariable regions were identified within the U3 region in the enhancer region (EHR) and the negative regulatory element (N...
Multiplex hydrolysis-probe assay for the simultaneous detection of Theileria equi and Babesia caballi infections in equids. Quantitative real-time PCR assays previously developed for the detection of Theileria equi and Babesia caballi, were combined in a single multiplex TaqMan qPCR platform for the simultaneous detection of both heamoprotozoan parasites in equids. The multiplex equine piroplasmosis (M-EP) qPCR assay was shown to be efficient and specific. The detection limit was determined to be 1.4 × 10 % parasitized erythrocytes (PE) for T. equi and 2.8 × 10 % PE for B. caballi. The effect of differential DNA concentrations on the outcome of the M-EP qPCR for each target species was also investigated. ...
Development and validation of rt-qpcr for vesicular stomatitis virus detection (Alagoas vesiculovirus). Vesicular stomatitis is an infectious disease that occurs mainly in countries of the Western Hemisphere and affects cattle, swine and horses. The clinical symptoms in cattle and swine are similar to foot-and-mouth disease and include vesicular ulceration of the tongue and mouth. The disease requires a rapid and accurate differential diagnosis, aiming for immediate implementation of control measures. The objective of the present study was to develop and perform validation tests of multiplex RT-qPCR(s) for the detection of RNA from Alagoas vesiculovirus, considering the parameters of sensitivity...
Acute phase proteins, interleukin-6, tumor necrosis factor, nitric oxide and oxidative stress markers in horses with cutaneous habronemosis under field condition. Habronemosis is a common parasitic disease of horses worldwide. In order to investigate how haptoglobin (Hp), serum amyloid A (SAA), oxidative stress markers, nitric oxide (NO), interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor (TNF- α), varies in cutaneous habronemosis, 30 horses with the clinical disease and 20 clinically healthy horses were included in the current study. The serum levels of Hp, SAA, and proinflammatory cytokines (IL-6 and TNF-α), NO, malondialdehyde (MDA), super oxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione (GSH), and total antioxidant capacity (TAC) were determined in horses before an...
Evaluation of updated sepsis scoring systems and systemic inflammatory response syndrome criteria and their association with sepsis in equine neonates. The original equine sepsis score provided a method of identifying foals with sepsis. New variables associated with sepsis have been evaluated, but the sepsis score has not been updated. Objective: To evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of 2 updated sepsis scores and the systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) criteria in regard to detecting sepsis in foals. Methods: Two-hundred and seventy-three ill foals and 25 healthy control foals. Methods: Historical, physical examination, and clinicopathologic findings were used to calculate the original sepsis score and 2 updated sepsis score...
How does the microbial load affect the quality of equine cool-stored semen? Contaminating bacteria present in stallion ejaculates may compromise sperm quality during storage. Different procedures have been used to reduce the load of microorganisms in semen and avoid bacterial growth during storage. The aims of this study were: 1) to evaluate different techniques to eliminate bacteria in semen 2) to study the relationship between total microflora load (TML) and ROS production; and 3) to determine if TML affects the functionality of cool-stored sperm. Ejaculates from 11 stallions were split and processed in 3 ways: A. extended semen; B. conventional centrifuged semen, a...
Antimicrobial-resistant Enterobacteriaceae recovered from companion animal and livestock environments. Antimicrobial-resistant bacteria represent an important concern impacting both veterinary medicine and public health. The rising prevalence of extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL), AmpC beta-lactamase, carbapenemase (CRE) and fluoroquinolone-resistant Enterobacteriaceae continually decreases the efficiency of clinically important antibiotics. Moreover, the potential for zoonotic transmission of antibiotic-resistant enteric bacteria increases the risk to public health. Our objective was to estimate the prevalence of specific antibiotic-resistant bacteria on human contact surfaces in various ...
An evaluation of serum gentamicin concentrations and bacterial susceptibility to gentamicin in equine practice. Therapeutic drug monitoring and minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) data allow more informed use of gentamicin. Objective: To measure peak and trough serum gentamicin concentrations in horses after a 6.6 mg/kg dose of gentamicin given IV and the MIC of gentamicin of bacteria for which gentamicin might be selected. Methods: Retrospective analysis of hospital records. Peak and trough plasma gentamicin concentrations were measured after 6.6 mg/kg gentamicin IV in 339 hospitalized horses. The MIC of gentamicin was measured for 503 isolates from ambulatory practice and 33 from hospital practice....
Barriers to and enablers of implementing antimicrobial stewardship programs in veterinary practices. Antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) programs are yet to be widely implemented in veterinary practice and medical programs are unlikely to be directly applicable to veterinary settings. Objective: To gain an in-depth understanding of the factors that influence effective AMS in veterinary practices in Australia. Methods: A concurrent explanatory mixed methods design was used. The quantitative phase of the study consisted of an online questionnaire to assess veterinarians' attitudes to antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and antimicrobial use in animals, and the extent to which AMS currently is implemente...
Fecal strongyle egg counts in horses with suspected pre-clinical pituitary pars intermedia dysfunction before and after treatment with pergolide. Pituitary pars intermedia dysfunction (PPID) has been associated with diminished immune response in aged horses. This prospective study hypothesised that this may result in increased strongyle egg shedding in affected animals and that horses treated with pergolide would have reduced fecal egg counts (eggs per gram, EPG) compared to placebo-treated animals. Adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) concentrations and EPG were tested in 48 horses. There were no significant differences in baseline EPG between horses with pre-clinical PPID and healthy controls. There was no significant difference in EPG ...
Characterization of isolates of Bordetella bronchiseptica from horses. is a well-known Gram-negative bacterial pathogen causing a plethora of diseases in different animals. Although its infection has been reported from pigs and dogs in India, no report of B. bronchiseptica from horses is described. We report for the first time, isolation, identification and characterization of strains of B. bronchiseptica from respiratory infection in horses from different states in India. The antimicrobial susceptibility testing showed resistance to penicillins, ceftazidime, and chloramphanicol. The virulence capability of the strains was confirmed by sequencing genes such as a...
Strongyle Infection and Gut Microbiota: Profiling of Resistant and Susceptible Horses Over a Grazing Season. Gastrointestinal strongyles are a major threat to horses' health and welfare. Given that strongyles inhabit the same niche as the gut microbiota, they may interact with each other. These beneficial or detrimental interactions are unknown in horses and could partly explain contrasted susceptibility to infection between individuals. To address these questions, an experimental pasture trial with 20 worm-free female Welsh ponies (10 susceptible (S) and 10 resistant (R) to parasite infection) was implemented for 5 months. Fecal egg counts (FEC), hematological and biochemical data, body weight and g...
Prevalence of twin foaling and blood chimaerism in purebred Spanish horses. Twin foaling is associated with chimaerism in several domestic species and is recognised in horses. In this study, 21,097 purebred Spanish (Pura Raza Español) horse births from the 2015 to 2016 breeding season were investigated for chimaerism. Twin foaled and chimaeric individuals were assessed on the basis of foaling records, short-tandem repeat (STR) parentage test results and a sex-linked STR-based technique. Fourteen twin pregnancies with 23 twin foals born alive were identified (0.066% twin foaling prevalence), including five blood chimaeric cases (21.7%; overall prevalence 0.011%), sugg...
Sero-prevalence and risk factor analysis of Theileria equi infection in equids from different agro-climatic zones of Punjab (India) by Indirect Immunofluorescence Antibody test. In the Indian sub-continent, equine piroplasmosis (EP) is an imperative tick-borne disease of equids predominately caused by obligatory intra-erythrocytic protozoa Theileria equi. Present exploration is the first epidemiological survey report based on Indirect Immunofluorescence Antibody test (IFAT). A total of 120 equines (98 horses and 22 donkeys/mules) from five districts of two main agro-climatic zones of Punjab were screened. The overall prevalence was 58.33%, with western plane zone at higher infection risk for T. equi (74.50%, OR = 7.45, 95% CI = 62.24-85.76); followed by wester...
Correlation between fecal egg count, presence of Strongylus vulgaris, and body score of feral horses on Fort Polk, Louisiana. Approximately 700 feral horses, dubbed "trespass horses" by the United States Army, occupy Fort Polk, Louisiana and the surrounding Kisatchie National Forest. These horses are considered a nuisance and hazard, and the military is seeking to remove the horses via adoption. The aim of this research was to evaluate the fecal egg count (FEC), body condition score (BCS), and the presence of Strongylus vulgaris within this previously unstudied horse population prior to removal. The feral horse data was compared to domestic horses living on a single farm in the same area. A modified McMaster FEC, Hen...
Practical Fluid Therapy and Treatment Modalities for Field Conditions for Horses and Foals with Gastrointestinal Problems. With advances in technology and owner education, field management in equine veterinary medicine continues to evolve. Equine gastrointestinal disease is one of the most common types of emergencies evaluated by equine practitioners, and many of these patients can be effectively managed in the field. Although the equine veterinarian must make numerous decisions, fluid therapy, pain management, and antimicrobial use are 3 of the major choices that must be addressed when initiating field treatment of equine gastrointestinal disease. This article addresses the practical use of these 3 treatment cate...
Effect of a Histone Demethylase Inhibitor on Equine Herpesvirus-1 Activity In Vitro. Equine herpesvirus type 1 (EHV-1) is a ubiquitous and highly contagious pathogen that causes a range of disease severities with outbreaks of notable economic impact. Given the limitations in immune protection of current vaccines and the limited effectiveness of antiviral drugs on EHV-1 infections , improved treatment measures are needed to control disease. The use of drugs that alter the epigenetic state of herpes simplex virus genome has been shown to limit viral primary infection and reactivation both and . Therefore, we tested the hypothesis that maintaining a repressive epigenetic state o...
Serological Evidence of Orthopoxvirus Circulation Among Equids, Southeast Brazil. Since 1999 (VACV) outbreaks involving bovines and humans have been reported in Brazil; this zoonosis is known as Bovine Vaccinia (BV) and is mainly an occupational disease of milkers. It was only in 2008 (and then again in 2011 and 2014) however, that VACV was found causing natural infections in Brazilian equids. These reports involved only equids, no infected humans or bovines were identified, and the sources of infections remain unknown up to date. The peculiarities of Equine Vaccinia outbreaks (e.g., absence of human infection), the frequently shared environments, and fomites by equids and...
Expression of indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase 1 as transcript and protein in the healthy and diseased equine endometrium. The enzyme indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase 1 (IDO1) acts immunomodulatory and restricts bacterial growth. In the uterus of women and mice, it likely contributes to tissue homeostasis and disease pathogenesis. Pregnancy failure in mares is often caused by endometritis and endometrosis. The pathogenesis of nonsuppurative endometritis and endometrosis is still uncertain. To the authors' knowledge, no information on IDO1 expression in the equine endometrium is published. Aim of this study was to examine the presence of IDO1 as transcripts and proteins in the healthy and diseased endometrium of 25 mare...
Trypanosoma equiperdum Low Molecular Weight Proteins As Candidates for Specific Serological Diagnosis of Dourine. The diagnosis of dourine can be difficult because the clinical signs of this disease in horses are similar to those of surra, caused by . Moreover, and are closely related and, so far, they cannot be distinguished using serological tests. In a previous work, the protein pattern recognized by antibodies from dourine-infected horses and the humoral immune response kinetics were investigated by immunoblotting assay; a total of 20 sera from naturally and experimentally infected horses and from healthy animals were tested. Immunoblotting analysis showed that antibodies from infected horses speci...
Venom and Antivenom of the Redback Spider (Latrodectus hasseltii) in Japan. Part I. Venom Extraction, Preparation, and Laboratory Testing. The redback spider (Latrodectus hasseltii Thorell) reportedly invaded Japan in September 1995. To date, 84 redback spider bite cases have been reported; 7 of these cases employed the antivenom. Antivenom has been imported from Australia in the past, but because of restrictions on exportation it was evident that nearly all of the antivenom present in Japan would expire during 2014. In 2014, a plan was proposed to experimentally manufacture and stockpile a horse antiserum for ourselves, using redback spiders indigenous to Japan. A total of 11,403 female spiders were captured alive: 1,217 from th...
Absence of relationship between type-I interferon suppression and neuropathogenicity of EHV-1. Equine herpesvirus-1 (EHV-1) infection is an important and highly prevalent disease in equine populations worldwide. Previously we have demonstrated that a neuropathogenic strain of EHV-1, T953, suppresses the host cell's antiviral type-I interferon (IFN) response in vitro. Whether or not this is unique to EHV-1 strains possessing the neuropathogenic genotype has been undetermined. Here, we examined whether there is any direct relationship between neuropathogenic genotype and the induced IFN-β response in equine endothelial cells (EECs) infected with 10 different strains of EHV-1. The extent ...
Lipidomic analysis of immune activation in equine leptospirosis and Leptospira-vaccinated horses. Currently available diagnostic assays for leptospirosis cannot differentiate vaccine from infection serum antibody. Several leptospiral proteins that are upregulated during infection have been described, but their utility as a diagnostic marker is still unclear. In this study, we undertook a lipidomics approach to determine if there are any differences in the serum lipid profiles of horses naturally infected with pathogenic Leptospira spp. and horses vaccinated against a commercially available bacterin. Utilizing a high-resolution mass spectrometry serum lipidomics analytical platform, we demo...
Molecular Genetic Manipulation of Sarcocystis neurona. Sarcocystis neurona is a member of the important phylum Apicomplexa and the primary cause of equine protozoal myeloencephalitis (EPM). Moreover, S. neurona is the best-studied species in the genus Sarcocystis, one of the most successful parasite taxa, as virtually all vertebrate animals may be infected by at least one species. Consequently, scientific investigation of S. neurona will aid in the control of EPM and neurologic disease in sea mammals, while also improving our understanding of a prominent branch on the apicomplexan phylogenetic tree. These protocols describe methods that expand the...
Borrelia burgdorferi Infection and Lyme Disease in North American Horses: A Consensus Statement. Borrelia burgdorferi infection is common in horses living in Lyme endemic areas and the geographic range for exposure is increasing. Morbidity after B. burgdorferi infection in horses is unknown. Documented, naturally occurring syndromes attributed to B. burgdorferi infection in horses include neuroborreliosis, uveitis, and cutaneous pseudolymphoma. Although other clinical signs such as lameness and stiffness are reported in horses, these are often not well documented. Diagnosis of Lyme disease is based on exposure to B. burgdorferi, cytology or histopathology of infected fluid or tissue and a...
