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.
Munday JS, Finch SC, Vlaming JB, Sutherland BL, Fletcher LR.To investigate whether Mediterranean tall fescue (Lolium arundinaceum (Schreb.) Darbysh. (syn Festuca arundinacea)) infected with selected fungal endophytes (Epichloë coenophiala (formerly Neotyphodium coenophialum)) caused equine fescue oedema when grown in New Zealand, and to examine the pathological changes associated with this intoxication. Methods: Horses were grazed on Mediterranean tall fescue that was infected with the endophytes AR542 (n=2), or AR584 (n=3), or Mediterranean tall fescue that was endophyte-free (n=2). Blood samples were taken up to 7 days after the start of feeding to ...
Ferris RA.Infectious endometritis is among the leading causes of subfertility in the mare. However, the best way to reliably diagnose these cases of infectious endometritis can be confusing to the veterinary practitioner. The goal of this article is to describe how to perform various sample collection techniques, what analyses can be performed on these samples, and how to interpret the results of these analysis. Additionally, future technologies will be presented that are not currently used in equine reproduction practice.
Schuster RK, Sivakumar S.Although the life cycle of the equid stomach parasite Habronema muscae was disclosed more than 100 years ago, little is known about the effect of the developing nematode larvae in its intermediate host, Musca domestica. In a series of experiments, freshly hatched M. domestica larvae were exposed to H. muscae eggs contained in a faecal sample of a naturally infected horse. In daily intervals, 50 fly larvae were removed and transferred on a parasite-free larval rearing medium where they completed their development. Hatched flies were examined for the presence of Habronema third-stage larvae. In...
Yao Q, Ma J, Wang X, Guo M, Li Y, Wang X.Tetherin (BST-2) is an important host restriction factor that can inhibit the release of a diverse array of enveloped viruses from infected cells. Conversely, to facilitate their release and spread, many viruses have evolved various strategies to overcome the antiviral effect of tetherin in a species-specific manner. During the development of an attenuated equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV) vaccine in our laboratory, we found that serial passage of a field-isolated virulent EIAV strains in horse and donkey as well as the cultivated donkey cells, produces several typical EIAV strains, includ...
of surveillance testing, April to June 2016Continuing reports of abortion due to equine herpesvirus type 1 infectionInternational disease occurrence in the second quarter of 2016These are among matters discussed in the most recent quarterly equine disease surveillance report, prepared by Defra, the Animal Health Trust and the British Equine Veterinary Association.
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...
Equine sarcoids develop upon bovine papillomavirus type 1 or 2 (BPV1, BPV2) infection in conjunction with trauma and represent the most common tumour disease in horses and other equids, including donkeys. In face of a sarcoid outbreak involving 12 of 111 donkeys and mules at the 'Rifugio degli Asinelli', a subsidiary charity organization of The Donkey Sanctuary, non-invasively collected sample material including crusts, dandruff, swabs and hair roots was collected from sarcoid-affected and 26 healthy donkeys, as well as dandruff from a grooming kit and tabanids caught from or in the vicinity o...
Stringer AP, Christley RM, Bell CE, Gebreab F, Tefera G, Reed K, Trawford A, Pinchbeck GL.Working horses, donkeys and mules suffer from numerous diseases and clinical problems. However, there is little information on what owners perceive as important health concerns in their working animals. Objective: To identify and prioritise with owners the diseases and other health concerns in working equids in central Ethiopia using participatory methodologies. Methods: Participatory situation analysis (PSA). Methods: The study was conducted with carthorse- and donkey-owners in 16 sites in central Ethiopia. Multiple participatory methodologies were utilised, including ranking, matrices and fo...
Willingham-Lane JM, Berghaus LJ, Giguère S, Hondalus MK.The soil-dwelling, saprophytic actinomycete is a multihost, facultative intracellular pathogen of macrophages. When inhaled by susceptible foals, it causes severe bronchopneumonia. It is also a pathogen of pigs, which may develop submaxillary lymphadenitis upon exposure. isolates obtained from foals and pigs possess conjugative plasmids housing a pathogenicity island (PAI) containing a novel family of genes of unknown function called the virulence-associated protein or family. The PAI regions of the equine and swine plasmids differ in gene composition, with equine isolates possessing six ...
Proft A, Spiesschaert B, Izume S, Taferner S, Lehmann MJ, Azab W.The serine-threonine protein kinase encoded by gene (pUS3) of alphaherpesviruses was shown to modulate actin reorganization, cell-to-cell spread, and virus egress in a number of virus species. However, the role of the US3 orthologues of equine herpesvirus type 1 and 4 (EHV-1 and EHV-4) has not yet been studied. Here, we show that is not essential for virus replication in vitro. However, growth rates and plaque diameters of a -deleted EHV-1 and a mutant in which the catalytic active site was destroyed were significantly reduced when compared with parental and revertant viruses or a virus in w...
Takahashi T, Unuma S, Kawagishi S, Kurebayashi Y, Takano M, Yoshino H, Minami A, Yamanaka T, Otsubo T, Ikeda K, Suzuki T.Most equine influenza A viruses (IAVs) show strong binding to glycoconjugates containing N-glycolylneuraminic acid (Neu5Gc) as well as N-acetylneuraminic acid (Neu5Ac). Therefore, the progeny of equine IAV is thought to be released from the infected cell surface through removal of sialic acids by the viral sialidase. In the present study, equine IAV sialidases showed significantly lower substrate affinity than that of human IAV sialidases to artificial and natural Neu5Gc-conjugated substrates. The substrate specificity of equine IAV sialidases is in disagreement with their binding specificity ...
Mayo C, Venter E, Steyn J, Coetzee P, van Vuuren M, Crafford J, Schütte C, Venter G.The seasonal abundance of Culicoides midges, the vector of Bluetongue and African horse sickness viruses (BTV/AHSV) and the presence of viruses in midges were determined in 3 geographic areas in South Africa. In the Onderstepoort area, more than 500,000 Culicoides midges belonging to 27 species were collected. Eighteen midge species were collected throughout Winter and the presence of AHSV and BTV RNA in midges was detected using real time reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction. The nucleic acid of AHSV was found in 12 pools out of total pools of 35 Culicoides. Twenty‑f...
Wilkes EJA, Cowling A, Woodgate RG, Hughes KJ.Faecal egg counts (FEC) are used widely for monitoring of parasite infection in animals, treatment decision-making and estimation of anthelmintic efficacy. When a single count or sample mean is used as a point estimate of the expectation of the egg distribution over some time interval, the variability in the egg density is not accounted for. Although variability, including quantifying sources, of egg count data has been described, the spatiotemporal distribution of nematode eggs in faeces is not well understood. We believe that statistical inference about the mean egg count for treatment decis...
Radakovic M, Davitkov D, Borozan S, Stojanovic S, Stevanovic J, Krstic V, Stanimirovic Z.The aim of this study was to determine the concentrations of oxidative stress parameters and DNA damage in horses infected by Theileria equi. Initial screening of 110 horses with duplex PCR enabled the selection of 30 infected horses with T. equi and 30 free of infection (control). Specimens from the 60 horses were further analysed by determining the following oxidative stress parameters: extent of haemolysis (EH), plasma free haemoglobin (PHb), catalase (CAT), Cu,Zn superoxide dismutase (SOD1), paraoxonase (PON1), nitrite (NO), total nitrate and nitrite (NOx), malondialdehyde (MDA) and free t...
Corbeil LE, Morrissey JF, Léguillette R.This report describes 5 horses in the southern Alberta region with typical and atypical external abscessation due to Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis (pigeon fever). "Pigeon fever" has recently been diagnosed in new geographic regions in North America and should be kept as a differential diagnosis by practitioners when an external or internal abscess is identified in a horse. L’infection parCorynebacterium pseudotuberculosis(fièvre du pigeon) chez les chevaux est-elle une maladie émergente dans l’Ouest canadien? Ce rapport décrit cinq chevaux dans la région sud de l’Alberta atteint...
Greppi MC, Guillot J, Melloul E, Bourdoiseau G, Lepage O, Cadoré JL.Guttural pouch mycosis (GPM) is a rare but potentially life-threatening condition in horses. GPM is caused by a fungal invasion into the mucosal lining of the guttural pouches and, frequently, the associated neurovascular structures. Although several species of fungi have been associated with this disease, Aspergillus spp. appear to be the most common isolated from the guttural pouches. However, it remains unclear which are the predisposing factors leading to the development of the infection. The objectives of the present study were to experimentally reproduce an infection by Aspergillus fumig...
Welsh CE, Parkin TDH, Marshall JF.As antimicrobial resistant bacterial strains continue to emerge and spread in human and animal populations, understanding prescription practices is key in benchmarking current performance and setting goals. Antimicrobial prescription (AP) in companion veterinary species is widespread, but is neither monitored nor restricted in the USA and Canada. The veterinary use of certain antimicrobial classes is discouraged in some countries, in the hope of preserving efficacy for serious human infections. Objective: The aim of this study was to ascertain the rate of prescription of a number of 'reserved'...
Saes IL, Vera JHS, Fachiolli DF, Yamada PH, Dellaqua JVT, Saes RL, Amarante AFT, Soutello RVG.The aim of this study was to determine the time required by different anthelmintic agents to reduce strongyle egg shedding in horses. Fifty horses were divided into five homogenous groups based on faecal egg counts (FECs). Treatment groups received either ivermectin; moxidectin; fenbendazole; piperazine; or no treatment (control group). Faecal examinations were performed 4, 8, 12, 18, 24, 36 and 48h after the anthelmintic treatment. After this period, faecal samples were taken every 24h over the next 12days and finally on alternate days (48-h intervals) for another 14days until the end of the ...
Anagha G, Gulati BR, Riyesh T, Virmani N.Equine herpesvirus 1 (EHV1) is a common pathogen of horses that causes upper respiratory tract disease, abortion, neonatal death and neurological disease. The neurological form of disease is called equine herpesvirus myeloencephalopathy (EHM). During the past decade, the incidence of EHM has been on the rise in Europe, North America, Australia and Asia. Some EHV1 isolates causing EHM exhibit a single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in the DNA polymerase gene (ORF30) at position 2254 (A to G). Further, based on polymorphism in the ORF68, EHV1 isolates have been classified into different groups. T...
Gillespie CC, Adams SB, Moore GE.To determine common methods for intra-articular injections and variables associated with the risk of septic arthritis following intra-articular injection in the horse. Methods: Cross-sectional survey. Methods: Equine veterinarians. Methods: A link to an online survey was distributed to equine practitioners in 2014. Responses for descriptive data were tabulated. Data on infection rates obtained from medical records were analyzed. Variables associated with the risk of septic arthritis were determined using χ or Fisher's exact tests and logistic regression. Results: Common current methods for in...
Sasaki N, Imamura Y, Sekiya A, Itoh M, Furuoka H.In this study, fasciculation of the limbs and tongue was observed in four horses kept by a riding club. Neurogenic muscle atrophy was also observed in biopsy of pathological tissues. In addition, in two cases that subjected to autopsy, Bunina-like bodies of inclusion in the cell bodies of neurons in the spinal cord ventral horn were confirmed, leading to a diagnosis of equine motor neuron disease (EMND). Serum vitamin E concentrations varied between 0.3 and 0.4µg/ml, which is significantly lower than the levels in normal horses. Although lack of vitamin E is speculated to be a contributory fa...
Elce YA, Laverty S, Almeida da Silveira E, Piat P, Trencart P, Ruzickova P, Reardon RJ.To estimate the frequency of undetected perforations in surgical gloves during equine surgery and to identify risk factors associated with occurrence. Methods: Observational cohort study. Methods: Surgical gloves-292 pairs. Methods: Water leak tests were performed on gloves after equine surgery to detect perforations. Fifty pairs of unused gloves were also tested. Potential risk factors were recorded. Logistic regression was used to explore associations between putative risk factors and perforation. Results: No perforations were detected in the unused gloves. Of 292 pairs of used gloves tested...
Giguère S, Burton AJ, Berghaus LJ, Haspel AD.The objective of this study was to compare the pharmacokinetics of minocycline in foals vs. adult horses. Minocycline was administered to six healthy 6- to 9-week-old foals and six adult horses at a dose of 4 mg/kg intragastrically (IG) and 2 mg/kg intravenously (i.v.) in a cross-over design. Five additional oral doses were administered at 12-h intervals in foals. A microbiologic assay was used to measure minocycline concentration in plasma, urine, synovial fluid, and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). Liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry was used to measure minocycline concentrations in ...
Sallé G, Cortet J, Koch C, Gascogne T, Reigner F, Cabaret J.Drug resistance in equine gastro-intestinal parasitic nematodes has been reported throughout the world. While the focus is usually put on cyathostomins, observations of macrocylic lactone failure against Oxyuris equi have accumulated over the last decade. Here we report the failure of ivermectin in the control of O. equi in an experimental Welsh pony herd. In a first trial, 6 ponies previously drenched with moxidectin and showing patent O. equi infections were administered ivermectin and subsequently monitored for O. equi egg excretion over one month. This trial demonstrated a failure of iverm...
Moudgil AD, Prashar A, Moudgil P, Sharma A, Sharma M.The small strongyles also called as cyathostomes, cyathostomins or trichonemes, affect the health status of equines, leading to morbidity and mortality in heavily infested individuals. The present study was carried out with the aim to identify the cause of colic in a mule of Palam valley, Himachal Pradesh, India. The detailed faecal sample examination revealed heavy intensity of strongyle eggs with an egg per gram value of 2300. The collected faecal sample also exhibited presence of adult worms. The morphological observations after clearing the retrieved parasites revealed the presence of adul...
Padalino B, Raidal SL, Hall E, Knight P, Celi P, Jeffcott L, Muscatello G.To survey amateur and professional participants on equine transportation management, practices and outcomes in Australia. Methods: An online survey targeting people who organised horse movements at least monthly was made available to a broad cross-section of amateur and professional equine associations. Respondents were invited to provide demographic details and information relating to their routine transportation management practices and their experiences of issues relating to the transportation of horses. Results: Of 797 usable responses involving approximately 17,000 horses and 313,000 indi...
Ayala-Valdovinos MA, Lemus-Flores C, Galindo-García J, Bañuelos-Pineda J, Rodríguez-Carpena JG, Sánchez-Chiprés D, Duifhuis-Rivera T.Theileria equi infection prevalence was calculated from 1000 blood samples obtained from apparently healthy horses in western Mexico. Samples were sent to the Animal Biotechnology Laboratory of the University of Guadalajara (Mexico) for T. equi diagnosis. Nested polymerase chain reaction (nPCR) was used as a diagnostic method to detect pathogen DNA. Using primers for the merozoite antigen-1 (EMA-1) gene, 19.70±2.47% of the horses (95% CI, 17.23-22.17%) tested positive for T. equi. There was no significant association between gender and T. equi infection. However, prevalence was higher among s...
Gather T, Walter S, Pfaender S, Todt D, Feige K, Steinmann E, Cavalleri JM.The recently discovered nonprimate hepacivirus (NPHV) naturally infects horses and is the closest known homolog of hepatitis C virus to date. Within a follow-up study acute field infections were monitored in four young Thoroughbred horses until the ages of 12-13 months. Serum samples were analyzed for the presence of NPHV RNA and anti-NPHV NS3 antibodies and liver specific parameters were evaluated. The four young horses were not able to clear infection, but remained chronically infected for the entire monitored time period despite the presence of NPHV specific antibodies.
Darnaud SJ, Southwood LL, Aceto HW, Stefanovski D, Tomassone L, Zarucco L.It is our clinical impression that age and incision length are more strongly associated with surgical site infection (SSI) following colic surgery than skin closure or wound protection method. Therefore, the objective of this observational clinical cohort study was to identify the risks for SSI in horses undergoing colic surgery. Data collection included pre-, intra-, and postoperative variables. Variables with P < 0.2 following univariable analysis were used in a logistic regression multivariable model. Variables with P <0.05 were included in the final model. Odds ratios (OR; 95% confid...
Sampieri F, Vannucci FA, Allen AL, Pusterla N, Antonopoulos AJ, Ball KR, Thompson J, Dowling PM, Hamilton DL, Gebhart CJ.Lawsonia intracellularis infection causes proliferative enteropathy (PE) in many mammalian species, with porcine and equine proliferative enteropathy (PPE and EPE) known worldwide. Hamsters are a well-published animal model for PPE infection studies in pigs. There is no laboratory animal model for EPE infection studies and it is not known whether there is species-specificity for equine or porcine isolates of L. intracellularis in animal models. The objective of this study was to determine whether it is possible to generate typical EPE lesions in hamsters after inoculation with an equine strain...
Kaynarcalidan O, Oğuzoğlu TÇ.Papillomaviruses are oncogenic DNA viruses and induce hyperplastic benign lesions of both cutaneous and mucosal tissues in their various hosts, including many domestic and wild animals as well as humans. There are some Papillomavirus genotypes that can infect hosts different from their own, such as BPV 1 and BPV 2 originated from cattle, which can also infect horses and are responsible for fibroblastic tumours in horses. This review article summarizes the origin and evolution of papillomaviruses as an etiological agent in the historical process. The main focus in this review is the evaluation ...
Zabrecky KA, Slovis NM, Constable PD, Taylor SD.Accurate diagnostic markers for sepsis in neonatal foals are needed. Plasma C-reactive protein concentration (p[CRP]) and haptoglobin concentration (p[Hp]) are well-established biomarkers of infection in humans, but studies are lacking in foals. Objective: p[CRP]) and p[Hp] are increased in septic foals compared to sick nonseptic and healthy control foals, and are predictive of survival. Methods: Eighty critically ill foals (40 septic, 40 sick nonseptic) and 39 healthy control foals <1 week of age. Methods: Multicenter, prospective observational clinical study. Venous blood was collected at a...
Guthrie AJ, Howell PG, Hedges JF, Bosman AM, Balasuriya UB, McCollum WH, Timoney PJ, MacLachlan NJ.A serological study conducted in 1995 revealed that 7 stallions at the Lipizzaner Centre, Gauteng, South Africa, were seropositive for antibody to equine arteritis virus (EAV). A Lipizzaner stallion imported into South Africa from Yugoslavia in 1981 had previously (1988) been confirmed to be an EAV carrier. Despite being placed under life-long breeding quarantine, EAV had been transmitted between stallions at the Lipizzaner Centre. Objective: To investigate the phylogenetic relationships between the strain of EAV shed in the semen of the original carrier stallion and strains recovered from the...
Britz E, Spier SJ, Kass PH, Edman JM, Foley JE.Equine infection with Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis can manifest in several forms, including external or internal abscesses. The objective of this study was to phenotype clinical isolates of C. pseudotuberculosis and to investigate the relationship between lesion location and extent of lesions in the animals from which they were collected. One hundred and seventy-one C. pseudotuberculosis biovar equi isolates were collected from horses presenting to the University of California Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital and two other sources in the period between September 1996 and December 201...
Fayer R, Mayhew IG, Baird JD, Dill SG, Foreman JH, Fox JC, Higgins RJ, Reed SM, Ruoff WW, Sweeney RW.Following a workshop on equine protozoal myeloencephalitis (EPM) convened at the Veterinary Medical Forum of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine in 1988, this survey of EPM in North America was developed. It is based upon 364 histologically confirmed case records from California, Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Ontario, Pennsylvania, and Texas up to 1988. The highest rate of infection was found in young Thoroughbred, Standardbred, and quarter horses. Differences in geographic location, sex, and month (season) of infection were not discernible. This repor...
Uchida-Fujii E, Niwa H, Kinoshita Y, Nukada T.Matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) is used for bacterial identification by analyzing the spectra of isolates and comparing them against a database of reference spectra; it is known for its rapidity and accuracy. Although MALDI-TOF MS is used for identification of bacterial isolates from animals, not all animal pathogens are identified correctly. In this study, we used a commercial MALDI-TOF MS identification system to examine 3724 bacterial isolates from horses and their environments. Isolates that could not be identified with MALDI-TOF ...
James KE, Smith WA, Packham AE, Conrad PA, Pusterla N.While toxoplasmosis is not commonly considered a clinical disease of equines, previous seroprevalence studies have reported differing background rates of Toxoplasma gondii infection in horses globally. The objective of this study was to evaluate possible associations between T. gondii seroprevalence and clinical signs of equine protozoal myeloencephalitis (EPM) in horses. Using a case-control study design, 720 Californian horses with neurologic signs compatible with EPM were compared to healthy, non-neurologic horses for the presence of T. gondii antibodies (using indirect fluorescent antibody...
Colbath AC, Patipa L, Berghaus RD, Parks AH.Incisional complications following exploratory celiotomy increase morbidity, extend hospitalisation and increase cost. Retrospective studies seek to identify risk factors and measures for prevention of surgical site infection. The relatively high incidence of incisional complications following exploratory laparotomy necessitates identification of ideal surgical closure methods. Objective: The study sought to identify the incidence of incisional drainage within our hospital population, and to identify risk factors for incisional complications while determining surgical practices that reduce the...
Lassaline ME, Brooks DE, Ollivier FJ, Komaromy AM, Kallberg ME, Gelatt KN.Amniotic membrane has antifibrotic, anti-angiogenic and antiprotease properties. This retrospective study was designed to investigate the use of equine amniotic membrane transplants (AMT) at preserving vision, maintaining the structural integrity of the globe and maximizing cosmesis in equine eyes with corneal ulceration and severe keratomalacia. Methods: Equine amnion had previously been aseptically harvested from a 12-year-old Thoroughbred mare during an elective Cesarean section. Sections of amnion were stored at -80 degrees C and thawed as needed. Records of equine cases at the University ...
Botha M, Botes M, Loos B, Smith C, Dicks LM.Lactobacillus equigenerosi strain Le1, a natural inhabitant of the equine gastrointestinal tract, survived pH 3.0 and incubation in the presence of 1.5% (wt/vol) bile salts for at least 2 h. Strain Le1 showed 8% cell surface hydrophobicity, 60% auto-aggregation, and 47% coaggregation with Clostridium difficile C6. Only 1% of the cells adhered to viable buccal epithelial cells and invaded the cells within 20 min after contact. Preincubation of strain Le1 in a buffer containing pronase prevented adhesion to viable epithelial cells. Preincubation in a pepsin buffer delayed invasion from 20 min to...
Dutta SK, Myrup AC.A novel, simple method of infectious center assay was developed to detect and quantitate the intracellular existence of equine herpesvirus 1 and equine herpesvirus 2 in peripheral blood mononuclear cells infected in vivo and in vitro with the viruses by cocultivation of these cells with a permissive equine cell culture. The infectious center titers were correlated with the infectious virus titers. In vivo equine herpesvirus 1-infected mononuclear cells obtained from ponies experimentally infected with the virus and equine herpesvirus 2-infected mononuclear cells obtained from selected naturall...
Shirafuji H, Kanehira K, Kamio T, Kubo M, Shibahara T, Konishi M, Murakami K, Nakamura Y, Yamanaka T, Kondo T, Matsumura T, Muranaka M, Katayama Y.A group of horses immunized with inactivated Japanese encephalitis (JE) vaccine (JE-Immune Group) and a group of non-immunized horses (Non-Immune Group) were infected with West Nile virus (WNV). After WNV infection, neutralizing (Nt) antibody (Ab) titers to WNV were higher than those to JE virus (JEV) in the Non-Immune Group, but the NtAb titers to JEV were higher than those to WNV during most of the post-challenge observation period in the JE-Immune Group. Immunoglobulin M (IgM) Abs to WNV tested positive in the Non-Immune Group but negative in the JE-Immune Group, except for in one horse. Th...
Lilliehöök I, Tvedten HW, Bröjer J, Edner A, Nostell K.Neutrophil myeloperoxidase content is determined by the Advia 2120 hematology system by staining characteristics. Changes in myeloperoxidase staining are shown by location of neutrophils on Advia peroxidase dot plots and as myeloperoxidase index (MPXI). Significant changes in MPXI have been reported during severe inflammation in horses, dogs, and people but conclusions were inconsistent. Objective: Infusion of endotoxin was used to initiate an inflammatory stimulus under controlled conditions and over a longer time period than in previous studies to document kinetics of changes in neutrophil n...
Klouth E, Zablotski Y, Petersen JL, de Bruijn M, Gröndahl G, Müller S, Goehring LS.Equid Herpesvirus Myeloencephalopathy (EHM) is a multifactorial disease following an EHV-1 infection in Equidae. We investigated a total of 589 horses on 13 premises in Europe in search of risk factors for the development of EHM. We found that fever ( < 0.001), increasing age ( = 0.032), and female sex ( = 0.042) were risk factors for EHM in a logistic mixed model. Some breeds had a decreased risk to develop EHM compared to others (Shetland and Welsh ponies; = 0.017; = 0.031), and fewer EHV-1-vaccinated horses were affected by EHM compared to unvaccinated horses ( = 0.02). Data evaluation...
Jones RL, Adney WS, Alexander AF, Shideler RK, Traub-Dargatz JL.Severe hemorrhagic necrotizing enterocolitis was determined to be the cause of death for 4 foals. Toxigenic Clostridium difficile was isolated form the intestine of each foal, and large, gram-positive, rod-shaped bacteria lined the surface of necrotic villi. This finding of toxigenic C difficile associated with enteritis in foals adds another possible cause to the list of infectious agents that should be considered when evaluating foals with enteritis. Definitive diagnosis requires a thorough diagnostic evaluation, including procedures that will identify the organism and demonstrate its toxige...
Burgess EC.Blood samples from Wisconsin horses and cows suspected of having clinical disease due to Borrelia burgdorferi infection were submitted by veterinary practitioners. All serum, milk, colostrum, and synovial samples were tested for B. burgdorferi antibodies by immunofluorescence. Whole blood, milk, colostrum, and synovial fluid samples were cultured for B. burgdorferi. Records were kept on the clinical signs of antibody-positive animals, date of sample, and location of the animal by county. Of the samples tested for antibodies 282/430 cow sera, 118/190 horse sera, 5/10 cow synovial fluids, 3/6 ho...
Holman PJ, Frerichs WM, Chieves L, Wagner GG.Culture of horse blood for Babesia caballi identified four carrier horses among nine previously infected horses. Three of the carriers had no detectable parasitemias on stained blood smears, and sera from two carrier horses were complement fixation test negative. Three cultures were continuously cultivated. Cryopreserved fourth-passage B. caballi was successfully reestablished in vitro. Blood from a 10th horse previously subinoculated with blood from a suspected carrier was cultured, with negative results.
Dubey JP.Thirteen 6-month- to 13-year-old equids were each inoculated orally with 10,000 infective Toxoplasma gondii oocysts. The equids remained clinically normal. Equids were euthanatized on postinoculation days 33, 45, 90, 104, 120, 140, 162, 183, 197, 204, 211, 294, and 476. Their tissues were bioassayed for viable oocysts by feeding muscles to Toxoplasma-free cats and by inoculation of pepsin digests of 13 organs into mice. Using mouse inoculation, T gondii was recovered from tissues of the 9 equids euthanatized on each of postinoculation days 33, 45, 120, 140, 183, 197, 211, 294, and 476. Toxopla...
Conze TM, Bagó Z, Revilla-Fernández S, Schlegel J, Goehring LS, Matiasek K.A final diagnosis in a horse with clinical signs of encephalopathy can be challenging despite the use of extensive diagnostics. Clinical signs are often not pathognomonic and need to be interpreted in combination with (specific) laboratory results and epidemiological data of the geographical region of the origin of the case(s). Here we describe the diagnostic pathway of tick-borne encephalitis virus infection in two horses using established molecular diagnostic methods and a novel in situ hybridization technique to differentiate between regionally important/emerging diseases for central Europe...
Scala A, Tamponi C, Sanna G, Predieri G, Meloni L, Knoll S, Sedda G, Dessì G, Cappai MG, Varcasia A.Equine ascariosis, caused by Parascaris spp., is a worldwide endoparasitic disease affecting young horses in particular. Despite the great number of horses reared in Italy, large-scale epidemiological surveys dealing with ascariosis prevalence in the country are not reported in the current literature. For this reason, the present survey aims to describe, for the first time, the spread and infestation of Parascaris spp. in a large population of Italian horses (6896 animals) using faecal egg counts, and further to identify risk factors associated with ascarid egg shedding. Methods: Individual re...
El-Deeb W, Iacob O, Fayez M, Elgioushy M, Shawaf T, Ibrahim A.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...
Benson CE, Sweeney CR.Streptococcus pneumoniae type 3 was isolated from seven tracheobronchial aspirates and one pleural tap of seven adult horses and one foal. There was no direct evidence in these horses that isolation of the pneumococcus was related to a specific disease syndrome. Presenting complaints included two horses with chronic cough, two horses with decreased exercise tolerance, one horse with exercise-induced pulmonary hemorrhage, and three horses with pneumonia. Antibiotic therapy resolved the primary clinical complaint. This is the first report of the isolation of S. pneumoniae type 3 from adult horse...
Redwan el-RM, Fahmy A, El Hanafy A, Abd El-Baky N, Sallam SM.In view of the disadvantages of human and equine rabies immunoglobulin still there is urgent needs for safe and cost-control anti-rabies immunoglobulins especially for person who have been severely exposed (categories III) to the virus. Our attempt to produce a less immunogenic and cheaper anti-rabies immunoglobulin affordable for those people living in developing countries, has been harnessed the ovine as a bioreactor instead the horse. The animals have been intramuscular immunized, and the plasma processed with 5% caprylic acid to yield IgG with purity of 95%. Moreover, antibody apparently i...
Wilkins PA, Glaser AL, McDonnell SM.Horses naturally exposed to West Nile Virus (WNV) or vaccinated against WNV develop humoral immunity thought to be protective against development of clinical disease in exposed or infected animals. No reports evaluate the efficacy of passive transfer of naturally acquired specific WNV humoral immunity from dam to foal. The purpose of this study was to investigate passive transfer of naturally acquired immunity to WNV to foals born in a herd of semi-feral ponies, not vaccinated against WNV, in an endemic area, with many dams having seroconverted because of natural exposure. Microwell serum neut...
Vesonder R, Haliburton J, Stubblefield R, Gilmore W, Peterson S.Corn from an Arkansas farm, where three horses died and others became sick, was investigated for causative principles. Necropsy of the three horses revealed what appeared to be severe hepatic necrosis. Histopathological examination indicated a pattern of hepatic lesions that was suggestive of aflatoxin contamination of the feed. Mycological examination of the corn by dilution plating revealed 95% of the colonies as Aspergillus flavus. Chemical analysis of the corn for mycotoxins was positive for aflatoxin B1, B2, and M1 at concentrations of 114, 10, and 6 micrograms/Kg, respectively. Cyclopiaz...
