Infectious diseases in horses encompass a range of illnesses caused by bacteria, viruses, fungi, or parasites. These diseases can affect various systems within the equine body, leading to symptoms that range from mild discomfort to severe systemic illness. Common infectious diseases in horses include equine influenza, strangles, equine herpesvirus, and West Nile virus. These diseases can be transmitted through direct contact with infected animals, contaminated surfaces, or vectors such as insects. Understanding the mechanisms of transmission, pathogenesis, and immune response is essential for effective prevention and control. This page compiles peer-reviewed research studies and scholarly articles that explore the epidemiology, diagnosis, treatment, and management of infectious diseases in horses.
Tsujimura K, Yamanaka T, Kondo T, Fukushi H, Matsumura T.To develop a live vaccine for equine herpesvirus type 1 (EHV-1), two EHV-1 mutants containing no heterogeneous DNA, DeltagI and DeltagE, were constructed with deletions in the open reading frame of either glycoprotein I (gI) or E (gE), respectively. In equine cell culture, deletion mutants formed smaller plaques than the parental and revertant viruses, but the one-step growth patterns of the deletion mutants and the parental strain were approximately the same. These results suggest that both gI and gE contribute to the ability of EHV-1 to spread directly from cell-to-cell, but that these glyco...
Vengust M, Anderson ME, Rousseau J, Weese JS.To evaluate the prevalence of methicillin-resistant staphylococcal (MRS) colonization in clinically normal dogs and horses in the community. Results: Three hundred clinically normal horses and 200 clinically normal dogs were enrolled. One nasal swab was collected from each horse. Two swabs were taken from each dog: (i) from an anterior nare, and (ii) a combination of the perineal area and 0.5 cm into the anus. Enrichment cultures were performed. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) was not identified. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus intermedius (MRSI) was isolated from the n...
Mealey RH, Lee JH, Leib SR, Littke MH, McGuire TC.Although CTL are critical for control of lentiviruses, including equine infectious anemia virus, relatively little is known regarding the MHC class I molecules that present important epitopes to equine infectious anemia virus-specific CTL. The equine class I molecule 7-6 is associated with the equine leukocyte Ag (ELA)-A1 haplotype and presents the Env-RW12 and Gag-GW12 CTL epitopes. Some ELA-A1 target cells present both epitopes, whereas others are not recognized by Gag-GW12-specific CTL, suggesting that the ELA-A1 haplotype comprises functionally distinct alleles. The Rev-QW11 CTL epitope is...
Infernuso T, Watts AE, Ducharme NG.Septic epiglottic chondritis with abscessation diagnosed in 2 Thoroughbred racehorses. Infected cartilage removed videoendoscopically followed by systemic antibiotics. The infectious process was successfully controlled, but permanent dorsal displacement of the soft palate (DDSP) with a shortened, deformed epiglottic cartilage developed. Surgery for the DDSP using bilateral partial sternothyroidectomy or laryngeal tie-forward failed. Chondrite septique abcédée de l’épiglotte chez 2 jeunes chevaux de course Thoroughbred. Une chondrite septique abcédée de l’épiglotte a été diagnostiqu...
Fine DL, Roberts BA, Teehee ML, Terpening SJ, Kelly CL, Raetz JL, Baker DC, Powers AM, Bowen RA.A new vaccine, V3526, is a live-attenuated virus derived by site-directed mutagenesis from a virulent clone of the Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus (VEEV) IA/B Trinidad donkey (TrD) strain, intended for human use in protection against Venezuelan equine encephalitis (VEE). Two studies were conducted in horses to evaluate the safety, immunogenicity, ability to boost and protective efficacy of V3526 against challenges of TrD and VEEV IE 64A99. Horses were vaccinated subcutaneously (SC) with 10(7), 10(5), 10(3) or 10(2) plaque-forming units (pfu) of V3526. Control horses were sham immunized. I...
Borchers A, Magdesian KG, Halland S, Pusterla N, Wilson WD.Tyzzer's disease is a rapidly progressive and highly fatal hepatitis of foals caused by Clostridium piliforme. Survival of a confirmed case has not been reported previously. Objective: Successful therapy of C. piliforme infection in foals is possible. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) can be used to diagnose Tyzzer's disease antemortem or postmortem. Methods: Seven foals were included in the study. Methods: Retrospective study was made to evaluate the clinical and pathologic characteristics of foals with Tyzzer's disease. Medical records of the Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital at University ...
Luque I, Fernández-Garayzábal JF, Blume V, Maldonado A, Astorga R, Tarradas C.The anti-microbial susceptibility and genetic diversity of 65 strains of Streptococcus equi ssp. zooepidemicus (Sez) isolated from mares presenting clinical signs of endometritis was determined by disk agar diffusion and pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) methods, respectively. Overall, Sez isolates were susceptible to beta-lactams, enrofloxacin, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole and gentamicin. These anti-microbials could be recommended as empiric anti-microbial therapy in cases of endometritis caused by Sez. Pulsed field gel electrophoresis typing revealed a great genetic diversity (56 diff...
Salinas-Mélendez JA, Galván de la Garza S, Riojas-Valdés VM, Wong González A, Avalos-Ramírez R.The aim of the present study was to determine the presence of Borrelia burgdorferi antibodies in horses from the metropolitan area of Monterrey, Nuevo León, México. Blood serum was obtained from a total of 100 horses residing at different counties in the area. From each animal data was obtained on age, sex, county of residence, presence of ectoparasites and clinical signs. All sera samples were analyzed by indirect immunofluoresence and the sera that resulted positive to this test was analyzed by Western blot. The serological test yielded 34 positive sera at 1:64 dilution, and from them 6 we...
Morgan D.Although there is no recognized transmission of human arboviral infections in the UK, concerns about the possible spread of West Nile virus (WNV) have precipitated coordinated activities around both surveillance and response. The Department of Health has chaired a UK WNV task force since the end of 2000. This is a multidisciplinary group of senior representatives from Agencies and Government Departments involved in human and animal health, entomology and academic departments. Activities include surveillance for WNV infections in humans, and in dead birds, mosquitoes and horses. All have been n...
Sánchez MD, Pierson TC, Degrace MM, Mattei LM, Hanna SL, Del Piero F, Doms RW.A major neutralizing epitope (here referred to as the T332 epitope) located on the lateral surface of domain III (DIII) of the West Nile virus (WNV) envelope protein has been identified based on the analysis of murine monoclonal antibodies. However, little is known about the humoral immune response against WNV in a natural host or whether DIII in general or the T332 epitope in particular are important targets of neutralizing antibodies in vivo. To characterize the types of antibodies produced during infection with WNV, we studied a group of naturally infected horses. Using immune adsorption as...
Ibrahim ES, Kinoh M, Matsumura T, Kennedy M, Allen GP, Yamaguchi T, Fukushi H.Equine herpesvirus 1 was isolated from an onager in 1985, a zebra in 1986 and a Thomson's gazelle in 1996 in USA. The genetic relatedness and pathogenicity of these three viruses were investigated based on the nucleotide sequences of the glycoprotein G (gG) gene, experimental infection in hamsters, and comparison with horse isolates. The gG gene sequences of EHV-1 from onager and zebra were identical. The gG gene sequences of the gazelle isolate showed 99.5% identity to those of onager and zebra isolates. The gG gene sequences of EHV-1 isolated from horses were 99.9-100% identical and 98, 98 a...
Acosta-González RI, González-Reyes I, Flores-Gutiérrez GH.A cross-sectional study was conducted to determinate the seroprevalence rate of equine brucellosis in the state of Tamaulipas, Mexico. Serum samples from 420 equines were analyzed with the Rose Bengal test at cell concentrations of 3% (RBT-3%) and 8% (RBT-8%), and positive results were confirmed with the Rivanol test (RT). Risk factors were determined with the prevalence ratio (PR) and the use of variables generated from a questionnaire administered to the animals' owners. Serum from 1 stallion had positive results with both the RBT-8% and the RT, for a seroprevalence rate of 0.238%. Drinking ...
Bell SA, Balasuriya UB, Nordhausen RW, MacLachlan NJ.Horses are commonly infected by herpesviruses, but isolation of equine herpesvirus-5 (EHV-5) has only infrequently been reported. We describe the isolation and characterization of a strain of EHV-5 from the blood mononuclear cells of a healthy adult horse in California. The virus was initially identified by EHV-5 specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and it caused lytic infection of cultured rabbit kidney cells only after repeated serial passage. Virions with characteristic herpesvirus morphology were readily demonstrated in cell culture lysate by transmission electron microscopy. A portio...
Bicout DJ, Carvalho R, Chalvet-Monfray K, Sabatier P.The paper examines the prevalence of equine infectious anemia (EIA) in horse populations in the northern part (comprising 89 cities) of Minas Gerais State, Brazil, from January 2002 to December 2004. Data on 8,981 agar gel immunodiffusion test results from the region were used as input for a statistical and autoregressive analysis model to construct a city-level map of the distribution of EIA prevalence. The following EIA prevalence (P) levels were found: 49 cities with 0 < P < or = 0.5%, 26 with 0.5% < P < or = 1.5%, 10 with 1.5% < P < or = 5%, and 4 with 5% < P < or = 25%.
Nunes J, Mackie JT, Kiupel M.A 3.5-year-old Thoroughbred mare presented at necropsy with a large mass at the root of the mesentery and multiple smaller mesenteric masses. The mucosa of the small intestine contained numerous raised nodules. Histologic examination revealed severe granulomatous mesenteric lymphadenitis and enteritis. Epithelioid macrophages and multinucleated giant cells frequently contained numerous intracytoplasmic yeast organisms, which were strongly positive on immunohistochemical staining when using a polyclonal antibody against Histoplasma spp. A diagnosis of abdominal histoplasmosis was made based on ...
Attili AR, Kennerman E, Takai S, Or ME, Marenzoni ML, Torun S, Pieramati C, Kayar A, Golcu E, Parkan C, Yilmaz Z, Gonul R, Valente C, Cuteri V.In order to assess the Rhodococcus equi infection in three provinces of Turkey (Bursa, Izmir and Istanbul), 696 sera from healthy foals and adult horses were tested by indirect ELISA using a R. equi reference strain (ATCC 6939) as antigen. 103 sera (14.80%) with titres >0.646 resulted positive. Seroprevalence was significantly higher (P=0.0053) in male than in female horses of Istanbul province, although higher antibody titres (mean value) were observed in the female group of Bursa and Izmir provinces with differences estimated between provinces (P=0.0002). Seroprevalence was correlated wit...
Moodley A, Stegger M, Bagcigil AF, Baptiste KE, Loeffler A, Lloyd DH, Williams NJ, Leonard N, Abbott Y, Skov R, Guardabassi L.Region X of the protein A gene (spa) was sequenced from methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) isolates originating from animals, humans and the environment at veterinary hospitals in the UK and Ireland. MRSA transmission between animals and veterinary staff was assessed on the basis of spa typing, PFGE and epidemiological data. Methods: MRSA isolates from dogs (n = 27), horses (n = 9), cats (n = 6), staff (n = 22) and environmental surfaces (n = 3) were analysed by PFGE and spa typing. Known contacts between human and animal MRSA carriers were ascertained from the veterinary hospi...
Yamanaka T, Tsujimura K, Kondo T, Hobo S, Matsumura T.We investigated the efficacy of the oral administration of oseltamivir phosphate (OP) in horses experimentally infected with equine influenza A virus (H3N8). Nine horses were divided into three horses each of control, treatment and prophylaxis groups. An administration protocol for the treatment group (2 mg/kg of body weight, twice a day for five days) was started immediately after the onset of pyrexia (above 38.9 degrees C). An administration protocol for the prophylaxis group (2 mg/kg of body weight, once a day for five days) was started on a day before viral inoculation. In the treatment gr...
Journal of medical entomologyOctober 5, 2006
Volume 43, Issue 5 936-946 doi: 10.1603/0022-2585(2006)43[936:hbahba]2.0.co;2
Balenghien T, Fouque F, Sabatier P, Bicout DJ.After 35 yr of disease absence, West Nile virus (family Flaviviridae, genus Flavivirus, WNV) circulation has been regularly detected in the Camargue region (southern France) since 2000. WNV was isolated from Culex modestus Ficalbi, which was considered the main vector in southern France after horse outbreaks in the 1960s. Recent WNV transmissions outside of the Cx. modestus distribution suggested the existence of other vectors. To study potential WNV vectors, horse- and bird-baited traps and human landing collections of mosquitoes were carried out weekly from May to October 2004 at two Camargu...
Betbeze CM, Wu CC, Krohne SG, Stiles J.To evaluate the in vitro antifungal properties of silver sulfadiazine (SSD) and natamycin against filamentous fungi isolated from eyes of horses with keratomycosis. Methods: Filamentous fungal isolates obtained from eyes of keratomycosis-affected horses. Methods: Fungal culture of ocular samples yielded 6 Fusarium spp; 7 Aspergillus spp; and 1 isolate each of Curvularia, Scopulariopsis, Penicillium, and Chrysosporium. For each fungal isolate, minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum fungicidal concentration (MFC) of SSD and natamycin were determined. Results: For all 17 fungal isolat...
Jacobsen S, Thomsen MH, Nanni S.To determine serum amyloid A (SAA) concentrations in serum and synovial fluid from healthy horses and horses with joint disease and assess the effect of repeated arthrocentesis on SAA concentrations in synovial fluid. Animals-10 healthy horses and 21 horses with various types of joint disease. Methods: Serum and synovial fluid samples were obtained from each horse. In 5 of the 10 healthy horses, arthrocentesis was repeated 9 times. Concentrations of SAA were determined via immunoturbidometry. Results: Serum and synovial fluid SAA concentrations were less than the assay detection limit in healt...
Wittig MB, Wohlsein P, Hagen RM, Al Dahouk S, Tomaso H, Scholz HC, Nikolaou K, Wernery R, Wernery U, Kinne J, Elschner M, Neubauer H.Since 1990 the number of glanders outbreaks in race, military and pleasure horses in Asia and South America is steadily increasing. Glanders, which is eradicated in Western Europe, Australia and Northern America, is currently considered a re-emerging disease. Consequently, the disease may be introduced into glanders-free regions by subclinical carriers at any time. The causative agent of glanders, Burkholderia (B.) mallei, is highly contagious and leads to chronic disease in horses whereas in donkeys and mules the disease is acute and often fatal. Occurrence of the disease leads to internation...
Levy R, Forsyth CM, LaPorte SL, Geren IN, Smith LA, Marks JD.Botulinum neurotoxin (BoNT), the most poisonous substance known, causes naturally occurring human disease (botulism) and is one of the top six biothreat agents. Botulism is treated with polyclonal antibodies produced in horses that are associated with a high incidence of systemic reactions. Human monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) are under development as a safer therapy. Identifying neutralizing epitopes on BoNTs is an important step in generating neutralizing mAbs, and has implications for vaccine development. Here, we show that the three domains of BoNT serotype A (BoNT/A) can be displayed on the...
Hamilton A, Robinson C, Sutcliffe IC, Slater J, Maskell DJ, Davis-Poynter N, Smith K, Waller A, Harrington DJ.Streptococcus equi is the causative agent of strangles, a prevalent and highly contagious disease of horses. Despite the animal suffering and economic burden associated with strangles, little is known about the molecular basis of S. equi virulence. Here we have investigated the contributions of a specific lipoprotein and the general lipoprotein processing pathway to the abilities of S. equi to colonize equine epithelial tissues in vitro and to cause disease in both a mouse model and the natural host in vivo. Colonization of air interface organ cultures after they were inoculated with a mutant ...
Slivinska K.A diagnostic deworming of 21 Przewalski horses, free-living in the Chernobyl exclusion zone Ukraine, and of six stabled domestic horses, has been conducted eighteen years after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. This survey yielded 31 species (of 5 families and 3 classes, 28 species of nematodes, 1 species of cestodes, and 2 larvae of botflies). A total 29 and 19 helmith species has been recorded in the Przewalski horse and domestic horse respectively. Only six helmith species were common for the two horse species. Species from the family Strongylidae constituted the dominant helmith group. Four ...
Nygaard TK, Liu M, McClure MJ, Lei B.Heme is a preferred iron source of bacterial pathogens. Streptococcus equi subspecies equi is a bacterial pathogen that causes strangles in horses. Whether S. equi has a heme acquisition transporter is unknown. Results: An S. equi genome database was blasted with the heme binding proteins Shp and HtsA of Streptococcus pyogenes, and found that S. equi has the homologue of Shp (designated SeShp) and HtsA (designated SeHtsA). Tag-free recombinant SeShp and SeHtsA and 6xHis-tagged SeHtsA (SeHtsAHis) were prepared and characterized. Purified holoSeShp and holoSeHtsA bind Fe(II)-protoporphyrin IX (h...
Laviada MD, Arias M, Sánchez-Vizcaíno JM.The structural and non-structural proteins induced by African horsesickness virus serotype 4 (AHSV-4) in infected Vero cells were analysed by SDS-PAGE. Twenty-two virus-induced polypeptides were detected in infected cells by comparison with the polypeptides of mock-infected cells, of which four major (VP2, VP3, VP5 and VP7) and three minor (VP1, VP4 and VP6) structural proteins and four non-structural proteins (P58, P48, P21 and P20) were shown to be virus-coded, as deduced from electrophoretic and antigenic studies of purified virions and infected cells. The proteins that elicit the major ant...
Frabasile S, Morel N, Pérez R, Marrero LM, Burgueño A, Cortinas MN, Bassetti L, Negro R, Rodríguez S, Bórmida V, Gayo V, de Souza VC, Naveca FG....We report the genomic analysis from early equine cases of the Western equine encephalitis virus outbreak during 2023-2024 in Uruguay. Sequences are related to a viral isolate from an outbreak in 1958 in Argentina. A viral origin from South America or continuous enzootic circulation with infrequent spillover is possible.
Seyoum Z, Zewdu A, Dagnachew S, Bogale B.A study was conducted from November 2015 to April 2016 to determine fenbendazole and ivermectin resistance status of intestinal nematodes of cart horses in Gondar, Northwest Ethiopia. Forty-five strongyle infected animals were used for this study. The animals were randomly allocated into three groups (15 horses per group). Group I was treated with fenbendazole and Group II with ivermectin and Group III was left untreated. Faecal samples were collected from each cart horse before and after treatment. Accordingly, the reduction in the mean fecal egg count at fourteen days of treatment for iverme...
Taouji S, Bréard E, Peyret-Lacombe A, Pronost S, Fortier G, Collobert-Laugier C.Virulence-associated protein A (VapA) of Rhodococcus equi has been proposed for use both as a vaccine and as a target for antibodies in immunotherapy and diagnostic tests. Epitope mapping of VapA allowed the identification of two B cell epitopes associated with R. equi pneumonia. The peptide NLQKDEPGRASDT was confirmed as an immunodominant N-terminal B cell epitope recognized by all sera from infected foals while VSFQYNAVGPYLNINFFDSS (C-terminal B cell epitope) was exclusively recognized by IgA from the tracheal aspirates. Moreover, specific antibodies produced against the VapA-specific peptid...
Ortega-García MV, Salguero FJ, García N, Domínguez M, Moreno I, Berrocal A.Cutaneous forms of leishmaniosis due to Leishmania braziliensis have been reported in horses in the New World. Domestic animals play a role in the transmission of the disease. In Costa Rica, human cases of L. braziliensis, L. panamensis and L. infantum have been reported. The present report describes five cases of equine cutaneous leishmaniosis in Costa Rica. The aetiological diagnosis was based on the presence of the parasite within the lesions. Skin biopsies were used to perform histopathological analyses of the lesions. Immunohistochemistry was used to detect the presence of the Leishmania ...
Hepworth-Warren KL, Nelson N, Dembek KA, Young KAS.Thoracic ultrasonography (TUS) is widely used in equine practice but comparison to radiography is limited in horses. Unassigned: To validate a novel, objective scoring system for TUS in adult horses and to compare ultrasonographic and radiographic findings. Unassigned: 13 healthy horses and 9 with confirmed bacterial pneumonia. Unassigned: Prospective study in which TUS and radiography were performed on healthy horses and those with bacterial pneumonia confirmed by clinical signs and results of transtracheal wash analysis. Ultrasonography was scored utilizing a novel scoring system evaluating ...
Bitew M, Andargie A, Bekele M, Jenberie S, Ayelet G, Gelaye E.A cross-sectional serological survey was undertaken in selected districts of different agro-ecology of Jimma zone (Dedo, Yebu, Seka, Serbo, and Jimma town) from November 2009 to February 2010 to determine the seroprevalence of African horse sickness virus and associated risk factors of the disease. Two hundred seventy-four equids (189 horses, 43 mules, and 47 donkeys) with a history of non-vaccination for at least 2 years were selected randomly from the above areas. Sera samples were collected and assayed for the presence of specific antibody against African horse sickness virus using blocking...
Inácio SV, de Brito RL, Zucatto AS, Coelho WM, de Aquino MC, Aguirre Ade A, Perri SH, Meireles MV, Bresciani KD.The present study aimed to analyze the occurrence of infection by Cryptosporidium spp. in mares and their respective foals. This study was carried out in 11 farms located in the municipalities of Araçatuba, Birigui, Guararapes and Santo Antônio do Aracangua, in the northwest region of the State of Sao Paulo, from November 2010 to March 2011. A total of 98 mares and 98 foals of several breeds were analyzed; among foals, 59 were males and 39 females, aged from three to 330 days. Feces were collected directly from the rectal ampulla, purified and processed according to modified Kinyoun stain. O...
Kalinowski M, Grądzki Z, Jarosz Ł, Kato K, Hieda Y, Kakuda T, Takai S.Rhodococcus equi is an important bacterial pathogen in foals up to 6 months old, widespread in horse farms all over the world. It was found that only virulent R. equi strains expressing 15-17 kDa virulence-associated protein (VapA) and having large virulence plasmid of 85-90 kb containing vapA gene are pathogenic for horses. To date, 12 plasmid types have been reported in VapA positive strains from horses. There are no data concerning plasmid types of Polish field R. equi strains isolated from horses and horse farm environment. The aim of the study is to determine plasmid profiles of virulent ...
Scofield D, Black J, Wittenburg L, Gustafson D, Ferris R, Hatzel J, Traub-Dargatz J, McCue P.Systemic administration of ceftiofur crystalline free acid (CCFA) may be a potential treatment for infectious endometritis caused by Streptococcus equi ssp. zooepidemicus (S. zooepidemicus) and other susceptible bacterial organisms in the mare. Objective: To determine if i.m. administration of CCFA at the label dose will exceed the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of S. zooepidemicus in the endometrium following single administration and multiple administration protocols. Methods: Experimental pharmacokinetic study. Methods: Three mares (Group 1) were administered a single i.m. dos...
Shively MA, Banks KL, Greenlee A, Klevjer-Anderson P.Equine infectious anemia is a chronic disease of horses caused by a nononcogenic retrovirus. Studies were undertaken to determine the types of cells involved in the in vitro lymphoproliferative response to viral antigens and the dynamics of this reaction. It was observed that reactive lymphocytes were present at unpredictable times in the peripheral blood of infected horses. This reaction was shown to be specific for the interaction of equine infectious anemia virus and T lymphocytes. Enriched B-lymphocyte populations did not divide when exposed to equine infectious anemia virus. Macrophages w...
Kristula MA, Smith BI.Contagious Equine Metritis (CEM), a venereal disease of horses caused by the bacterium Taylorella equigenitalis, was first diagnosed in 1977 and subsequently spread to many nations [Proc 24th AM Assoc Equine Pract (1979) 287]. The disease was confirmed in the United States in 1978 [Proc Am Assoc Equine Pract (1983) 295]. Specific regulatory procedures for this disease have been established in the United States and 37 other countries. From 1999 through 2001, four of 120 imported European stallions tested positive for CEM at a quarantine facility in Darlington, MD, USA. Two stallions were identi...
Richards KS, Riley EM, Taylor DH, Morris DL.Protoscoleces of Echinococcus granulosus were subjected to high concentrations of praziquantel (10-1000 micrograms/ml medium or cyst fluid) for a short, 10 min duration in vitro or in situ within cysts. Drug efficacy was then monitored either by in vitro culture in drug-free medium and/or by passage into rodents. The in vitro test of effectiveness suggested that ovine-derived protoscoleces were more sensitive than those of equine origin, and that the in vitro method of treatment was more successful than that performed in situ. However, the subsequent passage of treated protoscoleces, whether i...
Polley L.In an abattoir survey of 383 horses from the four western provinces of Canada and 240 horses from Washington, Montana and North Dakota prevalences of Onchocerca sp of 11.8% and 25.8% respectively have been demonstrated by umbilical skin specimen examinations. The results of this survey are discussed in relation to the parasite's natural history and its clinical significance in western Canada.
Anis E, Ilha MRS, Engiles JB, Wilkes RP.Equine infectious disease outbreaks may have profound economic impact, resulting in losses of millions of dollars of revenue as a result of horse loss, quarantine, and cancelled events. Early and accurate diagnosis is essential to limit the spread of infectious diseases. However, laboratory detection of infectious agents, especially the simultaneous detection of multiple agents, can be challenging to the clinician and diagnostic laboratory. Next-generation sequencing (NGS), which allows millions of DNA templates to be sequenced simultaneously in a single reaction, is an ideal technology for co...
May CE, Guthrie AJ, Keys B, Joone C, Monyai M, Schulman ML.The response to the first outbreak of contagious equine metritis in South Africa included pioneering a web-based platform to coordinate key aspects of a national, real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR)-based stallion screening programme to determine the distribution and prevalence of Taylorella equigenitalis in stallions and exposed mares. Objective: To define the hypothesised pre-existing status of T. equigenitalis in the South African equine population and progression of the epidemiological investigation via the implementation of a molecular diagnostic-based surveillance programme. Metho...
Pimenta J, Pinto AR, Saavedra MJ, Cotovio M.Horses are considered as reservoirs of multidrug resistant bacteria that can be spread through the environment and possibly to humans. The aim of this study was to characterize the oral Gram-negative microbiota of healthy horses and evaluate their antimicrobial susceptibility profile in a One Health approach. For this purpose, samples were collected from the gingival margin of healthy horses, free of antimicrobial therapy, cultured in selective mediums, identified, and tested for antimicrobial susceptibility. Fifty-five Gram-negative isolates were identified, with 89.5% being zoonotic and 62% ...
Böse R, Peymann B.From Babesia caballi in vitro cultures a preparation of 100% infected erythrocytes was obtained. From this, B. caballi antigens were extracted with the detergent 3-[(3-Cholamidopropyl)-dimethylammonio]-1-propane-sulfonate (CHAPS) and used as ELISA antigens. A control antigen of normal erythrocytes from the same donor horse was prepared in an identical manner. The ELISA and Western blot were validated by testing of sera from horses experimentally infected with B. caballi or B. equi or not infected with Babesia spp. ELISA and Western blot results were compared with those obtained by the immunofl...
Locatelli-Dittrich R, Dittrich JR, Richartz RR, Gasino Joineau ME, Antunes J, Pinckney RD, Deconto I, Hoffmann DC, Thomaz-Soccol V.Antibodies to Neospora sp. and Toxoplasma gondii were measured in mares and precolostral foals from a farm in Parana State, Brazil. An indirect fluorescent antibody test (IFAT) was used to determine specific antibodies. Three sampling points, 2003, 2004 and at parturition were included in the study, but not all horses are represented at a parturition time point. In 2003, antibodies to Neospora were detected in 17 mares (47%) at 1:50 dilution and in 5 mares (13.8%) at 1:100 dilution. In 2004, antibodies to Neospora were found in 11/36 (30%) horses with titers of 1:50 and in 6 mares (16.6%) at 1...
Malik P, Singha H, Goyal SK, Khurana SK, Kumar R, Virmani N, Shanmugasundaram K, Pandey SB, Kant R, Singh BK, Singh RK.Equine infectious anemia (EIA) is a retroviral infection of horses. Horses infected by EIA virus (EIAV) become inapparent carriers that remain asymptomatic for the remainder of their life span and serve as infection source to other horses. In this study, agar gel immunodiffusion test and ELISA were used to investigate the presence of antibodies to EIAV in equines. A total of 67,042 equine serum samples from 19 states and two union territories were tested during April 1999 to September 2012. The results revealed that none of the animals were positive for antibodies to EIAV from 1999 to December...
Schemann K, Lewis FI, Firestone SM, Ward MP, Toribio JA, Taylor MR, Dhand NK.On-farm biosecurity practices have been promoted in many animal industries to protect animal populations from infections. Current approaches based on regression modelling techniques for assessing biosecurity perceptions and practices are limited for analysis of the interrelationships between multivariate data. A suitable approach, which does not require background knowledge of relationships, is provided by Bayesian network modelling. Here we apply such an approach to explore the complex interrelationships between the variables representing horse managers' perceptions of effectiveness of on-far...
Mizushima D, Amgalanbaatar T, Davaasuren B, Kayano M, Naransatsral S, Myagmarsuren P, Otgonsuren D, Enkhtaivan B, Davkharbayar B, Mungun-Ochir B....In Mongolia, horses play important roles, not only in livestock production, but also in terms of culture, tradition, and Mongolian beliefs. Although the presence of non-tsetse-transmitted horse trypanosomoses, which are caused by infections with (surra) and (dourine), has been reported in the country, whether there is a nationwide epidemic of these infectious diseases is unknown. In the present study, a nationwide surveillance of horse trypanosomoses was performed. The sample sizes for each province, the whole country, and male and female horses were, respectively, 96, 2,400, and 316 and 306...
Equine piroplasmosis (EP) is an endemic tick-borne disease found in most countries around the world. It affects all species of Equidae, and it is caused by Theileria equi, Babesia caballi and T. haneyi. The research herein is the second study on the prevalence of piroplasms in Romania conducted in the past two decades. The aim of this study was to assess the seroprevalence of anti-Theileria equi antibodies and the geographical distribution of this disease in the southwest, west, and northwest regions of Romania in order to obtain a more thorough understanding of the parasitological status of h...
Marques C, da Silva B, Nogueira Y, Bezerra T, Tavares A, Borges-Silva W, Gondim L.The protozoan (syn. ) infects horses and has dogs as definitive hosts. Herein we aimed to detect in Brazilian horses destined for human consumption and to determine the frequency of infection in the examined animals. Muscle fragments from 51 horses were collected in a slaughterhouse in Bahia State during three different seasons of the year. Samples from six tissues from each animal were prepared for macroscopic and microscopic evaluation, using tissue grinding, squash and histology. sp. was observed in 100% of the examined horses. Selected samples were processed for transmission electron mi...
Olufemi OT, Barba M, Daly JM.West Nile virus (WNV) is an emerging and re-emerging zoonotic flavivirus first identified in and endemic to Africa. The virus is transmitted between birds by biting mosquitoes, with equids and humans being incidental hosts. The majority of infected incidental hosts display no or only mild clinical signs, but a fraction develop encephalitis. The aim of this scoping review was to identify and evaluate primary research on the presence of antibodies to WNV among African equids. Three bibliographic databases and the grey literature were searched. Of 283 articles identified, only 16 satisfied all th...
One health outlookMay 9, 2022
Volume 4, Issue 1 9 doi: 10.1186/s42522-022-00065-y
Gömer A, Puff C, Reinecke B, Bracht S, Conze M, Baumgärtner W, Steinmann J, Feige K, Cavalleri JMV, Steinmann E, Todt D.The Equine Hepacivirus (EqHV) is an equine-specific and liver-tropic virus belonging to the diverse genus of Hepaciviruses. It was recently found in a large donkey (Equus asinus) cohort with a similar seroprevalence (30%), but lower rate of RNA-positive animals (0.3%) compared to horses. These rare infection events indicate either a lack of adaptation to the new host or a predominantly acute course of infection. Methods: In order to analyze the susceptibility and the course of EqHV infection in donkeys, we inoculated two adult female donkeys and one control horse intravenously with purified Eq...
Viu J, Monreal L, Jose-Cunilleras E, Cesarini C, Añor S, Armengou L.Bacterial meningoencephalitis is a severe complication in septic foals and there is scarce and often unclear information in the equine literature. Objective: To report the most frequent clinical signs, clinicopathological findings, causative agents, treatments given and outcome of a group of foals with confirmed bacterial meningoencephalitis. Methods: Foals aged < 6 months of age admitted to the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona (2004-2009) with confirmed bacterial meningoencephalitis were retrospectively included in the study Diagnosis of bacterial meningoencephalitis was made by cerebrospina...
Tulamo RM, Houttu J, Tupamäki A, Salonen M.To investigate the presence of large molecular weight (MW) proteoglycans (PG) and hyaluronate (HA) in synovial fluid (SF) from horses with various arthritides and from control joints. Methods: Horses with acute (< 2 weeks) or chronic (> 4 weeks) lameness were examined by clinical examination, intrasynovial anesthesia, radiography, arthroscopy, and SF analysis. Joints were grouped on the basis of diagnosis: acute traumatic arthritis, chronic traumatic arthritis (with a subgroup of degenerative joint disease), intra-articular fracture, and infectious arthritis. Methods: 31 horses with arthritis ...
Bleumink-Pluym NM, ter Laak EA, Houwers DJ, van der Zeijst BA.The ability of Taylorella equigenitalis, the causative agent of contagious equine metritis, to invade and replicate in equine derm cells was studied. The kinetics of invasion and replication were determined for four T. equigenitalis strains. On the basis of these experiments, a simpler assay in which the invasive as well as the replicative properties of a particular strain could be determined was developed. This assay was used to characterize 32 strains, which had previously been typed by field inversion gel electrophoresis of genomic restriction fragments. The invasiveness of T. equigenitalis...
Lyashchenko KP, Greenwald R, Esfandiari J, Lecu A, Waters WR, Posthaus H, Bodmer T, Janssens JP, Aloisio F, Graubner C, Grosclaude E, Piersigilli A....A case of pulmonary tuberculosis caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis was diagnosed in a horse. Clinical evaluation performed prior to euthanasia did not suggest tuberculosis, but postmortem examination provided pathological and bacteriological evidence of mycobacteriosis. In the lungs, multiple tuberculoid granulomas communicating with the bronchiolar lumen, pleural effusion, and a granulomatous lymphadenitis involving mediastinal and tracheobronchial lymph nodes were found. Serologic response to M. tuberculosis antigens was detected in the infected horse, but not in the group of 42 potential...
