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Topic:Infectious Disease
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.
Evaluation of Directigen Flu A assay for detection of influenza antigen in nasal secretions of horses. The Directigen Flu A assay (Becton Dickinson, Microbiology Systems, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada) is a commercially available immunoassay designed for rapid in vitro recognition of influenza A nucleoprotein. The purpose of this study was to evaluate this assay for detection of influenza virus in nasal secretions of naturally infected horses. The assay was shown to react with representative strains of influenza virus which cause disease in horses and did not react with nasal secretions from uninfected horses kept in isolation. Between 33% and 45% of nasal secretions specimens obtained from clin...
Identification of the causative agent of granulocytic ehrlichiosis in Swedish dogs and horses by direct solid phase sequencing of PCR products from the 16S rRNA gene. Seven Swedish isolates of Ehrlichia species from the blood of four dogs and three horses with clinical granulocytic ehrlichiosis, were identified by direct solid phase DNA sequencing of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) products from the 16S rRNA gene. The amplified DNA fragments were produced with primers complementary to the universal regions, U1, U2, U5 and U8 of the 16S rRNA molecule. Identical sequences were obtained from all seven isolates. This nucleotide sequence was similar to the sequences deposited in GenBank for Ehrlichia phagocytophila and E equi. The sequence of the Swedish ehrlich...
Enhanced sensitivity to neutralizing antibodies in a variant of equine infectious anemia virus is linked to amino acid substitutions in the surface unit envelope glycoprotein. Serial passage of the prototype (PR) cell-adapted Wyoming strain of equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV) in fetal donkey dermal (FDD) rather than fetal horse (designated fetal equine kidney [FEK]) cell cultures resulted in the generation of a variant virus strain which produced accelerated cytopathic effects in FDD cells and was 100- to 1,000-fold more sensitive to neutralizing antibodies than its parent. This neutralization-sensitive variant was designated the FDD strain. Although there were differences in glycosylation between the PR and FDD strains, passage of the FDD virus in FEK cells di...
[The fist detection of Giardia spp. in horses in the Czech Republic]. The first occurrence of Giardia spp. in horses in the Czech Republic is reported. During preventive examination of 360 five-month up to 14-year horses from various parts of the region of Central Bohemia carried out from January 1993 to June 1994 in the parasitological laboratory of the State Veterinary Institute in Prague, the Giardia cysts were detected in the excrements of 18 (5%) horses, mostly 2-4 years of age, and in two foals 3 and 6 weeks old. During the period between March 1993 and June 1994, systematic and repeated observation was aimed at a group of 38 racing horses two up to four y...
Acremonium in fescue and ryegrass: boon or bane? A review. Acremonium coenophialum Morgan-Jones and Gams, an endophytic fungus commonly found in tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea Schreb.), has been identified as the cause of poor performance of beef cattle and horses on tall fescue. Ryegrass staggers, a neurological disorder of sheep, has been linked to the presence of a similar fungus, A. lolii Latch, Christensen and Samuels, in perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.). Renovation of endophyte-infected (E+) pastures with endophyte-free (E-) cultivars of tall fescue or perennial ryegrass has resulted in improved animal performance, but productivity and s...
Prevalence of hemagglutination-inhibition and neutralizing antibodies to arboviruses in horses of java. A study was conducted to measure the prevalence of hemagglutination-inhibition (HI) and neutralizing antibodies against two arboviruses (Chikungunya and Japanese encephalitis virus) in horses of Java, Indonesia. Blood specimens were collected from a sample of 112 horses at two stables: Pulo Mas, a racing track-horse complex, located in a residential area in North Jakarta, and Pamulang, a riding school, located in a rural environment of West Jaya. Sera were tested by the HI assay and plaque reduction neutralization test. JEV antibodies were detected by HI in 58 (52%) of the horses, while only 1...
Replication of equid herpesvirus 4 in endothelial cells and synovia of a field case of viral pneumonia and synovitis in a foal. Equid herpesvirus 4 (EHV-4) infection was diagnosed as the cause of interstitial pneumonia in a 6-week-old conventionally reared Welsh pony foal, by cocultivation and immunolabelling with specific monoclonal antibodies, EHV-4 specific amplification of viral DNA, and immunohistological examination of infected tissues. The case was novel in that replication of the EHV-4 isolate in endothelial cells and in the synovial epithelium was a feature. Restriction digests of this isolate were compared with those of seven respiratory and one abortigenic EHV-4 isolate, and no differences in restriction pat...
Amphotericin B treatment of Candida arthritis in two horses. Infectious arthritis caused by Candida spp was diagnosed in 2 horses. Source of infection was by direct inoculation in 1 horse and was presumed to be hematogenous in the other horse. On microbial culturing of synovial fluid and synovial membrane specimens, the organisms were isolated in both horses. In both horses, the joint infections resolved after i.v. administration of amphotericin B and joint drainage; however, 1 horse was eventually euthanatized because of signs of cervical pain and progressively worsening ataxia. Fungal organisms isolated on microbial culturing of joint specimens in hor...
Plasmid profiles of Klebsiella pneumoniae isolated from horses. Plasmid profiles of Klebsiella pneumoniae isolated from horses were examined. Thirty-nine strains of K. pneumoniae capsular type 1 (K1) isolated from cervical swabs of mares suffering from metritis, and from semen of stallions showed similar plasmid profile patterns, and all strains possessed a 125 megadaltons (Md) plasmid. There was no difference in plasmid profiles between the heavily-encapsulated and the less heavily-encapsulated strains of K. pneumoniae K1. Non-capsulated variants derived from the strains of K1 showed the same plasmid profile pattern as the parent strains. Plasmid profiles...
Polyclonal antibody-based antigen-detection immunoassay for diagnosis of Trypanosoma evansi in buffaloes and horses. An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was employed for the detection of Trypanosoma evansi antigens in serum samples of field cases of buffaloes and horses in northern India. In 323 naturally infected/suspected buffaloes, circulating antigenaemia was detected in 180 (55.72%), whereas parasitaemia by wet blood smear examination was found in 62 (19.19%) only. The antigen-ELISA was positive in 47 of the 62 parasitologically proven cases and in 86 of the 116 cases with anti-trypanosome antibodies detected by ELISA. Of the 80 horses examined antigen-ELISA was positive in 45 (56.75%) sera. Th...
Cloning and expression of two genes from Babesia equi merozoites and evaluation of their diagnostic potential. High-titre equine immune sera were used to screen a lambda gt 11 expression library of Babesia equi cDNA fragments. Two cDNA clones which did not cross-hybridize to each other were studied. Both clones hybridized specifically to DNA from B. equi but not to DNA from B. caballi, B. divergens or B. ovis. Recombinant proteins were expressed as glutathione S-transferase (GST) fusion proteins with apparent molecular weights of 40 kDa and 75 kDa. Polyclonal antibodies directed against the 40 kDa and 75 kDa recombinant proteins detected native antigens of 55 kDa and 50 kDa respectively in crude lysate...
Genotypic and phenotypic analysis of Salmonella strains associated with an outbreak of equine neonatal salmonellosis. Isolates of Salmonella choleraesuis serotype ohio (S. ohio) recovered during an outbreak of equine neonatal salmonellosis on a Thoroughbred farm were compared with isolates of the same serotype from various animal, feed and environmental sources. Biochemical profiles, antimicrobial susceptibility patterns, phage susceptibility, plasmid profiles, restriction endonuclease analysis and ribotyping were used to compare relatedness of the strains. A total of 46 outbreak and non-outbreak associated isolates of S. ohio were studied. Differences in antimicrobial susceptibility patterns, phage susceptib...
Acute febrile diarrhoea in horses: 86 cases (1986-1991). Eighty-six horses presented for examination at the Rural Veterinary Centre between January 1986 to December 1991 with acute diarrhoea. The average age of affected horses was 3.2 +/- 0.2 years (mean +/- SE), with 69% three years or younger. Sixty-one horses were male (36 stallions, 25 geldings) and 83 horses were Thoroughbreds (47) or Standardbreds (36). Sixty-six horses were undergoing routine training at the time of onset of diarrhoea. Eight horses were afflicted with a non-specific illness within one to five days before the onset of diarrhoea, whereas eight horses developed diarrhoea during ...
An investigation of the role of Fusarium moniliforme in duodenitis/proximal jejunitis of horses. Duodenitis/proximal jejunitis syndrome (DPJ) is a small intestinal disease of horses that is associated with depression and copious gastric reflux. Since an infectious cause for DPJ remains unsubstantiated, these studies were designed to investigate the possible role of Fusarium moniliforme toxins in this disease. Fusarium moniliforme was isolated by culturing 2 samples of feed that had been fed to horses with clinical signs of DPJ. These isolates (AU 2/3) were subsequently grown concurrently on autoclaved corn and their toxicity evaluated in a feeding trial utilizing horses. Isolates of F mon...
Localization of a protective epitope on a Venezuelan equine encephalomyelitis (VEE) virus peptide that protects mice from both epizootic and enzootic VEE virus challenge and is immunogenic in horses. In order to define more precisely the protective epitope encoded within the first 25 amino acids (aa) of the E2 glycoprotein of the Trinidad donkey strain of Venezuelan equine encephalomyelitis (VEE) virus, we examined the immunogenicity of smaller peptides within the first 19 aa. pep1-9 and pep3-10 elicited virus-reactive antibody, but failed to protect mice from virus challenge. Additionally, pep3-10 was identified by a competitive binding assay using overlapping peptide octamers as the putative binding site of the antipeptide monoclonal antibody (mAb) 1A2B-10. Since the E2 amino-terminal se...
The transmission and geographical spread of African horse sickness and bluetongue viruses. African horse sickness virus (AHSV) and bluetongue virus (BTV) are dsRNA viruses within the genus Orbivirus. Both are able to cause non-contagious, infectious arthropod-borne diseases in their respective vertebrate hosts. AHSV infects equines and occasionally dogs, whereas BTV replicates in ruminants. The disease caused by AHSV is usually at its most severe in horses, whereas certain breeds of sheep are particularly sensitive to BTV infection. AHSV is endemic in sub-Saharan Africa but periodically makes brief excursions beyond this area. BTV occurs much more widely and can be found in a band a...
Rhodococcal abortion and pneumonia in an equine fetus. No abstract available
Seroanalysis of Tyzzer’s disease in horses: implications that multiple strains can infect Equidae. A monoclonal antibody based competitive inhibition assay was used to detect antibodies in horse sera to purified flagellar antigens from distinct Clostridium piliforme isolates. Sequential absorption of hyperimmune rat serum to C. piliforme isolate E (horse-origin isolate), a positive C. piliforme-immune horse serum, and other suspected immune horse sera with unrelated bacteria or C. piliforme isolates E or isolate R1 (rat-origin isolate) alone demonstrated the specificity of this assay for C. piliforme. This specificity was associated with the inhibition of monoclonal antibody binding to C. p...
A note on the concurrent isolation, from horses and ponies, of influenza A/EQ-1 and A/EQ-2 viruses from an epidemic of equine influenza in India. A/eq-1 and A/eq-2 influenza viruses were isolated simultaneously from an epidemic of equine influenza in north India. Evidently, both types of equine influenza viruses circulated in the equine population at the same time.
Dermatophytes and other keratinophilic fungi causing ringworm of horses. From 60 horses showing skin lesions, 42% were positive for fungal infection. Horses less than 2-year old were more susceptible to this infection. Fourteen species belonging to nine genera of keratinophilic and cycloheximide-resistant fungi were recovered from collected specimens. Trichophyton was the dominant genus of which T. equinum was the most common. This species proved to be the main causative agent of ringworm in horses. In addition to dermatophytes, many species of the isolated fungi were keratinophilic. The presence of such fungi on hairs and skin of horses may create an opportunity f...
