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.
Carroll JF, Schmidtmann ET.The American dog tick, Dermacentor variabilis (Say), was the only ixodid tick found feeding on horses in Montgomery County, Md., from May to August. Average tick burdens were low (less than one tick per horse per week), but >80% of 33 horses examined weekly were exposed to tick feeding during the summer. Of the 98 ticks collected, 78% were attached to the tail and 12% were present in the mane. Host-seeking adult D. variabilis were active on vegetation in pastures from May to early August, with most specimens along hedgerows, woods margins, and horse paths.
Rosendal S, Blackwell TE, Lumsden JH, Physick-Sheard PW, Viel L, Watson S, Woods P.Mycoplasma felis has been isolated from horses with pleuritis, and limited research indicates that mycoplasma pleuritis can be reproduced in horses. The serodiagnostic potential of the indirect hemagglutination and the metabolism-inhibition tests was evaluated by testing 177 horses for antibodies to M felis. Seven horses with M felis pleuritis developed antibodies, and 6 horses with sterile or bacterial pleuritis had high titers suggesting a previous M felis infection. Six horses with pleuritis (one sterile and five bacterial) had low or no titers to M felis. Only one of 30 horses with conditi...
Yager JA, Foster SF, Zink MC, Prescott JF, Lumsden JH.Polymorphonuclear leukocytes from adult horses were separated from whole blood, using a 2-step Percoll gradient, and were tested for bactericidal function against Corynebacterium equi. Staphylococcus aureus, an organism against which equine neutrophils have proved efficacy, was a positive control. The percentage of uptake after a 15-minute preincubation of the neutrophils and bacteria in the presence of normal horse serum was also calculated. The results indicated that equine neutrophils effectively phagocytosed and killed C equi and S aureus. The percentage of uptake for S aureus (95% +/- 3%)...
Carter JD, Hird DW, Farver TB, Hjerpe CA.Salmonellosis was studied during an 11-year period (July 1971 through June 1982) in 245 hospitalized horses. Ten years' data (207 cases) were analyzed in a time series study. Peak seasonality of the disease was from June through September. The cycle curve revealed 3 major outbreaks, with no apparent periodicity. Eighteen Salmonella serotypes caused clinical salmonellosis in horses, but 84% of the cases and 90% of the deaths were caused by 5 serotypes: Salmonella typhimurium, S typhimurium var copenhagen, S anatum, S kottbus, and S saint-paul. Overall, the case fatality rate was 44.9%. Excludin...
Hird DW, Casebolt DB, Carter JD, Pappaioanou M, Hjerpe CA.A case-control study to identify risk factors associated with isolation of Salmonella was accomplished, using data from records of horses hospitalized in the period July 1971 through June 1982. Horses in which nasogastric tubes were passed were at 2.9 times greater risk of having Salmonella isolated, compared with horses that did not undergo this procedure. Horses treated with antibiotics parenterally were at 6.4 times greater risk, and those treated with antibiotics orally and parenterally were at 40.4 times greater risk of developing salmonellosis, compared with horses not receiving such tre...
Motie A.An outbreak of suspected equine infectious anaemia (EIA) among a population of 678 horses from 16 farms occurred in the Rupununi Savannahs of Guyana. Clinical signs of EIA were detected in 110 horses. Agar gel immunodiffusion (AGID) tests on 92 sera examined showed positive serological evidence of EIA in 67 (72·8%). The mean packed cell volume of 50 horses studied was 0·178
and the mean red blood cell count was 3·7 × 1012/l with the mean white blood cell count 4·1 × 109/l.
The morbidity rate of the disease was 14·0% and the mortality rate 11·1%. The majority (78%) of all seroposi...
Frymus T, Kita J, Woyciechowska S, Ganowicz M.On 6 farms with a history of EHV-1 abortions the overall prevalence of losses due to abortion, stillbirth and neonatal foal mortality during 5 foaling seasons preceding the introduction of vaccination against EHV-1 were compared with corresponding data for 8 subsequent seasons in which all horses were immunized with a modified live EHV-1 vaccine. Although both sporadic and epizootic EHV-1 abortions occurred in immunized mares, the numbers of foetal and neonatal foal losses decreased significantly (chi 2 = 15.75; p less than 0.001) from 11.8% (343 of 2897 pregnancies) during the seasons 1969-19...
Romanowska D, Szynkiewicz Z, Rita J.Antistreptolysin O (ASO) titers were determined in the sera of 532 horses from stud farms and 436 working horses from small farms. A statistically significant correlation was seen between the ASO titer and the age of the horses. There was a significant difference between mean ASO titer in horses 0-2 years and horses 2-10 years In horses older than 10 years the titer was significantly higher than mean ASO titer for the group. Twenty four of 30 horses in which ASO titer was higher or equal to 80 I.U. had histories which suggested that streptococcal infection had occurred. Clinical and bacteriolo...
Wissdorf H, Nautrup CP.The cavity, that belongs to the glans clitoridis and that has to be removed in accord with the regulations and rules for the import of horses of CEM carrier states, has not been taken up in the NAV (1983). Conform to the statements of the clinical physicians and to the declarations of the American literature the nomenclature "Sinus clitoridis" is proposed for the international use.
Edington N, Bridges CG, Patel JR.Eight mares were infected with equid herpesvirus-1 subtype 1 isolated from a case of equine paresis. In two mares killed at 4 d.p.i. immunofluorescence showed endothelial cell infection together with thrombosis in the rete arteriosus of the nasal mucosa and also in the spinal cord of one of these mares. Circulating platelet counts in the other six mares fell as early as 2 d.p.i. and remained depressed for seven days. Circulating immune complexes started to appear at 2 d.p.i., reached maximum levels at 10 d.p.i., but were undetectable at 28 d.p.i. Three of the six remaining mares developed vary...
Berry CR, Merritt AM, Burrows CF, Campbell M, Drudge JH.Five weanling ponies were subjected to an intensive 6-week deworming program after which 4 Ag-AgCl bipolar electrodes were implanted surgically on the distal ileum. For 3 hours each day for 5 consecutive days, ileal myoelectrical activity was recorded from fed ponies under 3 sequential conditions: preinoculation, after oral administration of 1,000 killed Strongylus vulgaris infective larvae (3 ponies), and after oral administration of 1,000 live S vulgaris infective larvae. Recordings were analyzed for slow wave frequency, percentage duration of phases I, II, and III of the migrating myoelectr...
Diaw OT, Bayssade-Dufour C, Pino De Morales LA, Albaret JL, Vassiliades G.Cercarial chaetotaxy of Gastrodiscus aegyptiacus (Paramphistomoidea), parasite of the Horse, is described. Cercariae were shed by experimentally infected Bulinus forskalii. This description is the first one of a Gastrodiscidae. The cercarial chaetotaxy of the Gastrodiscidae is quite different from those of Paramphistomoidea and Diplodiscidae.
Timoney JF.An R antigen of the group C streptococcus S. equi that cross reacts with a similar antigen of S. zooepidemicus has been identified and characterized. It is acid, heat and trypsin resistant, but pepsin sensitive and has an isoelectric point of 4.8. The amino acids in highest concentration are glutamic, aspartic, alanine, leucine, and valine. Bacterial components released in a French Press contain large amounts of R antigen, which is present also in culture supernatants and acid extracts. It has a molecular weight of about 82,000. Trypsin extraction of cells yields molecules of predominantly 56,...
Diesing L, Steuber S, Ahmed JS, Hörchner F.The sequential appearance of variable antigen types (VATs) of a clone of Trypanosoma evansi was studied in four ponies. Using luminol-dependent chemiluminescence, VAT populations which had been isolated from parasitemic peaks of single ponies, were tested for specificity with serum samples collected from other ponies. When antibody activity was demonstrated in a combination of trypanosomes and serum, it was concluded that a major VAT appeared in common. In the serum of all animals antibody activity was demonstrated to all VAT populations isolated from the other ponies during the first 4 weeks ...
Cheevers WP, Fatemi-Nainie S, Anderson LW.A retrovirus is spontaneously released into the culture medium of the equine sarcoid-derived MC-1 cell line. The MC-1 virus did not exhibit in vitro transforming activity or replication when tested on equine fibroblasts or a variety of other mammalian cell cultures. Complementary DNA, synthesized using detergent-activated MC-1 virus RNA-dependent DNA polymerase, detected homologous sequences in the DNA of an established equine dermal cell line and in the DNA of primary equine dermal fibroblasts. Iododeoxyuridine or azacytidine induced a replication-deficient endogenous retrovirus in the normal...
Yamamoto K.Monospecific (MSp-) antisera against E1 and E2 glycoproteins of western equine encephalitis (WEE) virus were prepared and examined for binding activities to whole virions, hemagglutination-inhibition (HI), neutralization (NT) and protection. Both anti-E1 and anti-E2 MSp-Abs protected mice against WEE virus challenge. A competition experiment with monoclonal antibodies showed that these MSp-antisera appear to lack the antibody population for some epitopes involved in viral neutralization.
McDonough PL, Shin SJ, Timoney JF.The salmonella serotypes isolated during 1978 to 1983 at the diagnostic and clinical laboratories of the New York State College of Veterinary Medicine from animal sources in New York state were reviewed and compared to earlier data from New York state animals and to national data for both human and animal sources. A total of 255 salmonella strains were studied from the six year period and included 33 serotypes. Salmonella enteritidis ser Typhimurium continued to be the most commonly reported serotype followed by serotype Anatum. Generally serotypes from New York state animals reflected nationa...
Tatarov G, Dilovski M.An avirulent immunogenic virus strain mutant of the causative agent of rhinopneumonia was found to cause abortions and respiratory diseases in horses. The mutant was obtained with the use of a virulent strain that induced strongly manifested clinical symptoms of the disease, and was cultured in cell media containing 5-iodine-2-desoxiuridine as an antimetabolite, following a definite pattern. It was found that the mutant completely lost its virulence, however, it retained its immunogenicity. It likewise retained these newly acquired biologic properties with regard to its being stable and irreve...
Chowdhury SI, Kubin G, Ludwig H.Out of 30 cases of abortion and perinatal deaths in a Lipizzaner stud in Austria 10 mares died after having shown central nervous system disturbances, ataxias and paralysis. The etiological agent of this "abortion storm" was equine herpesvirus type 1 (EHV-1). The restriction enzyme pattern of the DNA from 5 isolates recovered from fetuses has been analyzed and compared with the known reference strains of EHV-1, -2, -4 and an Austrian vaccine strain. The DNA restriction profiles of the Lipizzaner isolates as well as of the vaccine strain could be identified as being typical of abortigenic strai...
Paquette B.Equine infectious anemia in Canada was reviewed for the period January 1976 to December 1981. The human and ecological factors prevailing in Canada are deemed instrumental with respect to the evolution of the disease. The natural spread of the disease on a large scale has not been influenced by the Federal program. Reactors with signs of the disease are important for it's propagation. The author underlines the necessity of cooperation with private practising veterinarians to control it.
Sweeney CR, Beech J, Roby KA.Of tracheobronchial aspirates from 50 clinically healthy Thoroughbred racehorses, 4 (8%) had aerobic bacteria with recognized pathogenicity, 12 (24%) contained transient bacterial isolates, and 37 (74%) had no bacterial growth. Of tracheobronchial aspirates from 36 pastured, nonracing racehorses, 3 (8%) had bacteria with recognized pathogenicity, 23 (64%) contained transient bacteria, and 10 (28%) had no bacterial growth. Anaerobes were not isolated from 12 of 12 pastured horses. Transient bacteria were isolated more often in the pastured horses.
Marcus LC, Patterson MM, Gilfillan RE, Urband PH.Twelve of 50 randomly selected horses from areas endemic for Borrelia burgdorferi had indirect fluorescent antibody titers of 1:8 to 1:2,048 against B burgdorferi. One of 50 horses from nonendemic areas had a titer of 1:8. This difference in the number of horses seropositive for B burgdorferi (P less than 0.002) and our finding that seropositive horses did not have agglutinating antibodies against potentially cross-reacting Leptospira spp indicated that horses in endemic areas were exposed to B burgdorferi and that the spirochete induced an antibody response in the horses.
Herr S, Huchzermeyer HF, Te Brugge LA, Williamson CC, Roos JA, Schiele GJ.The same techniques may be used in the complement fixation test (CFT) for the serological diagnosis of bovine brucellosis, Johne's disease (paratuberculosis), dourine, equine piroplasmosis and Q fever (caused by Coxiella burnetii). The reproducibility of results is excellent, falling for the most part within the twofold range and never exceeding the fourfold range. Agreement with other laboratories is excellent (i.e. within twofold) in the case of brucellosis and equine piroplasmosis antibody titres. A good correlation between the occurrence of the disease and serological reactions is found on...
Klohnen A, Wilson DG, Hendrickson DA, Cooley AJ, MacWilliams PS.To evaluate the bactericidal properties of chlorhexidine diacetate (CHD) after potentiation with EDTA and Tris buffer (EDTA-Tris), and to find a potentiated CHD concentration that would achieve 90 to 100% killing for all bacteria tested. Methods: 6 adult ponies. Methods: Serial dilutions of CHD, CHD in EDTA-Tris and EDTA-Tris alone were evaluated for bactericidal activity against Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, and Streptococcus zooepidemicus. The tarsocrural joints of 6 ponies were lavaged with either 1 L phosphate-buffered saline solution (control) or 1 L of 0.0005% CHD in EDTA-Tris...
Brankston G, Rossi TM, O'Sullivan TL, Greer AL.This retrospective study describes testing patterns and the incidence of subsp. in Ontario to assess the utility of laboratory data for surveillance purposes. Laboratory records for equine infectious disease test submissions were extracted from the Animal Health Laboratory (AHL) at the University of Guelph for the years 2008 to 2018. Yearly and seasonal trends in testing and the proportion of tests that returned positive results were assessed. The number of samples submitted for testing decreased over the 11-year period (odds ratio = 0.96, 95% confidence interval: 0.92 to 0.999; = 0.04). ...
Sentsui H, Wu D, Murakami K, Kondo T, Matsumura T.Recombinant equine interferon-gamma (reIFN-gamma) was prepared using a baculovirus expression system and its antiviral activity was investigated using several equine viruses. The reIFN-gamma suppressed the replication of all equine viruses used in the present experiment in horse cell cultures, but did not affect the growth of host cells at concentrations of less than 1000 u/ml. A strong antiviral effect was observed, especially against RNA viruses. Equine picornavirus, equine rhinovirus and equine arteritis virus could not be propagated at all in 100 u/ml reIFN-gamma when 100 TCID(50) of infec...
Berkowski WM, Craft WF, Whitley RD, Brooks DE, Plummer CE.Ulcerative keratitis with peripheral furrow formation is a poorly-described condition which has been associated with a grave prognosis due to rapid necrosis of the cornea. Objective: To describe the infectious aetiologies associated with furrow-forming ulcerative keratitis, its overall clinical course and the efficacy of medical and surgical intervention in horses. Methods: Retrospective clinical case series. Methods: Medical records of 72 horses which presented with furrow-forming ulcerative keratitis at the University of Florida between 1987 and 2015 were reviewed. Results: Seventy-two horse...
Stonehouse O, Stefanovski D, Bowman B, Sertich PL, Demchur J, Lewis GM, Turner RM, Turner RMO.Nocardioform placentitis (NP) has been associated with mid to late pregnancy loss in mares. To date, disease outbreaks have been described only in central Kentucky, although sporadic, isolated cases have been reported globally. This study describes a series of cases of NP that occurred in a sample population of 299 mares foaling in southeastern Pennsylvania and northeastern Maryland in 2020. These cases coincided with an outbreak of NP that occurred in Kentucky that same year. On farms that reported information on both normal and abnormal foalings, nocardioform organisms/DNA were isolated from...
Rommel FA, Sahu SP.Intrauterine inoculation of pony mares with the bacterium that is the causative agent of contagious equine metritis (CEM) resulted in clinical disease. A humoral immune response could be detected by agglutination and complement fixation (CF), and in some cases precipitating antibody was found by immunodiffusion tests. Agglutinating antibody was the most reliable serological indicator of overt infection and was detected in 8 ot 28 mares after initial intrauterine inoculation of 3-4 x 10(5) bacteria. Seventy percent of mares given a second inoculation and all mares given a third inoculation of 3...
Bannai H, Nemoto M, Tsujimura K, Yamanaka T, Kondo T, Matsumura T.Non-specific hemolysis has often been observed during complement-fixation (CF) tests for equine herpesvirus type-1 (EHV-1), even when the sera have virus-specific CF antibodies. This phenomenon has also been reported in CF tests for various infectious diseases of swine. We found that the sera from 22 of 85 field horses (25.9%) showed non-specific hemolysis during conventional CF testing for EHV-1. Because pretreatment of swine sera with potassium periodate (KIO4) improves the CF test for swine influenza, we applied this method to horse sera. As we expected, horse sera treated with KIO4 did not...
Trachsel DS, Drozdzewska K, Bergmann F, Ziegler U, Gehlen H.West Nile virus (WNV) is a mosquito-borne viral pathogen of global importance and is considered to be the most widespread flavivirus. In Germany, first infections with WNV were detected in 2018 and it is expected for these to become more frequent in consequence to warmer winters followed by a rainy/humid springtime. WNV is maintained in an enzootic cycle between ornithophilic mosquitoes and certain wild bird species. Humans and horses are so-called "dead-end hosts" of a WNV infection. They frequently do not fall ill, however occasionally develop overt infections ranging from mild febrile sympt...
Wesley IV, Schroeder-Tucker L.The genus Arcobacter encompasses campylobacter-like organisms that grow in air at 25 degrees C. Arcobacter has been detected or isolated from clinically healthy livestock as well as aborted fetuses and has been presumptively identified as either Campylobacter or Leptospira, based on its growth in selective semisolid media. Because reports from nonlivestock species are limited, this study examined nine presumptive isolates of Arcobacter spp. from an alpaca (Vicugna pacos), black rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis), white rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum), gorilla (Troglodytes gorilla), gazelle (Eudorc...
Léon A, Versmisse Y, Despois L, Castagnet S, Gracieux P, Blanchard B.Isolation and identification of Taylorella equigenitalis, the causative agent of contagious equine metritis, by bacteriology is laborious and does not permit differentiation from the other member of the genus, Taylorella asinigenitalis. Moreover, other organisms such as Klebsiella pneumoniae and Pseudomonas aeruginosa can also cause endometritis in mares and warrant diagnostic detection. Our objectives were to develop a rapid preparation method for field swab samples and to validate this protocol using new multiplex real-time polymerase chain reaction (rtPCR) detection tools for identification...
Gould JC, Rossano MG, Lawrence LM, Burk SV, Ennis RB, Lyons ET.Parascaris equorum generally infects horses less than 18 months old and its pathological effects can be severe. Infection occurs when larvated eggs, present in pastures, paddocks, stalls, and on feeding and watering equipment are ingested. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of windrow composting on the viability of P. equorum eggs at a cooperating central Kentucky horse farm. Three grams of feces containing 2216 P. equorum eggs per gram were sealed in filter bag sentinel chambers. Chambers were exposed to 1 of 3 treatments: constant exposure or intermittent exposure to the in...
Mayhew IG.Parameters for the accuracy of clinical diagnosis of neurologic diseases in the horse were determined from 210 horses in which a definitive pathologic diagnosis was confirmed. The overall efficiency of diagnosis for all diseases was 0.95 although the validity varied from 0.79 to 1.00, the sensitivity varied from 0.73 to 0.95, and the specificity varied from 0.88 to 1.00 for individual disease categories. Equine protozoal myeloencephalitis was overdiagnosed, whereas Eastern equine encephalomyelitis, equine degenerative myeloencephalopathy, and traumatic neurologic disease were underdiagnosed. T...
Cook AG, Maxwell VB, Donaldson LL, Parker NA, Ward DL, Morrow JK.To determine whether antibodies against Sarcocystis neurona could be detected in CSF from clinically normal neonatal (2 to 7 days old) and young (2 to 3 months old) foals. Methods: Prospective study. Methods: 15 clinically normal neonatal Thoroughbred foals. Methods: Serum and CSF samples were obtained from foals at 2 to 7 days of age and tested for antibodies against S. neurona by means of western blotting. Serum samples from the mares were also tested for antibodies against S. neurona. Additional CSF and blood samples were obtained from 5 foals between 13 and 41 days after birth and between ...
Sheoran AS, Nally JE, Donahue JM, Smith BJ, Timoney JF.Leptospira-specific antibody isotypes in sera of late term equine fetuses aborted due to Leptospira interrogans serovar pomona-type kennewicki infection were characterized and compared with those of their dams. IgM was the dominant Leptospira-Specific isotype in both fetuses and mares. However, IgGa was the isotype in highest concentration in petal sera and strong Leptospira-specific IgGa but no IgGb and little or no IgG(T) were detected. In contrast, although IgGb was quantitatively the dominant isotype in mares serum, Leptospira-specific serum IgG in aborting mares was dominated by IgG(T) bu...
Williams NJ, Slovis NM, Browne NS, Troedsson MHT, Giguėre S, Hernandez JA.Diarrhea remains an important cause of morbidity and mortality in neonatal foals, and correct identification of etiologic agents is essential for effective disease management. Objective: To examine the association between diarrhea and detection of Enterococcus durans or other enteropathogens in neonatal foals on 1 breeding farm in Kentucky, USA. Methods: Fifty-nine Thoroughbred foals and their broodmares. Methods: Prospective observational study. Study foals and broodmares were sampled and tested for E. durans and other enteropathogens during the first 10 days after foaling. The frequency of...
Chapuis RJJ, Ragno VM, Ariza CA, Movasseghi AR, Sayi S, Uehlinger FD, Montgomery JB.In the summer of 2017, 4 horses were diagnosed with septic fibrinous pericarditis at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine, Saskatoon. This case series occurred after a significant outbreak of forest tent caterpillars in the province during that spring. Three horses were immediately euthanized, and treatment was attempted in 1 mare. This is the first case series of pericarditis possibly associated with the ingestion of forest tent caterpillars to be reported in western Canada. Although cause-effect is not proven, it is prudent to prevent the ingestion of caterpillars by horses. Key clini...
Mazzei M, Savini G, Di Gennaro A, Macchioni F, Prati MC, Guzmàn LR, Tolari F.West Nile virus (WNV) is a mosquito-borne virus belonging to the family Flaviviridae included in the Japanese encephalitis antigenic complex (JEAC). A seroepidemiological study was carried out in 2011 using 160 horse sera collected from different areas of Bolivia to investigate the presence of WNV antibody. A high proportion (59.4%) of the tested sera were positive to a commercially available WNV competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (C-ELISA). Sixty-six randomly selected C-ELISA-positive sera were further tested by WNV plaque reduction neutralization test (PRNT), virus neutralization ...
Bartosik J, Łojek J, Długosz E, Górski P, Zygner W.Tapeworm infections in Konik Polski horses from Biebrza National Park were investigated in this study. Faecal samples were collected 10 times: in 2012 - 1 time, in 2013 - 4 times, in 2014 - 4 times and in 2015 - 1 time. In total, 162 faecal samples were collected and tested. Faecal egg counts (FECs) method was used in the study. Positive samples with cestode eggs were noted only twice - in October 2012 and December 2013 in two adult mares (9 and 11 years old). The determined prevalence was surprisingly low comparing to other studies, 4.3% in October 2013 and 28.5% in December 2013. Parasite ge...
Downs JA, Hyzer G, Marion E, Smith ZJ, Kelen PV, Unnasch TR.Eastern equine encephalitis (EEE) is a mosquito-borne viral disease that is often fatal to humans and horses. Some species including white-tailed deer and passerine birds can survive infection with the EEE virus (EEEV) and develop antibodies that can be detected using laboratory techniques. In this way, collected serum samples from free ranging white-tailed deer can be used to monitor the presence of the virus in ecosystems. This study developed and tested a risk index model designed to predict EEEV activity in white-tailed deer in a three-county area of Michigan. The model evaluates EEEV risk...
Montes-Cortés MG, Fernández-García JL, Martínez-Estéllez MÁH.Equine piroplasmosis is caused by two haemoprotozoan parasites: and . Negative economic impact on international trade has been associated to endemic sites. This is the reason why carrier detection requires reliable diagnostic methods. Various diagnostic modalities can be used alone or in combination including PCR. However, genetic variation of commonly used genes is still of debate. The aim of this research was to sequence the β-tubulin gene of a strain from Spain and to compare it with known β-tubulin sequences. Methods: DNA was isolated from a cryopreserved strain from Spain and acute an...
The Journal of parasitologyNovember 26, 2004
Volume 90, Issue 5 1027-1033 doi: 10.1645/0022-3395(2004)090[1027:AEOARB]2.0.CO;2
Gupta GD, Lakritz J, Saville WJ, Livingston RS, Dubey JP, Middleton JR, Marsh AE.Sarcocystis neurona is the primary parasite associated with equine protozoal myeloencephalitis (EPM). This is a commonly diagnosed neurological disorder in the Americas that infects the central nervous system of horses. Current serologic assays utilize culture-derived parasites as antigen. This method requires large numbers of parasites to be grown in culture, which is labor intensive and time consuming. Also, a culture-derived whole-parasite preparation contains conserved antigens that could cross-react with antibodies against other Sarcocystis species and members of Sarcocystidae such as Neo...
Surma-Kurusiewicz K, Winiarczyk S, Adaszek Ł.The purpose of this study was to conduct a comparative analysis of the ORF5 gene fragment nucleotide sequences and the GP5 protein amino acid sequences formed on this matrix, for the equine arteritis virus (EAV) strains isolated from the semen of infected stallions from Eastern Poland. The study covered 41 stallions whose blood serum tested positive for antigens specific to the EAV. The presence of EAV genetic material was shown in material from 5 horses, in one of which permanent presence of viral RNA was detected over the entire 4-year study period (the material was sampled four times at yea...
de Vos CJ, Petie R, van Klink EGM, Swanenburg M.Increasing globalization and international trade contribute to rapid expansion of animal and human diseases. Hence, preparedness is warranted to prevent outbreaks of emerging and re-emerging diseases or detect outbreaks in an early stage. We developed a rapid risk assessment tool (RRAT) to inform risk managers on the incursion risk of multiple livestock diseases, about the main sources for incursion and the change of risk over time. RRAT was built as a relational database to link data on disease outbreaks worldwide, on introduction routes and on disease-specific parameters. The tool was parame...
Smith IM, Girard A, Corner AH, Mitchell D.Using two known positive equine viral rhinopneumonitis (EVR) sera, conjugates were prepared with fluorescein isothiocyanate and tested for specificity using EVR infected tissue culture cells. The conjugate was then applied to selected tissues from 32 aborted fetuses and foals submitted during a natural outbreak of EVR. Antigen was detected in various tissues by immunofluorescence in 20 cases (62.5%). In 24 cases bovine fetal kidney cell monolayers were inoculated with a pool of lung and liver and EVR virus was isolated from 15 (62.5%). Histological examination of various tissues from 29 cases ...
Satou K, Nishiura H.To evaluate the partial effects of vaccination against equine Japanese encephalitis (JE) and characterize other prognostic factors based on previous outbreak records in Japan from 1953 to 1960. Methods: Individual case records, which included demographic information, vaccination history, and clinical information (dates of onset, recovery and death, and symptoms), were investigated. The relations between two outcomes, JE death and symptomatic period, and other variables were examined. Results: Of a total reported 803 cases during the observation period, 453 (56.5%) were diagnosed with either se...
McCluskey BJ, Mumford EL, Salman MD, Traub-Dargatz JJ.Approximately 20 sentinel premises in Colorado were visited quarterly during a 3-year prospective study to investigate the persistence of VS viruses in horses. A survey to assess management practices, health events, animal movements and environmental data was completed at each visit. Collection of serum samples and oral swabs along with a clinical examination of sentinel horses were performed at each visit. Serum samples were tested by 2 or more of 4 available serological tests. The data collected for two years (August 1998 to August 2000) are reported here. During this period there was seroco...
Mori S, Horita A, Ginnaga A, Miyatsu Y, Sawabe K, Matsumura T, Ato M, Yamamoto A, Shibayama K, Arai S, Yamagishi T, Takahashi M, Taki H, Hifumi T.This is the first report on large-scale experimental production of an equine antivenom against the redback spider (Latrodectus hasseltii) lived in Japan. We captured 10,000 redback spiders in Japan and prepared the toxoids of crude venom extract, mixed the toxoids with a mineral oil adjuvant, and immunized healthy horses repeatedly over a period of several weeks. Thereafter, we separated the horse plasma, purified the γ-globulin fraction, and stocked it as a purified antivenom concentrate. Consequently, we manufactured approximately 6,500 vials of a single-dose freeze-dried test lot from a po...
Reck C, Menin Á, Batista F, Meira Santos PO, Miletti LC.Surra is an infectious disease caused by , which affects a large number of domestic and wild animal species. Infection control is based on rapid diagnosis followed by treatment of sick animals. This study aimed to evaluate a buffered antigen and rapid serum agglutination test (BA/Te) for the detection of anti- antibodies in serum samples of horses. For this purpose, 445 serum samples from horses were evaluated and the results compared with the diagnosis by CATT/. Our data show a sensitivity of 92%, specificity of 91% and a degree of agreement kappa () of 0.82 (95% CI: 0.771-0.877, < 0...
Pastoret PP.Veterinary vaccinology is a very interesting and rapidly developing field. In fact veterinary vaccines are not only used for the prevention of infectious diseases in the animal health sector, but also help to solve problems of public health, to reduce detrimental environmental impact of the use of some veterinary drugs and prevent the emergence of resistance of micro-organisms or parasites. After a short introduction, this paper will deal with the use of vaccines for animal health and welfare, including new developments in the veterinary field such as marker vaccines and vectored vaccines, the...
Dauphin G, Zientara S.West Nile virus, a flavivirus transmitted by mosquitoes, has been intensively studied since a few years because of epidemics/epizootics it has caused the last ten years, in particular around the Mediterranean basin and on the North-American continent. This virus mainly circulates in birds ; migrating bird species disseminate the virus while resident species could play a role in viral cycle amplification. A large number of mammal, amphibian and reptile species can also be infected. This virus can cause a lethal disease in humans and horses. For this reason, an active and/or passive surveillance...
