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.
Bertram TA.Differences in neutrophil morphology between various species of domestic animals are evident when morphometric techniques are used. Morphometric analysis can be coupled with functional assays of degranulation to demonstrate changes in granule volume after neutrophil activation (Bertram and Jensen, 1984). Morphometric and functional analysis of the neutrophil can also be used to evaluate the response of neutrophils to infectious agents (Coignoul et al., 1984a). Comparison of these assays between animal species may provide insight into the susceptibility of animals to various microbial pathogens...
Sloet van Oldruitenborgh-Oosterbaan MM, Binkhorst GJ.The differences in aetiology, symptomatology, pathomorphology, diagnosis and therapy between the nervous form (paralytic form) of Equine Herpes Virus, type 1, and Neuritis Caudae Equinae are reviewed. The conclusion is that in most cases it is possible to differentiate between these two clinical syndromes.
Neill JD, Kelling CL, Rhodes MB.Pigs experimentally inoculated with bovine herpesvirus-1 or equine herpesvirus-1 developed mild clinical disease signs. Regression of clinical disease was accompanied by development of specific virus-neutralizing antibodies. These antibodies did not react positively with pseudorabies antigens in the serum-virus neutralization test, an indirect radioimmunoassay, or a microimmunodiffusion test.
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...
Rogerson BA, Condron RJ, Baker J, Craven JA.Inoculation of Haemophilus equigenitalis into the uterus of 7 mares caused a disease clinically indistinguishable from contagious equine metritis. The duration of clinical signs varied from 4 to 11 days. The causative organism persisted for a relatively short time (2 to 10 weeks) in 5 mares, but in 2 others it established a carrier status and persisted until they were killed 6 and 10 months after infection. H. equigenitalis was recovered from the vestibule of the vagina and from a combined swab of the clitoral fossa and sinuses throughout the course of the infection. In some mares there were e...
Higgins R, Biberstein EL, Jang SS.Of 24 isolates of nutritionally variant streptococci recovered from equine corneal ulcers, 22 were tested for growth requirements, physiological and biochemical reactions, and susceptibility to different antimicrobial agents. Satisfactory growth was obtained by supplementing blood agar and Todd-Hewitt broth with pyridoxal hydrochloride, and all of the media for the culture and the biochemical testing were supplemented with 0.002% of this substance. Biochemical patterns of 12 of the isolates resembled those of two viridans streptococcal species, Streptococcus intermedius and Streptococcus const...
Cho SN, Collins MT, Reif JS.The indirect fluorescent antibody test was used to examine 109 samples of equine sera randomly selected from serum pools. Results were compared with titers obtained by the microagglutination (MA) test. A high correlation (r = 0.89) was found between titers measured by the 2 tests. Blood samples were obtained serially from a total of 156 horses at a research farm and the sera were tested against Legionella pneumophila serogroups 1 through 4 using the MA test; 29 horses (19%) seroconverted to at least 1 serogroup of L pneumophila. The indirect fluorescent antibody test substantiated the results ...
Hird DW, Pappaioanou M, Smith BP.In an investigation of a 1981-1982 outbreak of nosocomial Salmonella saintpaul infection in hospitalized horses at the University of California Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital in Davis, California, a case-control study was performed using data gathered from the records of 33 cases and 132 controls. Multiple logistic regression risk analysis was used to identify factors associated with isolation of the organism, controlling for the effects of other, possibly confounding variables. Horses receiving parenteral antibiotics were at 10.9 times greater risk of having S. saintpaul isolated than w...
Ricketts SW, Greet TR, Glyn PJ, Ginnett CD, McAllister EP, McCaig J, Skinner PH, Webbon PM, Frape DL, Smith GR.An outbreak of pharyngeal and limb paresis involving four horses and nine ponies in the south east of England is described. Nine of the animals died or were destroyed on humane grounds. The clinical features suggested a diagnosis of botulism and mouse innoculation tests confirmed the presence of type B toxin in the serum of one case. All animals were fed big bale silage. It is describe how, in plastic wrapped silage manufacture, conditions of fermentation may be inadequate to prevent the growth of Clostridium botulism. Examination of a sample of silage fed to the affected horses suggested that...
Kelly AP, Jones RT, Gillick JC, Sims LD.An outbreak of nervous disease in Standardbred horses occurred near Bendigo, in south-eastern Australia, in October 1980. Over a two week period 11 horses in four training stables were affected with gait abnormalities, depression and recumbency. Eight of the 11 died. The results of an investigation implicated Clostridium botulinum toxin as the cause. The toxin was food-borne as a contaminant of oaten chaff.
Smit H, Gaastra W, Kamerling JP, Vliegenthart JF, de Graaf FK.The erythrocyte receptor for Escherichia coli K99 fimbrial adhesin was isolated from equine erythrocytes and characterized as Neu5Gc-alpha(2----3)-Galp-beta(1----4)-GLcp-beta(1----1)-Ceramide. This glycolipid acted as the receptor for K99 by four different experimental approaches: inhibition of equine erythrocyte hemagglutination by preincubation of K99-positive bacteria or purified K99 fimbriae with the isolated glycolipid; inhibition of attachment of K99-positive bacteria to porcine intestinal epithelial cells in the presence of the isolated glycolipid; induction of binding of K99-positive b...
Studdert MJ, Fitzpatrick DR, Horner GW, Westbury HA, Gleeson LJ.Representative strains of EHV isolated from an aborted foetus and from a horse with rhinopneumonitis in New Zealand had restriction endonuclease DNA fingerprints typical of those usually associated with these syndromes elsewhere and now designated EHV1 and 4 respectively. EHV1 was isolated from the brain and spinal cord of a 4-year-old gelding that died of myeloencephalitis. A mare on the same farm, at about the same time as the gelding developed myeloencephalitis, aborted and EHV1 was isolated from the tissues of the aborted foetus. Restriction endonuclease DNA fingerprints of the viruses iso...
Cordy DR.Bacterial meningoventriculitis was studied in 26 neonatal ungulates. Preceded by a substantial bacteremia, usually due to Escherichia coli, the fibrinopurulent inflammation involved leptomeninges, choroid plexuses, and ventricle walls, but largely spared the neuraxial parenchyma. It is proposed that this surface-relatedness results from the transport of bacteria by monocytes of low bactericidal power, migrating by normal pathways to maintain significant surface populations of macrophages. The neuraxial parenchyma is spared because of its normal lack of a macrophage population. A similar pathog...
van der Velden MA, Verzijlenberg F.The surgical treatment of eighty-nine horses and ponies suffering from chronic empyema of the maxillary sinus is reported. Treatment consisted in trephination and drainage of the sinus involved in thirty-six animals; the affected teeth were removed at the same time in fifty-three animals in which sinusitis was caused by an alveolitis. The recovery rate was seventy-five per cent in group one and seventy per cent in group two. Postoperative treatment is also reported and attention is paid to complications which may occur during and after surgery.
Coignoul FL, Bertram TA, Cheville NF.Three pony mares and 4 pony foals were inoculated with a subtype 2 strain of equine herpesvirus 1. Foals had periods of fever 12 h and 2.5 days after inoculation and leukopenia, involving both neutrophils and lymphocytes, followed by leukocytosis. Mares had transient fever and leukopenia 24 hours after inoculation that were less severe than in foals. An increase in circulating virus-neutralizing antibody was seen in 2 of 3 inoculated mares, but not in foals. Attempts to isolate virus from blood were unsuccessful. These studies show that equine herpesvirus 1 subtype 2 is a mild pathogen for pon...
Slocombe JO, McCraw BM.The efficacy of ivermectin against later fourth-stage Strongylus vulgaris larvae was studied in pony foals at 14 and 35 days after treatment. These foals had been reared parasite-free, inoculated with 500 infective larvae and 56 days later given either ivermectin at 200 micrograms/kg or a placebo intramuscularly. At necropsy, foals were examined for lesions and larvae grossly and histologically. Ivermectin was found to be highly effective (98.6%) against later fourth-stage larvae in five foals which were examined at 35 days after treatment, but not in five others examined at 14 days (72.5%). I...
Tzipori S, Hayes J, Sims L, Withers M.Streptococcus durans was isolated from a foal with profuse watery diarrhea and caused a similar syndrome when inoculated into foals via the orogastric route. The most consistent and striking histological feature was the extensive colonization of the mucosal surface of the small intestine by S. durans. Associated mucosal changes were mild to modeate, and brush border lactase and alkaline phosphatase production were depressed. S. durans also induced acute diarrhea in young gnotobiotic piglets. Mucosal changes were mild and, as with foals, the mucosal surface of the small intestine was colonized ...
Dorr TE, Higgins RJ, Dangler CA, Madigan JE, Witham CL.Three cases of equine protozoal myeloencephalitis were diagnosed over a 12-month period in horses that had never left the state of California. These cases suggest that the disease is enzootic in California.
Weiss M, Steck F, Kaderli R, Horzinek MC.After inoculation into 2 foals, Berne virus induced neutralizing antibody, but did not cause clinical symptoms. In a horizontal study of seropositive mares and their offspring, a decline of maternal antibodies and a sudden synchronous seroconversion in all foals were observed, again without clinical symptoms. The virus is widespread in the Swiss horse population and has been so during the last decade; rises in antibody titers were noted in 9% of paired sera sampled at random. Positive reactions were also obtained in serum neutralization tests and ELISA using small numbers of horse sera from Ge...
Matthews JB, Johnson DR, Lazari O, Craig R, Matthews KR.The Cyathostominae are a complex group of nematodes and are the primary parasitic pathogens of horses. Little is known of their basic biology. As part of an investigation into mechanisms involved in reactivation of mucosal larval stages, we identified a gene encoding a predicted LIM domain-containing protein (Cy-LIM-1). LIM domains are cysteine- and histidine-rich motifs that are thought to direct protein-protein interactions. Proteins that contain these domains have a wide range of functions including gene regulation, cell fate determination and cytoskeleton organization. The Cy-lim-1 mRNA wa...
HARDY FM, ARBITER D.Hardy, Frank M. (Fort Detrick, Frederick, Md.), and David Arbiter. Lipid inclusions in L cells associated with Venezuelan equine encephalomyelitis virus infection. J. Bacteriol. 89:1101-1103. 1965.-Venezuelan equine encephalomyelitis (VEE) virus has been shown to induce changes of lipid components within the L cell. Lipid inclusions in the form of dark granular bodies were observed in the L cell after aqueous osmium tetroxide fixation and Sudan black staining. Microscopic examination of cells as early as 8 hr after infection with VEE virus showed an increase in the concentration of these inclu...
Das SC, Kapoor KN.The present study was undertaken to evaluate the effect of growth medium on expression of hydrophobicity of Staphylococcus epidermidis. A total of 24 hydrophobic isolates of S. epidermidis, determined by n-hexadecane adherence assay (HAA) earlier were included. Five different growth media: horse blood agar (HBA), brain heart infusion agar (BHIA), brain heart infusion broth (BHIB), tryptic soy broth (TSB) and proteose peptone broth (PPB) were used. All 24 isolates exhibited the reproducible hydrophobicity when grown on HBA; however, 20 (83.33%), 19 (79.16%), 15 (62.50%) and 13 (54.16%) isolates...
Fukushi N, Badr Y, Fukushi H.Equine herpesvirus type 1 (EHV-1) UL11 is a 74-amino-acid (aa) protein encoded by ORF51. UL11 is modified by acylation including myristoylation and palmitoylation. Myristoylation of EHV-1 UL11 is assumed to occur on the N-terminal glycine, while palmitoylation is assumed to occur on the seventh and ninth cysteines. ORF51, which encodes the first 24 aa, overlaps ORF50 encoding UL12. We previously demonstrated that UL11 was essential for EHV-1 replication in cultured cells and that UL11 was localized at the Golgi apparatus where herpesviruses obtain their final envelope. It is unclear whether th...
Gerard MP, Wotman KL, Komáromy AM.Infectious conditions of the equine head are commonly encountered in clinical practice. Pathogenic bacterial, viral, and fungal organisms may localize in the extensive nasal passages, paranasal sinuses, and guttural pouches, creating a range of clinical signs and conditions that can be severe enough to lead to unexpected fatality. Renewed interest in equine dentistry has led to a greater recognition of dental disease that is associated with infection. This article focuses on bacterial and fungal infections of the main anatomic regions of the equine head, where advances in diagnosis and managem...
De Carli GA, Tasca T, Pires Borges F.The in vitro hemolytic activity of Tritrichomonas foetus was investigated. The parasite was tested against human erythrocytes of groups A, B, AB, and O, and against erythrocytes of nine adult animals of different species (the rabbit, rat, chicken, cat, dog, swine, horse, bovine, and sheep). The results showed that T. foetus strains (ATCC KV1, K, PAL, 5022, RJ, 90) did not present any hemolytic activity against any human erythrocyte group nor against rabbit, rat, chicken, cat, dog and swine erythrocytes. T. foetus strains, however, lysed horse, bovine, and sheep erythrocytes. No hemolysin relea...
Badr C, Souiai O, Arbi M, El Behi I, Essaied MS, Khosrof I, Benkahla A, Chabchoub A, Ghram A.Equid herpesvirus (EHV) is a contagious viral disease affecting horses, causing illness characterized by respiratory symptoms, abortion and neurological disorders. It is common worldwide and causes severe economic losses to the equine industry. The present study was aimed at investigating the incidence of EHVs, the genetic characterization of Tunisian isolates and a spatiotemporal study, using 298 collected samples from diseased and clinically healthy horses. The global incidence of EHV infection was found to be about 71.81%. EHV2 and EHV5 were detected in 146 (48.99%) and 159 (53.35%) sampled...
Takai S, Sudo M, Sakai M, Suzuki K, Sasaki Y, Kakuda T, Suzuki Y.Rhodococcus equi was isolated from the gastrointestinal contents of earthworms (family Megascolecidae) and their surrounding soil collected from pastures of two horse-breeding farms in Aomori Prefecture, outdoor pig pens, forest in Towada campus, orange groves and forest where wild boars (Sus scrofa) are established in Tanabe, Wakayama Prefecture. The number of R. equi in the lower gastrointestinal contents of 23 earthworms collected from our campus was significantly larger than that of the upper gastrointestinal content. The mean numbers of R. equi from the gastrointestinal contents of earthw...
Guillot J, Sarfati J, Ribot X, Jensen HE, Latgé JP.To detect antibodies against Aspergillus fumigatus antigens in serum samples from horses and to evaluate the relevance of this method as an alternative approach to the diagnosis of mycosis of the auditory tube diverticulum (guttural pouch mycosis [GPM]). Methods: Twelve clinically normal horses (controls) and 12 horses with GPM diagnosed by endoscopic observation of characteristic mycotic plaques. Methods: Antibodies to A fumigatus antigens were detected in serum by use of an ELISA and immunoblot analysis with extracellular antigens. Results: Antibodies against A fumigatus antigens were found ...
Petry S, Py JS, Wilhelm A, Duquesne F, Bäyon-Auboyer MH, Morvan H, Gassilloud B.Misidentification between Taylorella equigenitalis, the causative agent of contagious equine metritis (CEM), and Taylorella asinigenitalis is observed by the gold standard culture method. The performance of matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) for Taylorella species identification was evaluated using 85 T. equigenitalis and 28 T. asinigenitalis strains selected on the basis of multilocus sequence typing data. Seven of the T. equigenitalis and 9 of the T. asinigenitalis strains were used to generate in-house reference spectra to expand ...
Everest GJ, Meyers PR.Two actinomycete strains were isolated from within the fynbos-rich area surrounded by the horseracing track at Kenilworth Racecourse in Cape Town, South Africa. Rapid molecular identification indicated that the isolates belonged to the family Micromonosporaceae. Based on 16S rRNA gene sequence blast analysis, the isolates were identified as members of the genus Micromonospora. Phylogenetic analysis showed that the isolates clustered with each other and were most closely related to Micromonospora viridifaciens DSM 43909(T). Further 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis using EzTaxon revealed that the...
Dierckins MS, Sherman DM, Gendron-Fitzpatrick A.A presumptive diagnosis of paratuberculosis was made in a Sicilian ass on the basis of a history of chronic diarrhea and weight loss, pasture exposure to a heifer with paratuberculosis confirmed by bacterial culture of feces, postmortem identification of granulomatous inflammation of the intestine containing acid-fast organisms, the absence of acid-fast organisms in extraenteric tissues, and the absence of exposure to tuberculosis. The literature on paratuberculosis in equids is reviewed. The potential for cross-species transmission is emphasized. Justification for consideration of Mycobacteri...
Shchit IY, Ignatov KB, Biketov SF.Results of detection of Burkholderia mallei and Burkholderia pseudomallei DNA strains by LAMP (Loop-mediated Isothermal Amplification) and Real Time PCR are shown. It has been revealed that, in Real Time PCR, primers steadily detected DNA of those microorganism for the sequences of which they were designed. The above mentioned primers did not detect DNA of heterologous strains. During LAMP method no set of primers showed high analytical sensitivity and specificity. Primers did not detected DNA of all the strains under research to target genes of which they were not intended, but they were capa...
Berlin D, Kelmer G, Steinman A, Sutton GA.Four adult horses with large intra-abdominal abscesses, suspected to be complications of strangles, were treated with systemic antibiotics alone and made a full recovery. The 100% survival rate is significantly better than other reported survival rates. The median duration of treatment (35 days) was shorter than in most previous reports. This study suggests that penicillin G can be used for successful treatment of strangles associated intra-abdominal abscesses in horses. Quatre chevaux adultes avec des abcès intra-abdominaux de grande taille, suspectés d’être des complications de la gour...
The Journal of nutritionOctober 1, 1995
Volume 125, Issue 10 2711-2716 doi: 10.1093/jn/125.10.2711
Greiwe-Crandell KM, Kronfeld DS, Gay LA, Sklan D.Vitamin A influences growth and reproduction in horses. A retinol dose response (RDR) test for retinol has been shown to be better than serum retinol concentration for assessing vitamin A status in other species, so we have compared these two methods in the horse. Forty-five Thoroughbred broodmares were assigned randomly to three groups fed pasture and hay (PH), pasture, hay and vitamin A-free concentrate (PHC), or hay and concentrate (HC) in early summer (May 1991). Mares in pasture groups produced 23 foals (March through June) that had access to their dam's diets and were also studied. In th...
Saikku A, Koskinen E, Sandholm M.The glutaraldehyde coagulation test was adapted to foal serum to determine adequacy of the colostral-intestinal transfusion of IgG. The test is performed simply by mixing one volume of reagent with 10 volumes of serum and observing the coagulation time. The required glutaraldehyde concentration was established for various threshold levels of IgG as determined by radial immunodiffusion. The analysis consisted of 140 serum samples from foals. Sera with low IgG levels require high glutaraldehyde concentrations and vice versa. The 4 g/l threshold generally accepted for IgG adequacy, was achieved a...
Sabine M, Feilen C, Herbert L, Jones RF, Lomas SW, Love DN, Wild J.Until 1977 no case of abortion caused by equine herpesvirus 1 (EHV1) had been recorded in Australia although the virus, called equine rhinopneumonitis virus, had been known to have been present at least since 1962. Outbreaks of EHV1 abortion occurred in New South Wales in 1977 and in 1981. Sporadic cases of EHV1 abortion had been confirmed in some parts of Australia each year since 1975. It was concluded that an abortigenic subtype of EHV1 had been introduced to Australia in 1977 and that the previously endemic respiratory subtype occasionally caused abortion. Virus isolation in a variety of c...
French RA, Meier WA, Zachary JF.Tissues from a 9-year-old American Standardbred gelding with a history of anorexia, mild colic, and unexpected death were submitted to the Laboratories of Veterinary Diagnostic Medicine at the University of Illinois for histopathologic examination. Microscopic diagnoses were severe subacute, diffuse eosinophilic colitis with intralesional protozoa and a subacute to chronic eosinophilic portal hepatitis with granuloma formation. Two tissue-invading, ciliated protozoa were identified in large numbers within the colonic mucosa. The ciliates were Polymorphella ampulla and Cycloposthium sp., Phylum...
Birckhead EM, Das S, Tidd N, Raidal SL, Raidal SR.Septic synovitis and peritonitis are routinely diagnosed in horses based on clinical examination findings and laboratory assessment of synoviocentesis and abdominocentesis samples, respectively. Diagnosis is difficult in some cases because of an overlap in laboratory results for septic and non-septic inflammation. Neutrophil extracellular trap (NET) formation is part of the innate immune response against pathogens. Identifying and quantifying NETs, which have not been explored in clinical samples from horses with septic synovitis and peritonitis, to our knowledge, may be helpful in detecting i...
Cardo MV, Vezzani D.Targeted vector surveillance informed by data on mosquito biting patterns can help limit arboviral zoonotic diseases. To characterise host-biting networks in rural and urban equestrian facilities from temperate Argentina, adult resting mosquitoes were collected (December 2018-April 2019) with a battery-powered aspirator. Engorged females were sorted to species, and their blood source was identified using molecular techniques. Bipartite network analysis was performed for rural and urban matrices. A total of 177 bloodmeals from 11 mosquito species of Aedes and Culex were identified, with seven m...
Gilkerson JR, Love DN, Drummer HE, Studdert MJ, Whalley JM.To investigate the seroprevalence of equine herpesvirus 1 in foals around weaning and after weaning on two large Thoroughbred farms using a type-specific enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay to determine exposure to infection. Methods: A longitudinal population study in groups of Thoroughbred weanling foals. Methods: Two hundred weanling Thoroughbred foals from a population of about 380 foals were enrolled on two adjacent stud farms in the Hunter Valley of New South Wales. Foals on both farms were weaned from February to May 1995 into randomly selected groups of 10 to 15 foals. Farms were selecte...
Darcel C.Diseases caused by lymphoid leukosis virus (LLV), a retrovirus, take a long time after infection to develop and have a wide variety of pathological manifestations. This long latent period is characteristic of 'persistent virus infections'. Disease produced by LLV infection and its underlying mechanisms is compared with 'persistent' infections caused by other retroviruses in birds and mammals of veterinary importance. The diseases considered for comparison are those caused by reticuloendotheliosis, feline leukaemia, bovine leukosis and equine infectious anaemia viruses. There are significant ch...
Brundage-Anguish LJ, Holmes DF, Hosier NT, Murphy BR, Massicott JG, Appleyard G, Coggins L.Temperature-sensitive (ts) reassortants of an equine influenza virus, subtype A-1, were produced by mating a human influenza ts donor virus with an equine influenza A/Cornell/16/74 wild-type virus and by isolating a ts reassortant virus possessing the equine hemagglutinin and neuraminidase surface antigens. Two equine its reassortant clones, 8B1 and 71A1, were produced which had an in vitro shutoff temperature for plaque formation of 38 and 37 C, respectively. The human ts donor virus had ts mutation(s) on the polymerase 3 (P3) and nucleoprotein genes so that a ts equine reassortant virus coul...
Bezerra CS, Cargnelutti JF, Sauthier JT, Weiblen R, Flores EF, Alves CJ, Clementino IJ, Santos CSAB, Azevedo SS.The aim of this survey was to estimate the apparent herd-level and animal-level prevalences, as well as to identify risk factors and spatial clustering of vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) positive herds in the state of Paraíba, semiarid of Brazil. The state was divided into three sampling strata: Sertão, Borborema and Zona da Mata/Agreste. For each sampling stratum, herd-level and animal-level prevalences were estimated by a two-stage sampling survey. First, a pre-established number of herds (primary sampling units) were randomly selected; second, within each herd, a pre-established number o...
Wollstein M.The parameningococci of Dopter are culturally indistinguishable from true or normal meningococci, but serologically they exhibit differences as regards agglutination, opsonization, and complement deviation. Because of the variations and irregularities of serum reactions existing among otherwise normal strains of meningococci it does not seem either possible or desirable to separate the parameningococci into a strictly definite class. It appears desirable to consider them as constituting a special strain among meningococci not, however, wholly consistent in itself. The distinctions in serum rea...
Oxford JS.The research examines the impact of administering amantadine to horses and humans to combat influenza A, speculating on potential benefits of dual-field research between human and animal health. The study […]
Corapi WV, Birch SM, Carlson KL, Chaffin MK, Snowden KF.CASE DESCRIPTION-A 22-year-old American Paint Horse gelding from the Gulf Coast region of Texas was evaluated for regrowth of a perirectal squamous cell carcinoma that had been surgically removed 11 months previously. CLINICAL FINDINGS-A necrotic and ulcerated mass was present below the anus. The horse had paraphimosis and was having difficulty with urination. Histologic examination of the mass revealed that it was squamous cell carcinoma, and the horse was euthanized because of the unlikelihood that the mass could be adequately resected and its close proximity to the urethra. OUTCOME-At necro...
Rodrigues VS, Trevisan LAC, Cintra BS, Pires RH, Ribeiro AB, Tavares DC, Oberhaus E, Ferreira JC.Cutaneous pythiosis is a life-threatening infectious disease. Low-level laser therapy (LLLT) and ozone (O3) have been used individually in the treatment of infected wounds. The goals of the study were a) to characterize the antimicrobial action of the photo-ozone therapy (LLLT-O3) against equine Pythium insidiosum, and b) to assess the cytotoxic potential of the LLLT-O3 in keratinocytes. Specimens of pathogen were isolated from 10 horses. After culturing, 120 hyphae plugs were distributed among four groups (n=30 hyphae plugs/group): LLLT (laser irradiation for 160 sec;), O3 (exposition to O3 f...
Smarsh DN, Kenny LB, Spindler M, Poh KC, Machtinger ET.There is limited data on current knowledge of Pennsylvania horse caretakers on tick-borne diseases (TBDs), tick identification, and tick management practices. This study aimed to determine tick knowledge, concern, and management among Pennsylvania equine caretakers using an online survey. Descriptive statistics and one-way ANOVA tests were used to analyze data. The survey received 894 responses (539 completed) from Pennsylvania equine owners and caretakers. The largest proportion of respondents cared for 3-5 horses (31%), followed by 2 horses (27%). Veterinarian-confirmed diagnosis rates of tw...
