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.
Li X, Ni HB, Ren WX, Jiang J, Gong QL, Zhang XX.Toxoplasmosis, one of the most common zoonoses worldwide, is caused by Toxoplasma gondii. T. gondii can infect almost all warm-blooded animals, including humans. Horses are an intermediate host of T. gondii, representing a potential risk for humans. To determine the T. gondii seroprevalence in horses worldwide, a global meta-analysis was conducted. A total of 35 publications were obtained by searching the PubMed, ScienceDirect, Chinese Web of knowledge (CNKI) and Wanfang databases. A total of 12,354 horses were assessed, of which 1580 were positive for T. gondii. The pooled overall seroprevale...
Meister TL, Tegtmeyer B, Brüggemann Y, Sieme H, Feige K, Todt D, Stang A, Cavalleri JV, Steinmann E.An equine parvovirus-hepatitis (EqPV-H) has been recently identified in association with equine serum hepatitis, also known as Theiler's disease. The disease was first described by Arnold Theiler in 1918 and is often observed with parenteral use of blood products in equines. However, natural ways of viral circulation and potential risk factors for transmission still remain unknown. In this study, we investigated the occurrence of EqPV-H infections in Thoroughbred horses in northern and western Germany and aimed to identify potential risk factors associated with viral infections. A total of 392...
Hildebrandt M.The advanced therapy medicinal products (ATMPs) landscape is entirely different from classical drug development. Academia has been the major source of ATMP development, and academic hospitals act as trial sites for the clinical testing of ATMPs, including early academic-led trials as well as industry-sponsored trials that pursue the full developmental pathway to market authorization. The recent breakthrough developments in some ATMPs, such as genetically engineered immune cells, have confronted academic hospitals with a substantial amount of public demand, competitive pressure, and costs. At t...
Yao C.The kinetoplastid protozoan Leishmania spp. cause leishmaniasis, which clinically exhibit mainly as a cutaneous, mucocutanous or visceral form depending upon the parasite species in humans. The disease is widespread geographically, leading to 20 000 annual deaths. Here, leishmaniases in both humans and animals, reservoirs and sand fly vectors on the Caribbean islands are reviewed. Autochthonous human infections by Leishmania spp. were found in the Dominican Republic, Guadeloupe and Martinique as well as Trinidad and Tobago; canine infections were found in St. Kitts and Grenada; and equine infe...
Nemoto M, Schofield W, Cullinane A.The objective of this study was to investigate the presence of equine coronavirus (ECoV) in clinical samples submitted to a diagnostic laboratory in Ireland. A total of 424 clinical samples were examined from equids with enteric disease in 24 Irish counties between 2011 and 2015. A real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction was used to detect ECoV RNA. Nucleocapsid, spike and the region from the p4.7 to p12.7 genes of positive samples were sequenced, and sequence and phylogenetic analyses were conducted. Five samples (1.2%) collected in 2011 and 2013 tested positive for ECoV. Po...
Altan E, Li Y, Sabino-Santos G, Sawaswong V, Barnum S, Pusterla N, Deng X, Delwart E.Metagenomics was used to identify viral sequences in the plasma and CSF (cerobrospinal fluid) of 13 horses with unexplained neurological signs and in the plasma and respiratory swabs of 14 horses with unexplained respiratory signs. Equine hepacivirus and two copiparvoviruses (horse parvovirus-CSF and a novel parvovirus) were detected in plasma from neurological cases. Plasma from horses with respiratory signs contained the same two copiparvoviruses plus equine pegivirus D and respiratory swabs contained equine herpes virus 2 and 5. Based on genetic distances the novel copiparvovirus qualified ...
Spence KL, Cardwell JM, Slater J, Rosanowski SM.The potential for an exotic disease incursion is a significant concern for the United Kingdom (UK) equine industry. Horse owners' perceptions of, and attitudes towards, exotic diseases can influence decisions to adopt disease preparedness strategies. The objectives of this study were to describe horse owners' 1) perceptions of the term 'exotic disease', and 2) attitudes towards their risk of being affected by an exotic disease. In order to address these objectives, qualitative content analysis was undertaken on data collected using two open-ended survey questions. Results: Horse owners (n =â€...
Blanco-Lobo P, Rodriguez L, Reedy S, Oladunni FS, Nogales A, Murcia PR, Chambers TM, Martinez-Sobrido L.Vaccination remains the most effective approach for preventing and controlling equine influenza virus (EIV) in horses. However, the ongoing evolution of EIV has increased the genetic and antigenic differences between currently available vaccines and circulating strains, resulting in suboptimal vaccine efficacy. As recommended by the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), the inclusion of representative strains from clade 1 and clade 2 Florida sublineages of EIV in vaccines may maximize the protection against presently circulating viral strains. In this study, we used reverse genetics tech...
Beste KJ, Lawhon SD, Chamoun-Emanuelli AM, Duff AH, Coleman MC, Griffin CE, Hardy J, Whitfield-Cargile CM.Horses with bacterial sinusitis frequently undergo empirical treatment with antimicrobials, however, in some cases bacterial culture of the affected sinus is used to direct therapy. Data regarding which organisms are part of the commensal microbiota of the equine sinus are lacking making it difficult to interpret culture results and guide empiric antimicrobial selection. Objective: Our objectives were to describe the bacterial and fungal microbiota of the paranasal sinuses in clinically normal horses using culture-dependent and independent approaches and to compare the bacterial culture and su...
Mhadhbi M, Sassi A.Infection of equids by Leishmania (L.) parasites was previously described in both the Old and New World, particularly in Central and South America. Equine cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is caused by the Leishmania species, L. Viannia (V.) braziliensis and L. infantum, previously identified in humans and other parasite hosts living in the same geographic endemic areas. Sporadic autochthonous clinical cases, with no travel history, were documented in several countries including Germany, Portugal, Spain, Texas and Brazil; L. infantum and L. (Mundinia) martiniquensis were the infectious species....
Olguin-Perglione C, Vissani MA, Alamos F, Tordoya MS, Barrandeguy M.Equine influenza is an important cause of respiratory disease of horses worldwide. The equine influenza virus (EIV) undergoes antigenic drift through the accumulation of amino acid substitutions in the viral proteins, which may lead to vaccine breakdown. Objective: To describe the epidemiological findings and the molecular characteristics of the EIV detected during the multifocal outbreak that occurred in Argentina between March and July 2018 and evidence a vaccine breakdown. Methods: Observational, descriptive study. Methods: Virus was detected in nasopharyngeal swabs using real-time reverse ...
Sutton G, Garvey M, Cullinane A, Jourdan M, Fortier C, Moreau P, Foursin M, Gryspeerdt A, Maisonnier V, Marcillaud-Pitel C, Legrand L, Paillot R....Equine herpesvirus 1 (EHV-1) is an Alphaherpesvirus infecting not only horses but also other equid and non-equid mammals. It can cause respiratory distress, stillbirth and neonatal death, abortion, and neurological disease. The different forms of disease induced by EHV-1 infection can have dramatic consequences on the equine industry, and thus the virus represents a great challenge for the equine and scientific community. This report describes the progress of a major EHV-1 outbreak that took place in Normandy in 2009, during which the three forms of disease were observed. A collection of EHV-1...
Sacco SC, Ortega J, Navarro MA, Fresneda KC, Anderson M, Woods LW, Moore J, Uzal FA.Gas gangrene occurs in several animal species and is caused by one or more clostridial species. In horses, the disease is most often caused by Clostridium perfringens type A. Although Clostridium sordellii has been associated with gas gangrene in ruminants and humans, cases of the disease associated with this microorganism have not been described in horses, to our knowledge. We report herein 8 cases of gas gangrene caused by C. sordellii in horses. These cases were characterized by myonecrosis and cellulitis, associated with systemic changes suggestive of toxic shock. The diagnosis was confirm...
Rickards KJ, Thiemann AK.Donkeys suffer from the same respiratory diseases as horses; however, owing to their nonathletic nature many conditions can present in a more advanced state before becoming clinically apparent. Anatomically, their respiratory tract is similar to the horse, with certain species-specific differences that are important to be aware of. Often donkeys do not receive the same level of routine care as horses, so many are not vaccinated against respiratory pathogens such as influenza or herpesviruses. Donkeys can act as a reservoir for certain infectious and parasitic respiratory diseases and the inter...
Sukmawinata E, Sato W, Mitoma S, Kanda T, Kusano K, Kambayashi Y, Sato T, Ishikawa Y, Goto Y, Uemura R, Sueyoshi M.Extended-spectrum β-lactamase-producing Escherichia coli (ESBLEC) have become a major health concern in both human and veterinary medicine. These bacteria could become a critical problem in equine medicine due to the limited number of antimicrobial drugs available. However, there are no previous reports of ESBLEC isolated from horses in Japan. The objectives of this study were to investigate the occurrence of ESBLEC isolated from feces in healthy Thoroughbred racehorses in Japan. Feces samples were collected from 147 healthy Thoroughbred racehorses by equine veterinarians at the Japan Racing ...
Ueno Y, Uemura R, Niwa H, Higuchi T, Sekiguchi S, Sasaki Y, Sueyoshi M.Equine proliferative enteropathy (EPE) caused by Lawsonia intracellularis is characterized by hypoproteinemia. There are currently no reliable reports that provide a reference value for the total serum protein (TP) concentration to clinically diagnose EPE. The objective of this study was to statistically determine the reference value. Feces and sera of 99 foals with EPE-like clinical signs and of 35 healthy foals were obtained. The samples were used for specific-gene detection of L. intracellularis, TP measurement, and specific-antibody detection against L. intracellularis. Based on these resu...
Wernery U, Rodriguez Caveney M, Wernery R, Raghavan R, Laroucau K, Syriac G, Thomas SM, John J, Joseph M, Jose S, Joseph S, Woo P.Six horses were challenged experimentally with a strain of Burkholderia pseudomallei isolated from a fatal case of the infection in a dromedary camel years earlier in the Emirate of Dubai. Three horses were inoculated subcutaneously and in 3 the bacterium was administered by the oral route. Four of the horses became serologically positive based on reactions to one or more of the OIE described tests for glanders. B. pseudomallei was re-isolated from the 4 serological positive horses. Only one of the subcutaneously infected horses, developed fever for 3 days. The white blood cell values and the ...
Browne C, Medlock JM.Last summer saw an unusually high number of cases of West Nile fever in horses and people in south and south-east Europe, but it is too early to tell if this was a one-off increase or a sign of things to come. Here, , , and discuss the various West Nile fever surveillance and control mechanisms in place in the UK.
Schoster A, Kunz T, Lauper M, Graubner C, Schmitt S, Weese JS.Overgrowth of enteric clostridia in dysbiosis in horses with colic is presumed but scarcely investigated. The objective was to provide prevalence data of Clostridium difficile and Clostridium perfringens in horses with and without gastrointestinal disease in Switzerland, and investigate microbiota differences between C. difficile shedders and non-shedders. Fecal samples were taken from healthy horses (n = 103), horses with colic (n = 98) and horses with diarrhea (n = 151). Colic horses were sampled on three days. Selective enrichment culture and molecular typing for C. difficile an...
Gür S, Gürçay M, Seyrek A.Bovine enteroviruses (BEV) are members of Enterovirus genus of the family Picornaviridae. BEV1 has a broad host spectrum, including humans. The virus usually causes subclinical infection, but fatal/severe cases have also been reported in different animal species. There is quite limited data regarding BEV1 in humans. The purpose of this study is to investigate human infection and to identify possible risk factors for viral exposure. For this purpose, blood serum samples (n=1,526) were collected from a city center and nearby villagers simultaneously from humans and farm animals in Elazig provinc...
Bosco-Lauth AM, Bowen RA.West Nile virus (WNV) (Flaviviridae: Flavivirus) was discovered in Africa more than 80 yr ago and became recognized as an avian pathogen and a cause of neurologic disease in horses largely during periodic incursions into Europe. Introduction of WNV into North America stimulated great anxiety, particularly in the equine industry, but also for pet owners and livestock producers concerned about the effect of WNV on other domestic animals. Numerous subsequent studies of naturally occurring and experimentally induced disease greatly expanded our understanding of the host range and clinical conseque...
To evaluate the etiology of skeletal changes noted in equid vertebrae from a 19- century context near Belgrade, Serbia. A vertebral column consisting of 15 fused thoracic vertebrae (T2-T16), with right ribs fused to T4 and T5 and small remnants of ribs articulating with T4, T5 and T6 on the left side were accidentally recovered during industrial exploitation of sand. The specimen was subjected to morphological analysis and collagen fingerprinting by mass spectrometry for species identification. In order to determine the absolute temporal context, radiocarbon dating was employed. Pathological c...
Pechacek D, Hwangbo M, Moreland R, Liu M, Ramsey J. 4s is a Gram-negative bacterium found in the equine intestinal ecosystem alongside diverse other coliform bacteria and bacteriophages. This announcement describes the complete genome of the T7-like 4s podophage Penshu1. From its 39,263-bp genome, 54 protein-encoding genes and a 179-bp terminal repeat were predicted.
Nemoto M, Tamura N, Bannai H, Tsujimura K, Kokado H, Ohta M, Yamanaka T.Baloxavir marboxil (BXM), an inhibitor of the cap-dependent endonuclease of the influenza virus polymerase acidic protein (PA), exerts an antiviral effect against influenza A virus. It has been available in Japan since March 2018. This study evaluated the antiviral efficacy of BXM against equine influenza A virus (EIV) by an experimental challenge study using horses. Six horses were experimentally inoculated with EIV, and BXM was administered to the three horses at 2 days post inoculation. Horses treated with BXM showed milder clinical signs than horses without treatment and shed less virus. T...
Willingham-Lane JM, Berghaus LJ, Berghaus RD, Hart KA, Giguère S.The soil-dwelling, saprophytic actinomycete is a facultative intracellular pathogen of macrophages and causes severe bronchopneumonia when inhaled by susceptible foals. Standard treatment for disease is dual-antimicrobial therapy with a macrolide and rifampin. Thoracic ultrasonography and early treatment with antimicrobials prior to the development of clinical signs are used as means of controlling endemic infection on many farms. Concurrently with the increased use of macrolides and rifampin for chemoprophylaxis and the treatment of subclinically affected foals, a significant increase in t...
Yazdansetad S, Mosavari N, Tadayon K, Mehregan I.Burkholderia mallei is the leading cause of glanders, a highly transmittable and an OIE-notifiable disease of equidae. Despite the importance of B. mallei, little is known about serodiagnosis of glanders. The present study aimed to develop an immunoblotting assay based on whole-cell proteome of B. mallei to enable accurate serodiagnosis of glanders. Methods: Three farm horses were subcutaneously immunized with a crude suspension (106 cfu/ml) of heat-inactivated B. mallei formulated with incomplete Freund's adjuvant (IFA) to achieve a hyperimmune sera panel. The immunization was done for 1, 14 ...
Preziuso S, Sgorbini M, Marmorini P, Cuteri V.This study investigates the genetic variability of the equid alphaherpesvirus type 1 (EHV-1), a virus in horses, by evaluating four specific genes (ORF30, ORF33, ORF34, and ORF68) in Italian horse […]
Dennis SJ, Meyers AE, Hitzeroth II, Rybicki EP.African horse sickness is a devastating disease that causes great suffering and many fatalities amongst horses in sub-Saharan Africa. It is caused by nine different serotypes of the orbivirus African horse sickness virus (AHSV) and it is spread by Culicoid midges. The disease has significant economic consequences for the equine industry both in southern Africa and increasingly further afield as the geographic distribution of the midge vector broadens with global warming and climate change. Live attenuated vaccines (LAV) have been used with relative success for many decades but carry the risk o...
DÃaz-Sánchez AA, Pires MS, Estrada CY, Cañizares EV, Del Castillo DomÃnguez SL, Cabezas-Cruz A, Rivero EL, da Fonseca AH, Massard CL....Equine piroplasmosis is a disease of Equidae, including horses, donkeys, mules, and zebras, caused by either Theileria equi or Babesia caballi. This disease represents a serious problem for the horse industry and its control is critical for the international trade of horses. The objective of the present study was to detect B. caballi and T. equi infections in horses reared in western Cuba. Blood samples from 100 horses were tested for the presence of piroplasms by using Giemsa-stained blood smears and nested PCR (nPCR) assays targeting merozoite antigen genes of B. caballi (bc48) and T. equi (...
Gozalo-Marcilla M, Bettschart-Wolfensberger R, Johnston M, Taylor PM, Redondo JI.It is almost 20 years since the largest observational, multicentre study evaluating the risks of mortality associated with general anaesthesia in horses. We proposed an internet-based method to collect data (cleaned and analysed with R) in a multicentre, cohort, observational, analytical, longitudinal and prospective study to evaluate peri-operative equine mortality. The objective was to report the usefulness of the method, illustrated with the preliminary data, including outcomes for horses seven days after undergoing general anaesthesia and certain procedures using standing sedation. Within ...
Hooper-McGrevy KE, Wilkie BN, Prescott JF.Rhodococcus equi causes severe pyogranulomatous pneumonia in foals and in immunocompromised humans. Replication of virulent isolates within macrophages correlates with the presence of a large plasmid which encodes a family of seven virulence-associated proteins (VapA and VapC to VapH), whose functions are unknown. Although cell-mediated immunity is thought to be crucial in eliminating R. equi infection, antibody partially protects foals. The antibody response to both VapA and VapC was similar in six adult horses and six naturally exposed but healthy foals, as well as in eight foals with R. equ...
Crans WJ, McNelly J, Schulze TL, Main A.Eastern equine encephalitis virus (EEE) was isolated from the salt marsh mosquito, Aedes sollicitans, collected from coastal areas of New Jersey on 3 occasions during the late summer and fall of 1982. The isolations were made at a time when local Culiseta melanura were either undergoing a population increase or exhibiting high levels of EEE virus. Although no human cases were reported during the epizootic period, the data lend support to the hypothesis that Ae. sollicitans is capable of functioning as an epidemic vector in the coastal areas of New Jersey where human cases of EEE have been most...
Durden LA, Linthicum KJ, Monath TP.Pools of adult female chicken mites, Dermanyssus gallinae (De Geer), were allowed to feed on chicks that had been inoculated with eastern equine encephalomyelitis (EEE) virus and that had a viremia level of 10(6.2)-10(6.6) plaque-forming units per milliliter of blood. Virus remained detectable by plaque assay in samples of these mites for 30 d after the infectious blood meal. Virus was not recovered from any of 151 progeny of virus-exposed female mites. Mites that had fed on viremic chicks were allowed to feed on naive chicks 3, 7, 11, 15, or 30 d later. EEE virus was transmitted to chicks by ...
Diallo AA, Souley MM, Issa Ibrahim A, Alassane A, Issa R, Gagara H, Yaou B, Issiakou A, Diop M, Ba Diouf RO, Lo FT, Lo MM, Bakhoum T, Sylla M....Since November 2018, several countries in West and Central Africa have reported mortalities in donkeys and horses. Specifically, more than 66,000 horses and donkeys have succumbed to disease in Burkina Faso, Chad, Cameroon, The Gambia, Ghana, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, and Senegal. Strangles caused by Streptococcus equi subsp equi, African Horse Sickness (AHS) virus, and Equine influenza virus (EIV) were all suspected as potential causative agents. This study reports the identification of EIV in field samples collected in Niger and Senegal. Phylogenetic analysis of the hemagglutinin and neuraminida...
Teymournejad O, Lin M, Bekebrede H, Kamr A, Toribio RE, Arroyo LG, Baird JD, Rikihisa Y.Potomac horse fever (PHF), a severe and frequently fatal febrile diarrheal disease, has been known to be caused only by , an endosymbiont of digenean trematodes. Here, we report the cell culture isolation of a new species found in two locations in eastern Ontario, Canada, in 2016 and 2017 (in addition to 10 variable strains of ) from PCR-negative horses with clinical signs of PHF. Gene sequences of 16S rRNA and the major surface antigen P51 of this new species were distinct from those of all previously characterized strains and species, except for those from an uncharacterized species cu...
Niczyporuk JS, Samorek-Salamonowicz E, Lecollinet S, Pancewicz SA, Kozdruń W, Czekaj H.Serum samples of 474 wild birds, 378 horses, and 42 humans with meningitis and lymphocytic meningitis were collected between 2010 and 2014 from different areas of Poland. West Nile virus (WNV) antibodies were detected using competition enzyme linked immunosorbent assays: ELISA-1 ID Screen West Nile Competition, IDvet, ELISA-2 ID Screen West Nile IgM Capture, and ELISA-3 Ingezim West Nile Compac. The antibodies were found in 63 (13.29%) out of 474 wild bird serum samples and in one (0.26%) out of 378 horse serum samples. Fourteen (33.33%) out of 42 sera from patients were positive against WNV a...
Walton TE, Alvarez O, Buckwalter RM, Johnson KM.Ten horses (Equus caballus) were vaccinated with strain TC-83 Venezuelan equine encephalomyelitis (VEE) virus vaccine. Febrile responses and leukopenia due to a reduction of lymphocytes and neutrophils were observed in all animals. Viremias were demonstrable in eight horses, with a maximum of 10(3.5) median tissue culture infectious dose units per ml of serum in two horses. Clinical illness with depression and anorexia were observed in five horses. Neutralizing (N), hemagglutination-inhibiting, and complement-fixing antibodies to the vaccine virus were demonstrable by 5, 6.5, and 7 days, respe...
Fenger CK, Granstrom DE, Gajadhar AA, Williams NM, McCrillis SA, Stamper S, Langemeier JL, Dubey JP.Sarcocystis sp. sporocysts isolated from eight feral opossums (Didelphis virginiana) were pooled and fed to 18 commercially reared budgerigars (Melopsittacus undulatus), 14 wild-caught sparrows (Passer domesticus), one wild-caught slate-colored Junco (Junco hyemalis) and five weanling horses (Equus caballus). All budgerigars died within 5 weeks post inoculation (wpi). Histologic examination revealed meronts within the pulmonary epithelia and typical Sarcocystis falcatula sarcocysts developing in the leg muscles. Sparrows were euthanized 13 and 17 wpi and their carcasses were fed to four labora...
Burton AJ, Nydam DV, Dearen TK, Mitchell K, Bowman DD, Xiao L.To date, little is known about the prevalence, genotypes and zoonotic potential of Cryptosporidium spp. affecting horses, especially in North America. A cross-sectional study was conducted in New York, USA between February 25th and May 1st 2009. Fecal samples were collected from three hundred and forty nine 1-10-week-old foals and their dams on 14 different broodmare farms. All fecal samples were screened for Cryptosporidium spp. using a direct immunofluorescence assay (DFA). DNA extraction and PCR-RFLP analysis of the small-subunit (SSU) rRNA gene were performed on all the foal samples. PCR-p...
Johnson AL, McAdams SC, Whitlock RH.The objective of the current retrospective study was to describe naturally occurring type A botulism in horses in the United States. In the past 10 years, the Botulism Laboratory at the University of Pennsylvania's School of Veterinary Medicine has identified 3 isolated cases and 8 outbreaks of type A botulism in horses via samples positive for Clostridium botulinum type A toxin or spores using the mouse bioassay test. Additional information was obtained by review of submission forms and by telephone or email interviews. Almost all type A cases and outbreaks occurred in the western United Stat...
Timoney JF, Kumar P.Little is known about entry and subsequent multiplication of Streptococcus equi following exposure of a susceptible horse. This information would have value in design of intranasal vaccines and understanding of shedding and protective immune responses. Objective: To determine entry points and sites of subsequent replication and dispersion of S. equi at different times after intranasal infection or commingling exposure. Methods: Previously unexposed horses and ponies were subjected to euthanasia 1, 3, 20 or 48 h following intranasal inoculation with biotin labelled or unlabelled S. equi CF32. S...
Daly K, Shirazi-Beechey SP.Nine oligonucleotide probes complementary to conserved regions of small subunit rRNA from phylogenetically defined clusters of intestinal anaerobic bacteria were designed and evaluated for use in quantitative analysis of intestinal microflora. Optimum wash temperatures (T(w)) were determined according to the temperature of dissociation (T(d)) of each probe and target group specificity was demonstrated by comparing hybridisation to target and non-target rRNA immobilised on nylon membranes. Three probes are targeted to phylogenetic clusters of Clostridiaceae, clusters III, IV and IX, with three ...
Meijer MC, van Weeren PR, Rijkenhuizen AB.The condition of septic arthritis was treated in 12 foals with 21 affected joints (Group I) and in 27 adult horses. The adult horses were divided into three groups, based on aetiology of the condition: haematogenous (Group II, n = 6), iatrogenic (Group III, n = 6), and perforating trauma (Group IV, n = 15). The treatment consisted of an initial systemic antibiotic that anticipated the microbial agents that were considered most likely per group, repeated through-and-through joint lavages every other day and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. The antibiotics were adjusted to the results of b...
Clausen PH, Chuluun S, Sodnomdarjaa R, Greiner M, Noeckler K, Staak C, Zessin KH, Schein E.From May to July 2000, a cross-sectional study was conducted to estimate the prevalence of Trypanosoma equiperdum in the horse population of the central province (Tuv aimag) of Mongolia. On average, four herds were selected from each of the 29 aimag subdivisions (119 herds). From each herd, 10 horses were sampled in proportion to sex and age categories in the respective herds (1190 horses). Sera from 1122 horses were analysed for T. equiperdum antibodies using two serological assays, the complement fixation test (CFT) and the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The crude estimate of the...
Fougerolle S, Fortier C, Legrand L, Jourdan M, Marcillaud-Pitel C, Pronost S, Paillot R.Every year, several epizooties of equine influenza (EI) are reported worldwide. However, no EI case has been identified in France between 2015 and late 2018, despite an effective field surveillance of the pathogen and the disease. Vaccination against equine influenza virus (EIV) remains to this day one of the most effective methods to prevent or limit EI outbreaks and the lack of detection of the pathogen could be linked to vaccination coverage. The aim of this study was to evaluate EI immunity and vaccine coverage in France through a large-scale serological study. A total of 3004 archived sur...
Herd RP.Seasonal rises in mean faecal egg output were observed in grazing ponies in spring (578 eggs per gram) and in summer (930 epg) on 30 April and 2 September, respectively, in untreated ponies. Pasture infectivity reached a peak of 18,486 third stage larvae (L3)/kg on 17 September, two weeks after peak egg counts, coincidental with abundant September rainfall (103.0 mm). Differentiation of infective larvae from pasture showed the cyathostomes (small strongyles) to be predominant, but Trichostrongylus axei assumed major importance from late August to October. The large strongyles were rarely detec...
Balasuriya UB, Crossley BM, Timoney PJ.Equid herpesvirus 1 (EHV-1) is one of the most economically important equine viral pathogens. Its clinical manifestations in horses vary from acute upper respiratory tract disease, abortion, or neonatal death, to neurological disease termed equine herpesviral myeloencephalopathy, which may lead to paralysis and a fatal outcome. Successful identification of EHV-1 infection in horses depends on a variety of factors such as suitable case selection with emphasis on timing of sample collection, selection of appropriate sample(s) based on the clinical manifestations, application of relevant diagnost...
Letson GW, Bailey RE, Pearson J, Tsai TF.An Eastern equine encephalitis (EEE) outbreak in 1989 led to nine human and 196 equine cases, chiefly in coastal Atlantic and Gulf Coast counties. In the past two decades, EEE age-specific incidence and mortality rates have declined compared with earlier years. Analysis of rainfall patterns in areas where human EEE cases occurred between 1983 and 1989 revealed an association between occurrence of human cases and excess rainfall. The association was stronger with data from local weather stations than from statewide rainfall averages and the predictive models were best when applied to northern s...
Cook SJ, Cook RF, Montelaro RC, Issel CJ.Most in vivo studies with equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV) have been performed in horses and ponies (Equus caballus) with little published information available detailing the clinical responses of donkeys (Equus asinus) to infection with this virus. Consequently, donkeys were inoculated with two strains of EIAV (EIAV(PV) and EIAV(WY)) which have been documented to produce disease in E. caballus. Four ponies, 561, 562, 564 and 567 and two donkeys, 3 and 5 were infected with EIAV(PV) and one horse (94-10) and one donkey (4) were infected with EIAV(WY). Although the horse and ponies all expe...
Li F, Drummer HE, Ficorilli N, Studdert MJ, Crabb BS.Equine rhinovirus 1 (ERhV1) is a recognized cause of acute febrile respiratory disease in horse, although the virus is rarely isolated from such animals, despite seroprevalence rates as high as 50% in some horse populations. Recently, ERhV1 has been shown to be most closely related to foot-and-mouth disease virus, raising questions as to its disease associations in horses. We report that ERhV1 infection was the likely cause of two separate outbreaks of severe febrile respiratory disease which involved more than 20 horses. Attempts to isolate ErhV1 from nasopharyngeal swabs by conventional cell...
Dennis SJ, O'Kennedy MM, Rutkowska D, Tsekoa T, Lourens CW, Hitzeroth II, Meyers AE, Rybicki EP.African horse sickness (AHS) is caused by multiple serotypes of the dsRNA AHSV and is a major scourge of domestic equids in Africa. While there are well established commercial live attenuated vaccines produced in South Africa, risks associated with these have encouraged attempts to develop new and safer recombinant vaccines. Previously, we reported on the immunogenicity of a plant-produced AHS serotype 5 virus-like particle (VLP) vaccine, which stimulated high titres of AHS serotype 5-specific neutralizing antibodies in guinea pigs. Here, we report a similar response to the vaccine in horses. ...
Madigan JE, Pusterla N, Johnson E, Chae JS, Pusterla JB, Derock E, Lawler SP.Ehrlichia risticii, the agent of Potomac horse fever (PHF), has been recently detected in trematode stages found in snail secretions and in aquatic insects. Based on these findings, horses could conceivably be exposed to E. risticii by skin penetration with infected cercariae, by ingestion of infected cercariae in water or via metacercariae in a second intermediate host, such as an aquatic insect. In order to test this hypothesis, horses were challenged with infectious snail secretions and aquatic insects collected from a PHF endemic region in northern California. Two horses stood with their f...
Chirnside ED, Francis PM, de Vries AA, Sinclair R, Mumford JA.A recombinant glutathione-S-transferase fusion protein expressing amino acids 55-98 of equine arteritis virus (EAV) GL (rGL 55-98) was tested in an ELISA for its ability to detect serum antibodies to EAV. Host antibodies induced following EAV infection bound the recombinant antigen by ELISA. The ELISA specificity and sensitivity were determined with a panel of equine sera including postinfection and postvaccination samples. A good correlation existed between EAV neutralizing antibody titers and ELISA absorbance values (r = 0.827). The sensitivity and specificity of the ELISA were 99.6 and 90.1...
Cauchard J, Sevin C, Ballet JJ, Taouji S.The aim of this study was to evaluate serum IgG antibody levels and opsonizing activity in foals from pregnant mares immunized with either proteins from an R. equi strain containing virulence-associated protein A (VapA), an immunodominant surface-expressed lipoprotein encoded by a virulence plasmid crucial for virulence in foals, or a whole killed virulent R. equi preparation. Forty-eight pregnant mares were distributed into three groups, i.e. 24 immunized with R. equi VapA protein antigen associated with a water-based nanoparticle adjuvant (Montanide IMS 3012), 8 immunized with whole killed R...
Westbury HA.The author provides an account of the discovery of a previously undescribed disease of horses and a description of the studies involved in determining the aetiology of the disease. The causative virus, now named Hendra virus (HeV), is the reference virus for a proposed new genus within the virus family Paramyxoviridae. The virus is a lethal zoonotic agent able to cause natural disease in humans and horses and experimentally induced disease in cats, guinea-pigs and mice. The virus also naturally infects species of the family Megachiroptera, mainly subclinically, and such animals are the natural...
Hammond SA, Cook SJ, Falo LD, Issel CJ, Montelaro RC.Immunization regimens that induce a broadly reactive cytolytic T lymphocyte (CTL) response specific for lentiviral antigens have emerged as the leading candidates in efficacy trials conducted in both animal modelshumans. To date, lentivirus vaccination strategies have overlooked one such immunization strategy, namely the use of particulate antigens. To evaluate the efficacy of targeting antigen into the phagocytic pathway to elicit a cell-mediated immune response to lentiviral antigens, we initiated the first study of a particulate-based vaccination protocol using a large animal model system. ...
