Microbiology and horses explores the interactions between microorganisms and equine hosts, focusing on the role of bacteria, viruses, fungi, and other microbes in horse health and disease. This field examines the microbial flora present in various equine environments, including the gastrointestinal tract, skin, and respiratory system, and investigates how these microorganisms influence equine physiology and pathology. Research in this area includes studies on microbial infections that affect horses, the development of antimicrobial resistance, and the impact of probiotics and prebiotics on equine health. This page compiles peer-reviewed research studies and scholarly articles that investigate the diversity, dynamics, and implications of microbial communities in horses, as well as the strategies for managing microbial-related diseases.
Meneses CS, Müller HY, Herzberg DE, Uberti B, Bustamante HA, Werner MP.The role of glial cells in pain modulation has recently gathered attention. The objective of this study was to determine healthy spinal microglia and astrocyte morphology and disposition in equine spinal cord dorsal horns using Iba-1 and GFAP/Cx-43 immunofluorescence labeling, respectively. Five adult horses without visible wounds or gait alterations were selected. Spinal cord segments were obtained post-mortem for immunohistochemical and immunocolocalization assays. Immunodetection of spinal cord dorsal horn astrocytes was done using a polyclonal goat antibody raised against Glial Fibrillary ...
Parisi A, Caruso M, Normanno G, Latorre L, Miccolupo A, Fraccalvieri R, Intini F, Manginelli T, Santagada G.The epidemiology of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in horses and its zoonotic potential is poorly understood. The objective of this study is to provide data on the prevalence and genetic characteristics of MRSA isolated from horses on farms, at racecourses, and at slaughterhouses in Italy, using standard and molecular methods. In addition, we report the prevalence of MRSA in horse handlers. Among 388 horses tested by nasal swabs, 27 (7%) were positive for MRSA ST398 (t011, t899, t1255) and ST1 (t127). The prevalence of MRSA in horses tested at slaughterhouses was significan...
Caol S, Divers T, Crisman M, Chang YF.Lyme disease in humans is predominantly treated with tetracycline, macrolides or beta lactam antibiotics that have low minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) against Borrelia burgdorferi. Horses with Lyme disease may require long-term treatment making frequent intravenous or intramuscular treatment difficult and when administered orally those drugs may have either a high incidence of side effects or have poor bioavailability. The aim of the present study was to determine the in vitro susceptibility of three B. burgdorferi isolates to three antibiotics of different classes that are commonly us...
Kwiatkowska-Stenzel A, Witkowska D, Sowińska J, Stopyra A.The choice of bedding material affects the quality of air in a stable and, consequently, the respiratory health of horses and humans. The risk of respiratory problems can be mitigated by improving the quality of air in the stable. The choice of bedding material is particularly important in cold climate conditions where horses are kept indoors throughout the year. This study examined the impact of three bedding materials: straw (S), peat with shavings (PS), and crushed wood pellets (CWP). The investigated factors were air contamination, including dust contamination and microbial (bacterial and ...
Almeida S, Dorneles EMS, Diniz C, Abreu V, Sousa C, Alves J, Carneiro A, Bagano P, Spier S, Barh D, Lage AP, Figueiredo H, Azevedo V.Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis is classified into two biovars, nitrate-negative biovar Ovis which is the etiologic agent of caseous lymphadenitis in small ruminants and nitrate-positive biovar Equi, which causes abscesses and ulcerative lymphangitis in equines. The aim of this study was to develop a quadruplex PCR assay that would allow simultaneous detection and biovar-typing of C. pseudotuberculosis. Methods: In the present study, genomes of C. pseudotuberculosis strains were used to identify the genes involved in the nitrate reduction pathway to improve a species identification three-pr...
Wolny-Koładka KA, Malina DK.The aim of this study was to explore the toxicity of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) synthesized by chemical reduction method assessment with regard to airborne strains of Staphylococcus spp. The first step of the experiment was the preparation of silver nanoparticle suspension. The suspension was obtained by a fast and simple chemical method involving the reduction of silver ions through a reducing factor in the presence of the suitable stabilizer required to prevent the aggregation. In the second stage, varied instrumental techniques were used for the analysis and characterization of the obtain...
Cowled C, Foo CH, Deffrasnes C, Rootes CL, Williams DT, Middleton D, Wang LF, Bean AGD, Stewart CR.Hendra virus (HeV) is an emerging zoonotic pathogen harbored by Australian mainland flying foxes. HeV infection can cause lethal disease in humans and horses, and to date all cases of human HeV disease have resulted from contact with infected horses. Currently, diagnosis of acute HeV infections in horses relies on the productive phase of infection when virus shedding may occur. An assay that identifies infected horses during the preclinical phase of infection would reduce the risk of zoonotic viral transmission during management of HeV outbreaks. Having previously shown that the host microRNA ...
Björnsdóttir S, Harris SR, Svansson V, Gunnarsson E, Sigurðardóttir ÓG, Gammeljord K, Steward KF, Newton JR, Robinson C, Charbonneau ARL....Iceland is free of the major infectious diseases of horses. However, in 2010 an epidemic of respiratory disease of unknown cause spread through the country's native horse population of 77,000. Microbiological investigations ruled out known viral agents but identified the opportunistic pathogen subsp. () in diseased animals. We sequenced the genomes of 257 isolates of to differentiate epidemic from endemic strains. We found that although multiple endemic clones of were present, one particular clone, sequence type 209 (ST209), was likely to have been responsible for the epidemic. Concurrent ...
Steward KF, Robinson C, Maskell DJ, Nenci C, Waller AS.The Gram-positive bacterium subspecies () is the causative agent of strangles, among the most frequently diagnosed infectious diseases of horses worldwide. Genome analysis of strain 4047 (4047) identified a putative operon, Fim1, with similarity to the pilus loci of other Gram-positive bacteria. The Fim1 locus was present in all strains of and its close relative subspecies () that have been studied to date. In this study we provide evidence that the putative structural pilus proteins, SEQ_0936 and CNE, are produced on the cell surface during growth and infection. Although the proteins ...
Mach N, Foury A, Kittelmann S, Reigner F, Moroldo M, Ballester M, Esquerré D, Rivière J, Sallé G, Gérard P, Moisan MP, Lansade L.Weaning has been described as one of the most stressful events in the life of horses. Given the importance of the interaction between the gut-brain axis and gut microbiota under stress, we evaluated (i) the effect of two different weaning methods on the composition of gut microbiota across time and (ii) how the shifts of gut microbiota composition after weaning affect the host. A total of 34 foals were randomly subjected to a progressive (P) or an abrupt (A) weaning method. In the P method, mares were separated from foals at progressively increasing intervals every day, starting from five min ...
Edwards RA, Riley CB, Howe L, Burrows EA, Riley KT, Frellstedt L.To investigate the efficacy of an alcohol gel-based hand antisepsis protocol compared with a traditional chlorhexidine-based protocol under conditions of routine clinical contamination, and following heavy faecal contamination. Methods: Twelve adult participants were recruited and on four separate days completed a hand sanitation protocol using a chlorhexidine scrub or an alcohol-based gel, with hands that were grossly clean but contaminated or with faecal contamination. Bacterial samples were obtained from participants' hands before sanitation, immediately after and then 2 hours later. All sa...
Boyle AG, Rankin SC, D￮ LA, Morris D.Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is recognized as a cause of nosocomial infections in both human and veterinary medicine. Studies that examine the nasopharynx and guttural pouches of the horse as carriage sites for MRSA have not been reported. Objective: MRSA colonizes the nasopharynx and guttural pouch of horses. To determine the prevalence of MRSA in equine nasopharyngeal wash (NPW) and guttural pouch lavage (GPL) samples in a field population of horses. Methods: One hundred seventy-eight samples (123 NPW and 55 GPL) from 108 horses. Methods: Prospective study. Samples were...
Prokhorov NS, Riccio C, Zdorovenko EL, Shneider MM, Browning C, Knirel YA, Leiman PG, Letarov AV.Bacteriophages recognize and bind to their hosts with the help of receptor-binding proteins (RBPs) that emanate from the phage particle in the form of fibers or tailspikes. RBPs show a great variability in their shapes, sizes, and location on the particle. Some RBPs are known to depolymerize surface polysaccharides of the host while others show no enzymatic activity. Here we report that both RBPs of podovirus G7C - tailspikes gp63.1 and gp66 - are essential for infection of its natural host bacterium E. coli 4s that populates the equine intestinal tract. We characterize the structure and funct...
Worthing KA, Abraham S, Pang S, Coombs GW, Saputra S, Jordan D, Wong HS, Abraham RJ, Trott DJ, Norris JM.This study aimed to determine the frequency and molecular epidemiology of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) from Australian animals and whether animal-derived MRSA was similar to that from Australian veterinarians. A total of 1,080 clinical coagulase positive Staphylococcus isolates from Australian animals were collected during 2013. Sixteen (4%) of 360 S. aureus isolates were MRSA. Most MRSA came from companion animals, while none came from livestock. MRSA isolates were characterized using whole genome sequencing. ST22-IV (EMRSA-15) was the most common clone in dogs and cats....
Risseti RM, Zastempowska E, Twarużek M, Lassa H, Pantoja JCF, de Vargas APC, Guerra ST, Bolaños CAD, de Paula CL, Alves AC, Colhado BS....Trueperella pyogenes is an opportunistic pathogen that causes diverse pyogenic infections in livestock. The genes that encode the exotoxin pyolysin (plo) and other putative factors that promote adhesion of pathogen to host cells (fimbriae fimA, fimC, fimE, fimG, neuraminidases nanH, nanP, and collagen-binding protein cbpA) have been associated with virulence, particularly in mastitis and uterus infections of dairy cows. However, the role of these virulence markers in the pathogenicity of the agent in domestic animals infections still is incompletely understood. The genes plo, fimA, fimC, fimE,...
Charbonneau ARL, Forman OP, Cain AK, Newland G, Robinson C, Boursnell M, Parkhill J, Leigh JA, Maskell DJ, Waller AS.Utilising next generation sequencing to interrogate saturated bacterial mutant libraries provides unprecedented information for the assignment of genome-wide gene essentiality. Exposure of saturated mutant libraries to specific conditions and subsequent sequencing can be exploited to uncover gene essentiality relevant to the condition. Here we present a barcoded transposon directed insertion-site sequencing (TraDIS) system to define an essential gene list for Streptococcus equi subsp. equi, the causative agent of strangles in horses, for the first time. The gene essentiality data for this grou...
Schoster A, Staempfli HR, Guardabassi LG, Jalali M, Weese JS.Diarrhea in foals affects up to 60% of foals during the first six months of life. The effect of diarrhea on the fecal bacterial microbiota in foals has not been investigated. Little is known on the fecal bacterial microbial richness and diversity of foals at a young age. The objective was to compare the fecal bacterial microbiota of healthy foals to foals with diarrhea at two and four weeks of life. Methods: Fecal samples were collected from foals (n = 20) at 1-14 (T1) and 15-28 (T2) days of age and analyzed using high throughput sequencing. Differences in relative abundance of bacterial tax...
Parkinson NJ, Buechner-Maxwell VA, Witonsky SG, Pleasant RS, Werre SR, Ahmed SA.The innate immune response to lipopolysaccharide contributes substantially to the morbidity and mortality of gram-negative sepsis. Horses and humans share an exquisite sensitivity to lipopolysaccharide and thus the horse may provide valuable comparative insights into this aspect of the inflammatory response. MicroRNAs, small non-coding RNA molecules acting as post-transcriptional regulators of gene expression, have key roles in toll-like receptor signaling regulation but have not been studied in this context in horses. The central hypothesis of this study was that lipopolysaccharide induces di...
Mirajkar NS, Kelley MR, Gebhart CJ.Reported herein is the draft genome sequence of equine-origin Lawsonia intracellularis strain E40504, an obligate intracellular bacterium and the etiological agent of equine proliferative enteropathy. The 1.69-Mb draft genome sequence includes 1,380 protein-coding genes and 49 RNA genes, and it lacks a genomic island reported in swine-origin L. intracellularis strain PHE/MN1-00.
Guérin F, Fines-Guyon M, Meignen P, Delente G, Fondrinier C, Bourdon N, Cattoir V, Léon A.The epidemiology of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) isolated in horse infections is not well documented, especially in France. The aim of the study was to evaluate the prevalence of MRSA isolates in horse infections from 2007 to 2013 in France and to characterize phenotypically and genotypically this collection. Out of 1393 S. aureus horse isolates, 85 (6.1%) were confirmed to be MRSA. Interestingly, the prevalence of MRSA significantly increased from 2007-2009 to 2010-2013 (0.7 vs. 9.5%, P <0.0001). Resistance to methicillin was due to the presence of the mecA gene in 84 st...
Mani RJ, Thachil AJ, Ramachandran A.Accurate and timely identification of infectious etiologies is of great significance in veterinary microbiology, especially for critical diseases such as strangles, a highly contagious disease of horses caused by Streptococcus equi subsp. equi. We evaluated a matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) platform for use in species- and subspecies-level identification of S. equi isolates from horses and compared it with an automated biochemical system. We used 25 clinical isolates each of S. equi subsp. equi and S. equi subsp. zooepidemicus. Using ...
Harmon CCG, Hawkins JF, Li J, Connell S, Miller M, Saenger M, Freeman LJ.OBJECTIVE To determine the effects of 3 topically applied treatments (1% silver sulfadiazine cream [SSC], triple antimicrobial ointment [TAO], and hyperosmolar nanoemulsion [HNE]) on microbial counts, exuberant granulation tissue (EGT) development, and reepithelialization of contaminated wounds at the distal aspect of the limbs of horses. ANIMALS 8 healthy adult horses. PROCEDURES A 2.5 × 2.5-cm, full-thickness, cutaneous wound was created at the dorsal aspect of each metacarpus and metatarsus (1 wound/limb/horse), covered with nonadhesive dressing, and bandaged. Wounds were inoculated with b...
Brilhante RSN, Bittencourt PV, de Souza Collares Castelo-Branco D, de Melo Guedes GM, de Oliveira JS, Alencar LP, de Aguiar Cordeiro R, Pinheiro M....This study aimed to assess the biofilm-forming ability of Candida spp. from the ocular conjunctiva of horses and to investigate the antifungal susceptibility of these biofilms. Methods: Initially, the biofilm-forming ability of 15 strains was assessed by crystal violet staining, which reveals the fungal biomass adhered to the polystyrene plates, and scanning electron microscopy. Then, the minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of amphotericin B, fluconazole, itraconazole, and caspofungin were initially determined against strains in planktonic form. Afterward, antifungal susceptibility of mat...
Loux SC, Scoggin KE, Bruemmer JE, Canisso IF, Troedsson MH, Squires EL, Ball BA.MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small, non-coding RNAs which are produced throughout the body. Individual tissues tend to have a specific expression profile and excrete many of these miRNAs into circulation. These circulating miRNAs may be diagnostically valuable biomarkers for assessing the presence of disease while minimizing invasive testing. In women, numerous circulating miRNAs have been identified which change significantly during pregnancy-related complications (e.g. chorioamnionitis, eclampsia, recurrent pregnancy loss); however, no prior work has been done in this area in the horse. To identif...
Singha H, Malik P, Saini S, Khurana SK, Elschner MC, Mertens K, Barth SA, Tripathi BN, Singh RK.Burkholderia mallei is a Gram-negative coccobacillus which causes glanders-a fatal disease of equines that may occasionally be transmitted to humans. Several cases of outbreaks have been reported from India since 2006. This paper presents draft genome sequences of two B. mallei strains isolated from equines affected by glanders in India.
Islam MZ, Espinosa-Gongora C, Damborg P, Sieber RN, Munk R, Husted L, Moodley A, Skov R, Larsen J, Guardabassi L.Denmark is a country with high prevalence of livestock-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) clonal complex (CC) 398 in pigs. Even though pig farming is regarded as the main source of human infection or colonization with MRSA CC398, 10-15% of the human cases appear not to be linked to pigs. Following the recent reports of MRSA CC398 in horses in other European countries and the lack of knowledge on S. aureus carriage in this animal species, we carried out a study to investigate whether horses constitute a reservoir of MRSA CC398 in Denmark, and to gain knowledge on the ...
Harlow BE, Lawrence LM, Harris PA, Aiken GE, Flythe MD.Cereal grains are often included in equine diets. When starch intake exceeds foregut digestion starch will reach the hindgut, impacting microbial ecology. Probiotics (e.g., lactobacilli) are reported to mitigate GI dysbioses in other species. This study was conducted to determine the effect of exogenous lactobacilli on pH and the growth of amylolytic and lactate-utilizing bacteria. Feces were collected from 3 mature geldings fed grass hay with access to pasture. Fecal microbes were harvested by differential centrifugation, washed, and re-suspended in anaerobic media containing ground corn, whe...
Kuwano A, Niwa H, Arai K.To establish a new system to isolate keratolytic bacteria from the hoof wall cavity () of a racehorse, we invented the horn powder agar-translucency (HoPAT) test and horn zymography (HZ). Using routine bacteriological techniques and these methods, we isolated five strains of keratolytic soil bacteria, which were then identified by means of 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene sequencing analysis. The findings from the study on the horse suggested that Brevibacterium luteolum played the main role in the local fragility of the hoof, eventually forming a in coordination with four other strains of kerat...
Apostolakos I, Franz E, van Hoek AHAM, Florijn A, Veenman C, Sloet-van Oldruitenborgh-Oosterbaan MM, Dierikx C, van Duijkeren E.To investigate the occurrence and characteristics of ESBL/AmpC-producing Escherichia coli in faecal samples from horses at one equine clinic in the Netherlands. A total of 91 horses, including residents and patients, were sampled. ESBL/AmpC-producing E. coli were identified by a combination disc diffusion test. Phylogenetic groups and MLST were determined. ESBL/AmpC genes were analysed using PCR and sequencing. Plasmids were characterized by transformation and PCR-based replicon typing. Subtyping of plasmids was done by plasmid MLST. At least one E. coli isolate with a confirmed ESBL/AmpC gene...
Rampacci E, Passamonti F, Bottinelli M, Stefanetti V, Cercone M, Nannarone S, Gialletti R, Beccati F, Coletti M, Pepe M.This study aims to investigate the bacteria involved in equine omphalitis and their susceptibility to antimicrobial drugs, and consequently to provide guidelines concerning the most suitable treatment protocol in accordance with the clinical, ultrasound and laboratory findings. Forty foals aged between one and 30 days were evaluated in the course of this investigation. An ultrasound examination of all umbilical remnants was carried out carefully in all foals; umbilical swabs were collected for bacteriological examination, and blood samples were collected for blood culture from 19 foals with ...
Meyer W, Kacza J, Schnapper A, Verspohl J, Hornickel I, Seeger J.Based on cryo-SEM, standard and high resolution TEM, glycoconjugate histochemistry, and microbiological differentiation, the present study demonstrates the colonisation of the epithelium of the equine oesophagus with microorganisms. As particularly apparent using cryo-SEM to illustrate natural conditions, the present microbiota were clearly dominated by bacteria, forming a one-layer system, as attached to and embedded in concentrated mannose/mannan substances covering the outer stratum corneal cells. Bacterial numbers ranged from 5600 to 7200 per mm(2) in the central part of the oesophagus, th...
Ledbetter EC, Scarlett JM.To determine the frequency of obligate anaerobic bacterial isolation from corneal samples of domestic animals with ulcerative keratitis and to characterize the historical, clinical, cytological, and microbiological features of culture-positive cases. Methods: Three hundred and thirty domestic animals with ulcerative keratitis. Methods: Anaerobic bacteriologic culture and Gram stain were performed on corneal samples from consecutive animals examined with suspect septic ulcerative keratitis. Additional corneal diagnostics included: aerobic bacteriologic culture for all species; fungal culture fo...
Abdulmawjood A, Lämmler CH.The 16S rRNA gene of 39 S. equi subsp. zooepidemicus strains and two S. equi subsp. equi strains was amplified by polymerase chain reaction and subsequently digested with the restriction enzyme Hinc II. A restriction profile with two fragments with sizes of 1250 bp and 200 bp could be observed for both S. equi subsp. equi strains and for 30 of the 39 S. equi subsp. zooepidemicus strains indicating a sequence variation within the V2 region of the 16S rRNA gene of the remaining nine S. equi subsp. zooepidemicus isolates. A segment of the 16S rRNA gene including the hypervariable V2 region of 11 ...
Meehan M, Burke FM, Macken S, Owen P.Streptococcus equi possesses a haem-uptake system homologous to that of Streptococcus pyogenes and Streptococcus zooepidemicus. The system consists of two ligand-binding proteins (Shr and Shp) and proteins (HtsA-C) with homology to an ABC transporter. The haem-uptake system of S. equi differs from that of S. pyogenes and S. zooepidemicus in that Shr is truncated by two-thirds. This study focused on the SeShr, SeShp and SeHtsA proteins of S. equi. Analysis of shr, shp and shphtsA knockout mutants showed that all three proteins were expressed in vitro and that expression was upregulated under co...
Zeiss C, Neaderland M, Yang FC, Terwilliger G, Compton S.To assess the diagnostic utility of fungal polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in forty-three horses with naturally acquired corneal ulcers presenting to a private practice. Methods: Routine evaluation of cytologic, histologic, and microbiologic samples was performed. Two PCR approaches were compared - generic and specific fungal nested PCR followed by sequencing and quantitative PCR (qPCR). PCRs were applied to pure control fungal cultures, corneal tissue from ulcerated eyes and in a subset of 9 horses, to swabs from contralateral normal eyes. Results: The expected fungus was identified by nested...
Hague BA, Honnas CM, Simpson RB, Peloso JG.This study evaluates skin bacterial flora before and after aseptic preparation of clipped and nonclipped arthrocentesis sites in horses. Methods: The hair over one midcarpal joint and one distal interphalangeal joint on each horse was clipped. The contralateral joint served as the nonclipped comparison. Methods: Twelve adult horses. Methods: A prescrub sample for microbial culture was taken from the dorsal surface of all four joints for each horse. Each site was aseptically prepared with povidone iodine and 70% alcohol, followed by postscrub sampling for microbial culture. Colony forming units...
Glatter M, Borewicz K, van den Bogert B, Wensch-Dorendorf M, Bochnia M, Greef JM, Bachmann M, Smidt H, Breves G, Zeyner A.The objective of this study was to investigate the impact of natural prebiotic active compounds on the microbial composition in different regions of the equine gastrointestinal tract. Twelve adult horses (body weight [bwt] 534 ± 64.5 kg; age 14 ± 7.5 years) were randomly divided into two feeding groups. Six horses received a basal diet consisting of 1.5 kg hay/100 kg bwt x d-1 and oat grains equal to 1.19 g starch/kg bwt x d-1, supplemented with Jerusalem artichoke meal providing prebiotic fructooligosaccharides + inulin in a quantity of 0.15 g/kg bwt x d-1. The remaining horses received a p...
Ducharme-Desjarlais M, Céleste CJ, Lepault E, Theoret CL.To determine the effect of a silicone dressing on the rate and quality of repair of limb wounds and compare microvascular occlusion and apoptosis in wounds treated with the silicone dressing and those treated with a conventional dressing in horses. Methods: 5 horses. Methods: Horses received two 6.25-cm2 wounds on each metacarpus. Ten wounds were treated with a silicone dressing; the other 10 were treated with a control dressing. Quality of repair and wound size were evaluated at each bandage change. Time to healing and the number of excisions of exuberant granulation tissue were recorded. Bio...
Ibrahim S, Hedia M, Taqi MO, Derbala MK, Mahmoud KGM, Ahmed Y, Ismail S, El-Belely M.So far the intimate link between serum microRNA (miRNA) and uterine inflammation in mares is unknown. We aimed (I) to investigate expression profile of eca-miR-155, eca-miR-223, eca-miR-17, eca-miR-200a, and eca-miR-205 (II) and to measure concentrations of interleukin 6 (IL-6), and prostaglandins (PGF and PGE) in serum of mares with healthy and abnormal uterine status (endometritis). This study was conducted on 80 Arabian mares: young (4-7 years), and old (8-14 years). Mares were divided into 48 sub-fertile (endometritis) and 32 fertile (control) at stud farms. Serum was collected for measuri...
Lloyd KC, Stover SM, Pascoe JR, Adams P.Chemical and cytologic effects and bactericidal activity of gentamicin in septic synovial fluid were evaluated in an experimental model of infectious arthritis in horses. Septic arthritis was induced by inoculation of approximately 7.5 X 10(6) colony-forming units of Escherichia coli into 1 antebrachiocarpal joint in each of 16 clinically normal adult horses. Clinical signs of septic arthritis were evident 24 hours after inoculation. Horses were allotted to 3 groups: group-1 horses (n = 5) each were given 150 mg of gentamicin (50 mg/ml; 3 ml) intra-articularly (IA); group-2 horses (n = 5) each...
Bonenberger TE, Ihrke PJ, Naydan DK, Affolter VK.Immunostaining with polyclonal anti-Mycobacterium bovis (BCG) was evaluated as a single screening method for the histological identification of micro-organisms in skin biopsy specimens from various veterinary species. Confirmed archival cases infected with Mycobacteria, Nocardia, Actinobacillus, Actinomyces, Streptococcus/Staphylococcus, Dermatophilus, spirochetes, Blastomyces, Coccidioides, Cryptococcus, Histoplasma, dermatophytes, Malassezia, Sporothrix, Leishmania, Pythium, phaeohyphomycetes and Prototheca organisms were selected. A total of 70 skin biopsy specimens from the dog, cat, horse...
Corona A, Cherchi R.Bacteriological surveillance is little applied in management of equine frozen semen but it is quite important to verify the microbial contamination in order to find out the chance of transmission of pathology to the mare in AI. Authors describe a qualitative and quantitative analysis for bacterial contamination on long time (3-17 years) equine frozen semen stored in liquid nitrogen. The semen checked, produced in Italy and in another Europe country, was cryopreserved in liquid nitrogen inside sealed plastic straws. One hundred and ten straws were checked out for pathogenic and no pathogenic ba...
Shin SJ, Lein DH, Aronson AL, Nusbaum SR.A total of 19 pathogenic bacterial species was isolated from uterine swabs of 498 out of 1539 mares over 4 years. The swabs were taken by 5 veterinary clinicians using 2 different techniques. Bacterial contamination during swabbing was minimized by scrupulous attention to cleansing of the external genitalia and the perineal area, and in the handling of the culture specimen. The most prevalent organisms isolated were beta-haemolytic streptococcus (39%), Escherichia coli (27%) and Klebsiella pneumoniae (7%). Interpretation of microbiological findings correlated well with clinical findings when n...
Rutkowski M, Krzemińska-Fiedorowicz L, Khachatryan G, Kabacińska J, Tischner M, Suder A, Kulik K, Lenart-Boroń A.Frequent occurrence of microbial resistance to biocides makes it necessary to find alternative antimicrobial substances for modern veterinary medicine. The aim of this study was to obtain biodegradable silver nanoparticle-containing (AgNPs) foils synthesized using non-toxic chemicals and evaluation of their activity against bacterial pathogens isolated from oral cavities of cats, dogs and horses. Silver nanoparticle foils were synthesized using sodium alginate, and glucose, maltose and xylose were used as reducing agents. The sizes of AgNPs differed depending on the reducing agent used (xylose...
Al-Izzi SA, Al-Bassam LS.Pseudomonas mallei was isolated from pus samples obtained from 34 mallein-positive horses. The isolates were subjected to in vitro sensitivity test using 16 different antimicrobial discs. All isolates (34) were sensitive to sulfamethizole, gentamycin, tetracycline, sulfathiazole, kanamycin, tobramycin, streptomycin and a combination of trimethoprim and sulfamethoxazole while none of them were sensitive to cephalothin, colistin, ampicillin, penicillin and nitrofurantoin. Rifapicin, chloramphenicol and carbenicillin were effective against 32, 26 and 18 isolates respectively. The minimum inhibito...
Ryan MP, McAuliffe O, Ross RP, Hill C.Lacticin 3147 is a broad-spectrum, two-component, lanthionine-containing bacteriocin produced by Lactococcus lactis DPC3147 which has widespread food and biomedical applications as a natural antimicrobial. Other two-component lantibiotics described to date include cytolysin and staphylococcin C55. Interestingly, cytolysin, produced by Enterococcus faecalis, has an associated haemolytic activity. The objective of this study was to compare the biological activity of lacticin 3147 with cytolysin. The lacticin 3147-encoding determinants were heterologously expressed in Ent. faecalis FA2-2, a plasm...
Theelen MJP, Luiken REC, Wagenaar JA, Sloet van Oldruitenborgh-Oosterbaan MM, Rossen JWA, Schaafstra FJWC, van Doorn DA, Zomer AL.Hospitalisation and antimicrobial treatment are common in horses and significantly impact the intestinal microbiota. Antimicrobial treatment might also increase levels of resistant bacteria in faeces, which could spread to other ecological compartments, such as the environment, other animals and humans. In this study, we aimed to characterise the short- and long-term effects of transportation, hospitalisation and trimethoprim-sulfadiazine (TMS) administration on the faecal microbiota and resistome of healthy equids. In a longitudinal experimental study design, in which the ponies served as the...
Savill MG, Murray SR, Scholes P, Maas EW, McCormick RE, Moore EB, Gilpin BJ.Rhodococcus coprophilus, a natural inhabitant of herbivore faeces, has been suggested as a good indicator of animal (as opposed to human) faecal contamination of aquatic environments. However, conventional detection methods limit its use for this as they require up to 21 days to obtain a result. In this paper an optimised method for extracting R. coprophilus DNA from faecal samples is described. PCR and 5'-nuclease (TaqMan) PCR methods were developed to allow the detection and enumeration of R. coprophilus in faecal samples within 2-3 days. Both PCR methods targeted the 16S rRNA gene, producin...
Samir A, Abdel-Moein KA, Zaher HM.The upsurge of diarrheagenic E. coli pathotypes carrying extended-spectrum beta-lactamases (ESBLs)/plasmid-mediated AmpC β-lactamase (pAmpC) among animals constitutes an emerging threat for humans and animals. This study investigated the burden of ESBL-/pAmpC-producing diarrheagenic E. coli among diarrheic foals and its potential public health implications. Rectal swabs were collected from 80 diarrheic foals. These swabs were processed to isolate and identify ESBL/pAmpC-producing E. coli using a selective culture medium, biochemical tests, phenotypic identification, and molecular identificati...
Tong P, Pan J, Dang Y, Yang E, Jia C, Duan R, Tian S, Palidan N, Kuang L, Wang C, Lu G, Xie J.Equine herpesvirus type 1 (EHV-1) is commonly associated with horse abortion. Currently, there are no reported cases of abortion resulting from EHV-1 infection in donkeys. This was the first survey-based study of Chinese donkeys. The presence of EHV-1 was identified by PCR. This survey was conducted in Chabuchar County, North Xinjiang, China, in 2020. A donkey EHV-1 strain (Chabuchar/2020) was successfully isolated in MDBK cells. Seventy-two of 100 donkey sera were able to neutralize the isolated EHV-1. Moreover, the ORF33 sequence of the donkey-origin EHV-1 Chabuchar/2020 strain showed high l...
Lanci A, Iacono E, Merlo B.Recently, the therapeutic potential of extracellular vesicles (EVs) derived from mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) has been extensively studied in both human and veterinary medicine. EVs are nano-sized particles containing biological components commonly found in other biological materials. For that reason, EV isolation and characterization are critical to draw precise conclusions during their investigation. Research on EVs within veterinary medicine is still considered in its early phases, yet numerous papers were published in recent years. The conventional adult tissues for deriving MSCs include ...
Holguin-Rocha AF, Calle-Tobon A, Vásquez GM, Astete H, Fisher ML, Tobon-Castano A, Velez-Tobon G, Maldonado-Ruiz LP, Silver K, Park Y....Ticks are obligatory hematophagous ectoparasites that transmit pathogens among various vertebrates, including humans. The microbial and viral communities of ticks, including pathogenic microorganisms, are known to be highly diverse. However, the factors driving this diversity are not well understood. The tropical horse tick, Dermacentor nitens, is distributed throughout the Americas and it is recognized as a natural vector of Babesia caballi and Theileria equi, the causal agents of equine piroplasmosis. In this study, we characterized the bacterial and viral communities associated with partial...
Park CS, Hwang JY, Cho GJ.Clostridium (C.) perfringens was isolated from 25 (11.1%) of 225 sampled horses and from 16 (35.56%) of 45 farms. All of the samples were negative for cpe, etx, itx, NetF genes and cpa gene were detected in 100% (25 of 25) of the samples that were positive for C. perfringens. cpb and cpb2 were detected in 40.0% (10 of 25) and 60.0% (15 of 25) of the samples that were positive for C. perfringens, respectively. Of the 25 C. perfringens isolates, 15 (60%) were type A and 10 (40%) were type C. Type C was observed on all the farms where the foals' deaths occurred. None of the isolates were positive...
Caol S, Divers T, Crisman M, Chang YF.Lyme disease in humans is predominantly treated with tetracycline, macrolides or beta lactam antibiotics that have low minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) against Borrelia burgdorferi. Horses with Lyme disease may require long-term treatment making frequent intravenous or intramuscular treatment difficult and when administered orally those drugs may have either a high incidence of side effects or have poor bioavailability. The aim of the present study was to determine the in vitro susceptibility of three B. burgdorferi isolates to three antibiotics of different classes that are commonly us...
Yarnell K, Le Bon M, Turton N, Savova M, McGlennon A, Forsythe S.To compare the rate of growth of four microbial strains that cause disease in the horse, on four commonly used types of bedding. The moisture-holding capacity of each bedding type was also tested. Results: Microbial strains included Streptococcus equi, Streptococcus zooepidemicus, Fusobacterium necrophorum, Dichelobacter nodosus and Dermatophilus congolensis. The bedding types tested were Pinus sylvestris (Scots pine shavings), Pinus nigra (Corsican pine shavings), Picea sitchensis (Sitka spruce shavings), Cannabis sativa (hemp) and chopped wheat straw. A suspension of each microbial strain wa...
RANDALL CC, ORR MF, SCHELL FG.Intracellular organisms resembling Histoplasma capsulatum have been observed in apparently normal amnio-allantoic membrane and adult horse spleen maintained in tissue culture.
The significance of this finding and comparison with another fungus Cryptococcus jarciminosus is discussed.
Weiss R, Böhm KH, Mumme J, Nicklas W.Over a thirteen year period (1965 to 1977) a total of 4790 skin scrapings and hair samples of animals were examined mycologically. 887 strains of dermatophytes were isolated out of 885 of these samples (= 18,5%). Most frequently Trichophyton verrucosum was identified in samples from cattle, followed by Microsporum canis isolated from cats, dogs and zoo animals. T. mentagrophytes was mainly found on guinea pigs, chinchillas and dogs and T. equinum on horses. Although the total number of the samples examined within the last 8 years increased, the total of the dermatophytes isolated remained prop...
