Parasites are organisms that live on or within a host, deriving nutrients at the host's expense. In horses, parasitic infections can affect various systems, including the gastrointestinal tract, skin, and respiratory system. Common equine parasites include strongyles, ascarids, tapeworms, and bots. These parasites can lead to a range of health issues, from mild discomfort to severe disease, depending on the type and burden of the infestation. This page compiles peer-reviewed research studies and scholarly articles that explore the biology, life cycle, and impact of parasites on equine health, as well as strategies for diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of parasitic infections in horses.
Clayton HM.P. equorum is a common and ubiquitous parasite that persists for many years in stables and on pasture in spite of good hygiene and anthelmintic control programs. Foals are usually infected early in life. During the migratory phase of the infection, clinical signs include coughing and a nasal discharge followed by depression and unthriftiness as the worms mature in the gut. Some foals die as a result of intestinal impaction or rupture. Patency is established around 3 months of age, and fecal egg counts may rise to very high levels. From 6 months of age onwards, the ascarid burden diminishes as ...
Mayhew IG, Greiner EC.The clinical and pathologic findings of and therapy for such protozoal diseases as equine protozoal myeloencephalitis, toxoplasmosis, sarcocystosis, pneumocytosis, cryptosporidiosis, giardiasis, besnoitiosis, and klossiellosis are discussed. Emphasis is placed on disorders that occur with greater frequency in North America and on emerging protozoal diseases affecting horses.
Polley L.Each month for a 1-year period (October through September), equine fecal masses containing eggs of strongylid nematodes were placed outdoors on small grass plots in Saskatchewan, Canada. Thereafter, feces and grass from the plots were sampled after intervals of 1 week or longer, and the strongylid eggs and larvae recovered were counted. These observations were made over a 2-year period. Development of eggs to infective larvae occurred in all experiments, except those established in October, December, and January. Infective larvae from experiments set up in April through September survived that...
Edwards GB.During a 14 year period, 27 of 310 horses undergoing laparotomy because of abdominal pain were found to have an intussusception involving the small intestine (16 cases) or caecum (11 cases). The clinical signs, operative findings and techniques adopted to overcome the obstruction are described. An evaluation of possible predisposing factors provided further evidence of the important role of the tapeworm Anoplocephala perfoliata in initiating intussusception involving the ileum and caecum.
Dieleman EF.This review describes research conducted from 1900-1983 on trypanosomiasis due to Trypanosoma evansi in Indonesia. Clinical signs and post-mortem findings in horses, cattle, buffaloes, pigs and dogs, experimental transmission tests to establish possible surra vectors in Indonesia, and research on chemotherapy and chemoprophylaxis are discussed.
Seibert BP, Newcomb KM, Michael BF.Critical tests were done on 24 naturally parasitized horses to compare the antiparasitic activity of an oral paste preparation of mebendazole and trichlorfon with that of the marketed powder formulation. Each formulation was administered at the recommended dosages of 8.8 mg of mebendazole and 40 mg of trichlorfon/kg of body weight. Efficacy of the paste formulation ranged from 97.7% to 100% against 2nd- and 3rd-stage Gasterophilus spp, adult Strongylus vulgaris, S edentatus, Parascaris equorum, small strongyles; and larval and adult forms of Oxyuris equi. Adverse effects were generally limited...
Lyons ET, Drudge JH, Tolliver SC.The efficacy of 2 injectable formulations of ivermectin, administered intraorally at the dosage of 200 micrograms/kg of body weight, was evaluated against naturally occurring infections by abomasal nematodes in lambs in 2 controlled tests. One test (A) included 17 lambs treated with the equine formulation and 16 nontreated lambs. For the other test (B), 14 lambs were treated with the bovine formulation, and 12 were nontreated. In controlled test A, only mature nematodes were recovered, and removals were 98% to 100% for Haemonchus contortus, Ostertagia circumcincta male, O trifurcata male, Oste...
Pollitt CC, Holdsworth PA, Kelly WR, Meacham CS, Sheahan B.A single oral dose of ivermectin paste was administered to 12 horses with dermatitis and clinical signs typical of onchocerciasis. Two of the horses also had lesions of Queensland itch. Microfilarias of Onchocerca cervicalis were identified in fresh, macerated, skin biopsies from the neck, brisket or umbilical regions of all horses and microfilarias of O. gutturosa from the neck of 2. Eight of the horses developed skin reactions 4 to 24 h after the administration of the ivermectin, notably weals over the neck, shoulders and flanks and pitting oedema of the ventral midline and intermandibular s...
Lyons ET, Tolliver SC, Drudge JH, Swerczek TW, Crowe MW.Examination of the ligamentum nuchae for Onchocerca spp was completed in 523 Thoroughbreds (1 to 29 years old) at necropsy in Kentucky during a 13-month period (1984 to 1985). Onchocerca spp were found in 306 (59%) of the horses. Frequencies of this parasite were 3%, 17%, 40%, 43%, and 42% in 1-, 2-, 3-, 4-, and 5-year-old horses, respectively. For 6- to 29-year-old horses, frequency varied from 71% to 100%, except for 26-year-old horses (50%); 87% of the 304 horses examined in the 6- to 29-year-old age groups was infected. The suspensory ligaments and flexor tendons from fetlocks (thoracic li...
DiPietro JA, Todd KS, Reuter V.Four groups of 10 horses (mares) each were treated with a 1% solution of ivermectin (200 micrograms/kg of body weight) in a propylene glycol-glycerol formal base orally, a 1% solution of ivermectin (200 micrograms/kg) in a propylene glycol-glycerol formal base via nasogastric tube, a 1.87% paste of ivermectin (200 micrograms/kg) orally, or a 22.7% paste of oxibendazole (10 mg/kg) orally. Fecal examinations were done before treatment and on posttreatment days (PTD) 14, 28, 42, 56, and 70. Strongyle egg per gram counts and sugar flotation fecal examinations were performed. Results of fecal exami...
Weiland G.The increasing horse trade requires a reliable immunodiagnosis of equine piroplasma infections due to import restrictions imposed by various countries, including the United States of America. It was the aim of our investigations to establish the suitability of serological tests for the detection of parasite carriers and, eventually, to differentiate between Babesia caballi and B. equi infections. The investigations were carried out on 11 ponies with experimentally-induced B. caballi and/or B. equi infection. The infections were confirmed by the demonstration of parasites in blood smears 2-13 d...
Slocombe JO, McCraw BM, Pennock P, Ducharme NG, Baird JD.Twenty pony foals (reared worm free), 6.5 to 10 weeks of age, were inoculated with Strongylus vulgaris and allocated to 5 groups, each with 4 foals. One week after inoculation, 1 group of 4 foals was given oxfendazole (OFZ) at a dosage rate of 10 mg/kg of body weight, another group was given 2 such treatments 48 hours apart, and a 3rd group was given a placebo. All treatments were administered by stomach tube. Three weeks later, foals were euthanatized and necropsied in a test for efficacy against early 4th-stage larvae. Oxfendazole was 80% and 94.9% effective against early 4th-stage S vulgari...
Reinemeyer CR, Herd RP.The large intestines of 6 horses were divided by length into 12 segments, and each segment was washed and weighed. At least 5% by weight of each segment was examined by mural transillumination, and encysted cyathostome larvae were counted. Total numbers of larvae in each segment were calculated. Encysted larvae (98%) were present in the proximal 7 segments of the large intestine (cecum and proximal 75% of the ventral colon), and 2% were present in the distal 25% of the ventral colon and entire dorsal colon. Encysted larvae (6%) were located in the dorsal colon of 1 heavily infected horse. Larv...
Reinemeyer CR, Smith SA, Gabel AA, Herd RP.Monthly variations in the magnitude of adult and larval cyathostome burdens were observed in 55 horses necropsied over a 15-month period in the northern USA. Peak numbers of adult cyathostomes occurred in late winter (March) and late summer (September). Larval cyathostomes demonstrated peak numbers from February to April and again in October, beginning one month earlier than the spring adult peak and one month after the autumn adult peak, respectively. The reproductive status of individual female Cyathostomum catinatum, Cyath coronatum, Cylicocyclus nassatus, Cylicostephanus goldi and Cylicost...
Reinemeyer CR, Herd RP.Haustral portions of intestine of 6 horses were isolated by excising the taeniae coli from the cecum and the ventral colon. Uniform 5-cm X 5-cm sections were cut from the haustra and were illuminated from the serosal side with a strong light source (mural transillumination). Cyathostome larvae encysted in the mucosa and submucosa were observed at 15 X magnification and counted. Two separate counts of the larvae in 80 replicates of tissue by the mural transillumination technique (MTT) revealed no significant (P less than 0.05) difference between sample means. Larvae in tissue sections were coun...
Carroll JF, Schmidtmann ET.The American dog tick, Dermacentor variabilis (Say), was the only ixodid tick found feeding on horses in Montgomery County, Md., from May to August. Average tick burdens were low (less than one tick per horse per week), but >80% of 33 horses examined weekly were exposed to tick feeding during the summer. Of the 98 ticks collected, 78% were attached to the tail and 12% were present in the mane. Host-seeking adult D. variabilis were active on vegetation in pastures from May to early August, with most specimens along hedgerows, woods margins, and horse paths.
Lyons ET, Tolliver SC, Drudge JH, Swerczek TW, Crowe MW.From Mar 1, 1984, to Feb 28, 1985, both eyes from 189 one- to four-year-old Thoroughbreds (88 males, 90 females, and 11 geldings) in Kentucky were examined at necropsy for eyeworms. Thelazia lacrymalis was recovered from 45% of 1-year-old horses, 26% of 2-year-old horses, 45% of 3-year-old horses, and 50% of 4-year-old horses; overall, 43% of 1- to 4-year old horses were infected. Prevalence of eyeworms in horses in the present study was comparable with that in horses of similar ages examined at necropsy in Kentucky in 2 previous studies (1975 to 1976 and in 1979), except for the lower percent...
Lyons ET, Drudge JH, Tolliver SC.Two controlled tests (experiments D and E) were done to evaluate a fenbendazole (FBZ) paste dosage regimen (10 mg/kg once a day for 5 days) for activity against naturally occurring infections of migrating Strongylus vulgaris and S edentatus in the mesenteric arteries and ventral abdominal wall, respectively. Data were also obtained on other internal parasites of the gastrointestinal tract and eyes in experiment E. Eight pony yearlings were used in experiment D (4 treated and 4 nontreated) and 6 horse weanlings were used in experiment E (3 treated and 3 nontreated). Intervals, expressed as days...
Gregory MW, Longstaff JA, Giles CJ.Ciliates resembling Polymorphella ampulla (Dogiel, 1929) were found in large numbers in the crypts and lamina propria of the caecum and colon of a one-year-old Thoroughbred gelding that had shown recurring bouts of chronic diarrhoea and weight loss over a 5-month period. A heavy burden of helminths, mainly cyathostomes (trichonemes) was present at post-mortem examination and no significant bacterial pathogens were recovered. It was considered that the Polymorphella (which is normally a commensal organism) had in this case assumed a secondary pathogenic role.
Eysker M, Jansen J, Mirck MH.Alternate grazing of horses and sheep as a control measure for gastrointestinal helminthiasis was studied in three grazing experiments in 1981, 1982 and 1983. Each year a group of three mare yearling Shetland ponies, which were kept on a small pasture from spring to autumn, were compared with a similar group which grazed a similar or the same pasture until July and were subsequently removed to a similar pasture which had been grazed by sheep from April to July. In addition both groups were treated with an anthelmintic when the latter group was removed to the sheep pasture. Pasture larval count...
Sloet van Oldruitenborgh-Oosterbaan MM, van Doorn DC, Holland W, van Herten J, Ploeger HW, Fink-Gremmels J.In dit artikel wordt alle regelgeving betreffende de receptplicht op een rijtje gezet, een kort overzicht gegeven van endoparasieten en hun bestrijding, en een leidraad gegeven van wat er van een 'redelijk bekwaam en redelijk handelend dierenarts' mag worden verwacht. De ecto-parasieten zijn in dit artikel buiten beschouwing gelaten, omdat daar-voor eigenlijk geen receptplichtige middelen beschikbaar zijn en dit onderwerp al uitgebreid is besproken in de 'Leidraad Infectieuze Aan-doeningen – Huid' (Tijdschr. Dier-geneeskd. 2008; 113: 388-392).
Salem SE, Abd El-Ghany AM, Elsheikh HA, Abdel-Ghany EM, Ras R.Working horses support the livelihoods of smallholder farmers in Egypt. No previous study has investigated the prevalence of cryptosporidiosis in working horses in Egypt. Faecal samples were collected from 607 working horses recruited from thirty-seven villages/areas in two Egyptian governorates and examined for Cryptosporidium spp. infection using the modified Zielh-Neelsen staining technique. Data on signalment, history of recent diarrhoea, and strongyle burden were collected. The prevalence of Cryptosporidium spp. infection was calculated using a bootstrap method and potential risk factors ...
Pires LSA, Abrahão C, Dias de Castro LL, Hammerschmidt J, Antunes J, Molento CFM, Molento MB.Horse welfare assessment (HWA) does not account for individual or herd parasite infection. This study investigated the connection between HWA and individual parasite fecal egg count (FEC) in 90 Thoroughbred horses. All horses were naturally infected with gastrointestinal parasites and were evaluated for individual welfare indicators and FEC monthly, for 12 months. Horses were divided into three groups of 30 mares, 30 foals aged between 13 and 16 months (G2013), and 30 foals aged between two months and one year (G2014). A horse welfare protocol was developed and 1024 assessments were carried ou...
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...
Barradas PF, Marques J, Tavares C, Brito NV, Mesquita JR.The Garrano is a semi-feral horse breed native to several mountains in the northern Iberian Peninsula. Despite being endangered, this unique breed of pony has managed to survive in the wild and continues to be selectively bred, highlighting their remarkable resilience and adaptability to harsh environments. Wildlife plays a critical role in the survival of tick vectors in their natural habitats and the transfer of tick-borne pathogens, as they can serve as reservoir hosts for many agents and amplifiers for these vectors. The semi-feral lifestyle of the Garrano horses makes them particularly vu...
Pandit PS, Smith WA, Finno CJ, Aleman M, Conrad PA, Packham A, Plancarte M, Woolard K, Marsh A, Pusterla N.Equine protozoal myeloencephalitis (EPM) is a challenging disease to diagnose in horses with neurological signs. To optimize contemporary diagnostic testing, including the use of serum:CSF antibody ratios, the SarcoFluor antibody test for Sarcocystis neurona requires revalidation. The SarcoFluor, a previously validated immunofluorescent antibody test (IFAT) for the detection of antibodies specific to S. neurona in serum and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of naturally infected horses was analyzed using recent data and considering a serum:CSF antibody ratio threshold. Utilization of serum and CSF pho...
Elghryani N, Lawlor A, McOwan T, de Waal T.Over the preceding decades, the widespread dependence on anthelmintic drugs for managing nematodes in grazing equids has given rise to resistance against commonly used anthelmintics in various countries. This study explores the prevalence of anthelmintic resistance across 44 horse farms in Ireland. Anthelmintic efficacy was evaluated through fecal egg count reduction (FECR) tests employing the mini-FLOTAC technique. Resistance to benzimidazoles was identified in 12 out of 14 farms (FECR range: 0.00% to 86.2%). Ivermectin resistance was observed on two farms, one with an FECR of 80.70% and anot...
Bermukhametov Z, Suleimanova K, Tomaruk O, Baimenov B, Shevchenko P, Batyrbekov A, Mikniene Z, Onur Girişgin A, Rychshanova R.A total of 396 samples were taken from the hearts, oesophagi, and diaphragms of 132 horses slaughtered at slaughterhouses in 2023 for subsequent examination. Methods: The histological method revealed pathomorphological changes in the muscle tissue. The molecular method identified the pathogen species. Results: Histological examination revealed thick-walled cysts with internal septa and numerous bradyzoites, and mononuclear inflammatory cells with pericyst infiltrates. Microcyst samples were amplified by polymerase chain reaction. Molecular genetic analysis allowed for the identification of 18 ...
Lacante SA, Jiang C, Mustamir AA, Mizuno T, Bi X, Syafruddin D, Tokoro M., a human intestinal protozoan parasite of the diplomonad group, has been overlooked because of its commensal features; therefore, molecular studies on this parasite are limited. To address this gap, we designed a molecular screening protocol using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and DNA sequencing targeting the 18S small subunit ribosomal RNA gene and applied this screening method to the molecular epidemiological analysis of spp. in humans and various livestock. We validated our methodology using stool samples collected from 215 humans and 270 animal hosts (buffaloes, pigs, dogs, goats, hors...
Lawrence KE, Gedye K, Carvalho L, Wang B, Fermin LM, Pomroy WE.To determine whether evidence for infection with (Ikeda) could be identified in samples of commercial red deer , horses, and working farm dogs in New Zealand. Unassigned: Blood samples were collected during October and November 2019 from a convenience sample of red deer (n = 57) at slaughter. Equine blood samples (n = 50) were convenience-sampled from those submitted to a veterinary pathology laboratory for routine testing in January 2020. Blood samples, collected for a previous study from a convenience sample of Huntaway dogs (n = 115) from rural regions throughout the North and ...
Ungri AM, Dos Santos Sabatke BF, Rossi IV, das Neves GB, Marques J, Ribeiro BG, Borges GK, Moreira RS, Ramírez MI, Miletti LC.Trypanosoma evansi is a unicellular protozoan responsible for causing a disease known as "surra," which is found in different regions of the world and primarily affects horses and camels. Few information is known about virulence factors released from the parasite within the animals. The organism can secrete extracellular vesicles (EVs), which transport a variety of molecules, including proteins. Before being considered exclusively as a means for eliminating unwanted substances, extracellular vesicles (EVs) have emerged as key players in intercellular communication, facilitating interactions be...
Martínez-Sáez L, Pala S, Marín-García PJ, Llobat L.Toxoplasmosis is one of the most common parasitic zoonoses and represents a significant health risk for humans, especially for immunodeficient patients. The main transmission route is by oral uptake of oocysts and consumption of undercooked meat of infected animals. Different species have been evaluated as possible reservoirs of the parasite, but few studies have been carried out to examine the role of horses in transmission of the disease. Given the proximity of these animals to humans and the widespread consumption of their meat in many countries, including the Mediterranean basin, it is imp...
Ochi A, Toya Y, Sengoku M, Tsuchiya S, Kishi D, Ueno T.Equine piroplasmosis (EP) is a protozoal disease affecting equids, caused by and . EP is conventionally diagnosed using microscopic, molecular, and/or serological methods, which are time-consuming. Consequently, there is a need for faster testing methods. In this study, we evaluated the application of the Sysmex XN-31 automated hematology analyzer, originally a rapid test for detecting malaria in humans, for the diagnosis of EP. The cultured parasites were measured using the XN-31 that had been customized for horse blood samples (XN-31m). The following parameters were evaluated: limit of dete...
Paulino PG, Amaral FB, de Oliveira RT, de Andrade SG, Rabello CA, Meirelles N, de Souza Santana M, Galdino KCP, Jacob JCF, Peckle M, Massard CL....Equine piroplasmosis, a tick-borne disease caused by hemoparasites of the Babesia and Theileria genera, has significant clinical and economic impacts worldwide. This study aims to characterize the heat shock protein 70 kDa (hsp70) gene sequences of Theileria equi from naturally infected horses across the five geographic regions in Brazil, and to analyze the phylogenetic relationships between T. equi and other parasites within the order Piroplasmida. Primers specific to T. equi were designed through in silico analysis of hsp70 gene sequences available in GenBank. Forty samples of equine whole ...
Kuzmina TA, Königová A, Antipov A, Kuzmin Y, Kharchenko V, Syrota Y.The aim of this study was to assess the changes in strongylid communities of domestic horses after two decades of regular anthelmintic treatments; the changes in prevalence and relative abundance of individual strongylid species and their contribution to the observed alterations were estimated. The study was conducted in 2023; data collected in 2004 were used for comparison; 39 horses from two farms in Ukraine (22 horses in 2004 and 17 in 2023) were examined. In total, 18,999 strongylid specimens were collected by in vivo diagnostic deworming method before (in 2004, 9119 specimens) and after (...
Mulaw Berihun A, Bizu F, Maru M, Kassaw S.Equines play a significant role in the economy of the country. Besides their importance, equines face several challenges mainly helminth infections. Of these strongyle parasites are the most common, particularly in the study area. Thus, a cross-sectional study was conducted from February 2022 to July 2022 to determine the prevalence and associated risk factors and to identify the genera of equine strongyle parasites in and around Bishoftu. A total of 364 equines were randomly selected from five different areas and subjected to coprological examination using the floatation technique to detect s...
Königová A, Babják M, Kuzmina TA, Burcáková Ľ, Syrota Y, Várady M.The study aimed to conduct a survey on the occurrence of benzimidazole (BZ) resistance in strongyles by in vitro egg hatch test (EHT) and larval development test (LDT) and to identify the effective indicators of early resistance detection on horse farms with associated risk factors analysis appraisal. In total, 203 horses from 8 farms underwent the fecal sampling of which 77 horses were selected for in vitro testing. Simultaneously, 18 horses were chosen to analyse the results of in vitro tests compared to the in vivo fecal egg count reduction test (FECRT). The EHT indicated the presence of re...
Scott I, Lawrence KE, Gee EK.Shortened egg reappearance periods (ERP) have been seen as an early warning of anthelmintic resistance development in cyathostomins in horses. The hypothesis has been that in these instances, efficacy against egg laying adult cyathostomins remains high, but a decline in activity against later larval stages leads to the earlier resumption of egg shedding after treatment. In this study using a single herd of horses we investigated the ERP of a number of commonly used equine anthelmintics and examined whether ERP might show seasonal variation between winter and summer. Four main Faecal egg count ...
Fakheri A, Esmaeilnejad B, Akbari H, Molaei R.Strongyle nematodes pose a major challenge in veterinary parasitology, causing significant economic losses in livestock due to resistance to conventional treatments. Current anthelmintics, like Ivermectin, often encounter resistance issues. This study aims to address these gaps by synthesizing Carbon Quantum Dots (CQDs) and Copper-Doped CQDs (Cu@CQDs) using glucose extract, and evaluating their nematicidal properties against strongyles in vitro. We assessed the nematicidal effects of CQDs and Cu@CQDs through larval feeding inhibition of first-stage larvae (L1), egg hatch inhibition (EHI), and ...
de Oliveira UV, Varjão JL, de Jesus Deiró AG, Maciel BM, Silva FL, Pinheiro AM, Gondim LFP, Munhoz AD.The aim of this study was to isolate from equids destined for slaughter in a Brazilian slaughterhouse. A total of 354 equids were analyzed, with blood samples collected from all the animals and samples of masseter muscle and brain tissue collected from 319 animals. A serological test was conducted to detect equids with specific antibodies for . Molecular detection of by nested PCR was performed on the tissue samples collected. Tissue samples were tested by murine bioassay in an attempt to isolate either the parasite or the parasite DNA. Real-time PCR was performed on the brain samples from 1...
Mohtasebi S, Ahn S, Rosa B, Moyes K, Kuzmina TA, Gilleard JS, Poissant J.Equids are infected by a diversity of gastrointestinal nematode parasites, including 64 species of equine strongyle nematodes from19 genera. Despite numerous surveys of horse strongyles worldwide, certain geographic regions and rare species remain understudied. In 1964, a new species of equine strongyle, Cylicocyclus pekingensis, was described from a donkey in China. Subsequently, this species was recorded in horses from Kazakhstan and reclassified as Hsiungia pekingensis (K'ung and Yang, 1964), the only species in this genus. Since then, H. pekingensis has not been reported elsewhere, with li...
Kelly RF, Galbraith E, Zahid O, Chaundhry U, Sargison N.Grazing animal species kept in zoological collections can be at risk of significant gastrointestinal nematode (GIN) infections. Little work has been undertaken to understand GIN species dynamics within co-grazed hosts. This study aimed to describe the species diversity of GINs found in faeces of grazing animals in a Scottish zoological collection. Methods: At a single time-point, freshly voided faecal samples were collected randomly from horses, sheep, goats, alpacas and deer. Faecal worm egg counts (FWECs) were conducted using a saturated saline centrifugal flotation cuvette technique. The ne...
Ryu SH, An SJ, Forbes E, Kim BS, Choe S.Equine strongyle infections are prevalent among grazing horses worldwide, yet research on anthelmintic efficacy and parasite management strategies in South Korea remains limited. This study investigated the infection dynamics and parasite burden in horses managed under different systems (pasture vs. stable) over a one-year period in Jeju, South Korea, assessing the impact of management practices on parasite burden and the effectiveness of current deworming regimens. Thirty-two horses were administered ivermectin/praziquantel in June 2022 and assigned to either pasture (n = 16) or stable (n...
Yang G, Chen Y, Chen K, Hu Z, Li J, Wang J, Guo W, Wang X, Du C.Equine piroplasmosis (EP), caused by Theileria equi (T. equi) and Babesia caballi (B. caballi), is a tick-borne disease with significant economic impacts on the equine industry. Theileria haneyi (T. haneyi), a newly identified pathogen of EP, is globally distributed but has not been reported in China, where its epidemiological patterns remain undefined. Objective: To develop diagnostic techniques for T. haneyi and to assess its prevalence and risk factors in China. Methods: Assay development and cross sectional survey. Methods: A nested PCR (nPCR) nucleic acid diagnostic technique targeting th...
Bhoora RV, Mbaba TV, Troskie M, Ackermann RE, Collins NE.Theileria haneyi is an apicomplexan parasite closely related to Theileria equi, a known causative agent of equine piroplasmosis. The molecular distinction between these parasites relies on a nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay, which has been reported to be unreliable. A recently reported indirect ELISA based on equi merozoite antigen 11 (Thema-11) of T. haneyi can detect geographically diverse T. haneyi strains. Since the ema-11 gene is exclusive to T. haneyi, it was chosen as the target for developing a TaqMan minor groove binder (MGB™) quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR). Published...
Attia MM, Omar HM.This study aimed to collect data on the most common parasites of the family equidae which is spp. During this study we focused on the prevalence rate in the world; the distribution of the six known species: life cycle and the pathogenesis of the larvae inside the hosts were investigated around the world. Molecular as well as serological diagnoses were analyzed. Possible treatment strategies which were fully studied; are also, included. () and larvae are the main present larvae in equine; other species, such as , , and may be present. Although the female flies' egg-laying behavior can annoy...
Klass LG, Diekmann I, Andreotti S, Mbedi S, Sparmann S, Schenk T, Anderson HP, Bellaw J, Nielsen MK, Krücken J, von Samson-Himmelstjerna G.Strongyles, especially non-migratory Strongylidae, are the most common equine gut parasites, and typically occur in mixed infections with 10 - 20 species per host. Current knowledge on strongyle species prevalence and within-host tropism is sparse. Herein species composition of mixed strongyle infections of 12 naturally infected untreated young horses, based on strongyle eggs extracted from faeces, cultured third stage larva and luminal worms collected from ventral and dorsal colon was examined. Species were identified using a cytochrome c oxidase I (COI) metabarcoding approach allowing differ...
El-Geneady MA, Ramadan RM, Mahdy OA, Kamel MS, Salem MA.Hippobosca equina, a common ectoparasite of horses, poses a significant challenge to equine health worldwide. This study provides a molecular characterization of H. equina and examines its impact on host immune responses and oxidative stress. Genetic analysis of samples from various regions revealed notable homogeneity, indicating limited genetic variation among populations. Phylogenetic analysis demonstrated close genetic relationships among sequences from Egypt, France, Kazakhstan and Portugal, while also showing comparable but more distant identities to sequences from China, Denmark, Finlan...
Krücken J, Diekmann I, Andreotti S, Bredtmann CM, Mbedi S, Sparmann S, Schmidt JS, de Almeida Borges F, de Freitas MG, Sallé G, Hofer H....Equines are parasitized by complex communities of Strongylidae (Nematoda) comprising multi-species infections. Currently, Cyathostominae are most prevalent, while Strongylus species are only rarely detected. Since eggs and, in most cases, infective larvae cannot be differentiated to species level, except for Strongylus spp., species-specific knowledge of the pathology, epidemiology and ecology of these parasitic nematodes is limited. Reference sequence data for several cyathostomin species are limited or missing. Deep amplicon sequencing of internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS-2) regions of nema...
Murillo A, Lebrero ME, Valdés M, Ramos J, Villanueva-Saz S, Davies JE, Gómez Á, Pérez E, Riera C, Marteles-Aragüés D.Equine leishmaniosis, caused by Leishmania infantum and transmitted by infected sand flies, has been increasingly reported in Europe, although clinical and immunological data remain scarce. We describe a 10-year-old mare from southern Spain presenting with periocular nodular lesions. Histopathology and immunohistochemistry confirmed granulomatous dermatitis with intrahistiocytic Leishmania amastigotes. Additionally, Leishmania infantum DNA was detected in paraffin embedded skin biopsy. Following surgical removal of the lesions, sequential serological monitoring using enzyme-linked immunosorben...
