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.
Ahedor B, Sivakumar T, Valinotti MFR, Otgonsuren D, Yokoyama N, Acosta TJ.Equine piroplasmosis (EP) is a tick-borne disease caused by Theileria equi and Babesia caballi in equids, including horses. EP has a global distribution and often leads to a significant socioeconomic impact on the equine industry. Infected animals remain as carriers and become a source of infection for tick vectors, thereby posing an immense challenge in the disease management. Therefore, detection of these carriers is crucial to assess the risk of transmission and to implement appropriate control measures in endemic countries. Paraguay is a tropical country where various tick-borne diseases a...
White SD.Pruritus in the horse may be due to several causes, the most common being a hypersensitivity response to salivary proteins in the Culicoides genera, which may coexist with atopic dermatitis, also known as an environmental allergy to pollens, molds, dust, storage mites, etc. Less common etiologies are food allergy and contact allergy, the latter often caused by owners applying various products to the skin. Other ectoparasites, such as Chorioptes mites, may also initiate pruritus. Secondary bacterial infections (usually Staphylococcus spp) may be pruritic in and of themselves. This article revie...
Chisu V, Serra E, Foxi C, Chessa G, Masala G.Piroplasmoses are tick-borne diseases caused by hemoprotozoan parasites of veterinary and public health significance. This study focuses on the molecular identification and characterization of species belonging to the genera in 152 blood samples, collected from 80 horses and 72 cattle from several farms in Sardinia, by targeting the 18S rRNA gene. The PCR results highlighted that 72% of the samples were positive for spp., with a rate of infection of 68% and 75% for the horses and cattle, respectively. Sequencing and the BLASTn analysis showed that the 18S rRNA generated in this study has 99-...
Boelow H, Krücken J, von Samson-Himmelstjerna G.Gastrointestinal nematodes are ubiquitous parasites of grazing equines with Parascaris spp., and strongyles being the most relevant ones regarding the prevalence and potential disease severity. Despite their importance, epidemiological data regarding the presence and egg-shedding intensities of these parasites are scarce. Data from 1067 horse samples collected on German horse farms initially to compare diagnostic methods were used for epidemiological analyses. Due to its higher sensitivity, presence/absence data were based on a combined sedimentation/flotation technique while faecal egg counts...
Zhang K, Ju Z, Zhang Y, Wang C, Mubalake S, Hu D, Zhang D, Li K, Chu H.The genus Gasterophilus (Diptera, Gastrophilidae) is an obligate parasite of the equine family that causes widespread myiasis in desert steppe. Based on four common naturally excreted Gasterophilus larvae collected systematically in the Karamaili Ungulate Nature Reserve from March to September 2021, this paper studies the population dynamics and ontogenetic laws of horse flies, and discuss the coexistence pattern and population dynamics prediction of horse flies. The results showed that the Gasterophilus larvae had obvious concentrated development period, and the time of population peaks was d...
Hussain N, Shabbir RMK, Ahmed H, Afzal MS, Ullah S, Ali A, Irum S, Naqvi SK, Yin J, Cao J.Ticks are ectoparasites that act as vectors for transmission of various pathogens to wild and domesticated animals and pose a serious threat to human health. Because of the hot and humid conditions in different agro-ecological zones of Pakistan, ticks are abundant and parasitize a variety of animals. The aim of this study was to identify different tick species and distribution on different hosts especially livestock, such as sheep, goat, cattle, buffalo, and camel, and livestock associated canines and equines, such as horse, donkey, and dog, across different agro-ecological zones of Pakistan. ...
Ibrahim M.Rhinoestrus species larvae are considered obligatory parasites of the nasal cavities of equine. This type of myiasis is characterised by sneezing, coughing, olfactory nerve damage and encephalomyelitis. Also, it has a zoonotic importance as the larvae might cause ophthalmomyiasis and conjunctivitis in human. While few studies describing R. purpureus adult fly antennal sensillae are available, the R. usbekistanicus antennal sensillae have never been described. Also, scanty data are available on the adult flies of Rhinoestrus species morphology. For this reason, the current study aimed at identi...
Rodrigues VD, de Freitas MG, Milan B, Reckziegel GH, Borges DGL, Nakatani MTM, Tutija JF, Borges FA.The equine pinworm could become an increasingly common problem, as there are reports of failure in the control of this parasite. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of ivermectin (IVM) and IVM combined with pyrantel pamoate (PYR). Thirteen parasitological positive equines were treated with oral IVM (200 µg/kg) and therapeutic efficacy, clinical recovery and the egg reappearance period (ERP) were evaluated. In cases for which ERP was shorter than the pre-patent period (PPP), a second treatment was performed with IVM (200 µg/kg) + PYR (6.6 mg/kg), followed by the same evaluatio...
Reynolds S, Hedberg M, Herrin B, Jesudoss Chelladurai JRJ.Here, we report two complete and three partial mitochondrial genome sequences of Dermacentor variabilis specimens collected from horses in the United States. The complete genomes are 14,837 bp long and contain 13 protein-coding genes, 2 rRNA genes, and 22 tRNA genes. The sequences have been deposited under GenBank accession numbers ON052120 to ON052124.
Macdonald SL, Abbas G, Ghafar A, Gauci CG, Bauquier J, El-Hage C, Tennent-Brown B, Wilkes EJA, Beasley A, Jacobson C, Cudmore L, Carrigan P, Hurley J....Cyathostomins are the most common and highly prevalent parasites of horses worldwide. Historically, the control of cyathostomins has mainly relied on the routine use of anthelmintic products. Increasing reports on anthelmintic resistance (AR) in cyathostomins are concerning. A potential method proposed for detecting emerging AR in cyathostomins has been estimating the egg reappearance period (ERP). This paper reviews the data available for the ERP of cyathostomins against the three major classes of anthelmintics, macrocyclic lactones, tetrahydropyrimidines, and benzimidazoles. Published peer-r...
Amer MM, Desouky AY, Helmy NM, Abdou AM, Sorour SS.Strongylid and non-strongylid nematodes are one of the most important parasites infecting equines. The traditional method to identify these nematodes is through coproscopy and fecal culture. Because of the scarcity of data published in Egypt discussing the morphometric features of infective 3 larvae of these nematodes, this study aims to provide a morphometric key for L3 of common strongylid and non-strongylid nematodes infecting Egyptian equines. For this reason, we cultured fecal samples containing GINs eggs and 3 larval stages were identified based on their morphology (i.e., shape and numbe...
Wu J, Cui Y, Yu F, Muhatai G, Tao D, Zhao A, Ning C, Qi M.Piroplasmosis is a disease that negatively affects equine health worldwide. Hence, 324 blood samples were collected from grazing horses in ten sites in Xinjiang and testing them for the presence of Theileria equi and Babesia caballi by PCR of the EMA-1 gene and BC48 gene, respectively. Of the 324 blood samples, 161 (49.7%) were positive for equine piroplasms. The prevalence of T. equi was 38.9% (126/324), while that of B. caballi was 30.2% (98/324). The T. equi and B. caballi co-infection rate was 19.4% (63/324). From the 126 EMA-1 gene sequences and 98 BC48 gene sequences we obtained, 21 and ...
Marques C, da Silva B, Nogueira Y, Bezerra T, Tavares A, Borges-Silva W, Gondim L.The protozoan (syn. ) infects horses and has dogs as definitive hosts. Herein we aimed to detect in Brazilian horses destined for human consumption and to determine the frequency of infection in the examined animals. Muscle fragments from 51 horses were collected in a slaughterhouse in Bahia State during three different seasons of the year. Samples from six tissues from each animal were prepared for macroscopic and microscopic evaluation, using tissue grinding, squash and histology. sp. was observed in 100% of the examined horses. Selected samples were processed for transmission electron mi...
Pillai VV, Mudd LJ, Sola MF.A 19-y-old American Saddlebred gelding was evaluated for epiphora of the right eye and generalized cachexia. Initial examination revealed anterior uveitis without ulceration, for which treatment was initiated. Despite the initial response to treatment, the signs progressively worsened to blindness. Histologic examination of the enucleated eye revealed granulomatous panuveitis and optic neuritis with intralesional nematode larvae identified as . Over time and despite anthelmintic treatment, blindness developed in the left eye along with neurologic signs, and the horse was euthanized. Disseminat...
Paulino PG, Peckle M, Mendonça LP, Massard CL, Antunes S, Couto J, Domingos A, Guedes Junior DDS, Cabezas-Cruz A, Santos HA. is the only tick species known to serve as a biological vector of for horses and other equids in Brazil. The protozoan is one of the causal agents of equine piroplasmosis, a major threat in horse breeding systems. Vector competence is closely linked to the pathogens' ability to evade tick defense mechanisms. However, knowledge of tick immune response against infections by hemoparasites of the genus is scarce. In the present study, the expression of genes involved in immune signaling pathways of adults' guts when challenged with a high or low parasitic load of was evaluated. This research...
Ghafar A, Abbas G, Beasley A, Bauquier J, Wilkes EJA, Jacobson C, McConnell E, El-Hage C, Carrigan P, Cudmore L, Tennent-Brown B, Hurley J....This review is aimed to (i) appraise the literature on the use of molecular techniques for the detection, quantification and differentiation of gastrointestinal helminths (GIH) of equids, (ii) identify the knowledge gaps and, (iii) discuss diagnostic prospects in equine parasitology. Following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines for systematic reviews, we retrieved 54 studies (horses: 50/54; donkeys and zebras: 4/54) from four databases. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was employed in all of the studies whereas PCR amplicons were sequenced...
Wallace J.With concerns growing globally about anthelmintic resistance in equine endoparasites, James Wallace's practice undertook some research among its horse-owning clients and introduced a fixed-fee parasite management programme to help ensure the most effective use of these valuable medicines.
Pusterla N, Vaala W, Bain FT, Chappell DE, Craig B, Schneider C, Barnett DC, Gaughan E, Papich MG.Equine protozoal myeloencephalitis (EPM) has remained a devastating neurological disease of the Americas, especially in young performance horses. Prophylactic treatment strategies with diclazuril have shown to reduce seroprevalence and titer levels to Sarcocystis neurona in healthy horses continuously exposed to the apicomplexan parasite. The goal of this study was to determine if the FDA-labeled dose of 1 mg/kg of 1.56% diclazuril (Protazil) given once weekly to healthy adult horses would achieve steady-state concentrations in plasma known to be inhibitory to S. neurona in cell culture. Five ...
Li XM, Geng HL, Wei YJ, Yan WL, Liu J, Wei XY, Zhang M, Wang XY, Zhang XX, Liu G.Cryptosporidiosis is a zoonotic disease caused by Cryptosporidium infection with the main symptom of diarrhea. The present study performed a metaanalysis to determine the global prevalence of Cryptosporidium in Equus animals. Unassigned: Data collection was carried out using Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), VIP Chinese journal database (VIP), WanFang Data, PubMed, and ScienceDirect databases, with 35 articles published before 2021 being included in this systematic analysis. This study analyzed the research data through subgroup analysis and univariate regression analysis to re...
Apolinário ECF, Oliveira LLDS, Rocha RHF, Silva FVE, Santos IS, Alves CA, Dias Júnior JA, Mendes LJ, Lima WDS.The intensive use of anthelmintics has resulted in resistant parasite populations in horses. The objective of this trial was to evaluate the anthelmintic efficacies of the anthelmintics fenbendazole, ivermectin and abamectin in 24 horse farms in Northern Minas Gerais. Egg counts per gram of faeces (EPG) were performed individually in 619 animals. Animals presenting EPG counts greater than or equal to 150 were used in the tests on faecal egg count reduction (FECR), totalling 436 equines. These animals received the anthelmintics, fenbendazole, ivermectin, and abamectin. Faeces were collected 14Â...
de Araújo-Neto VT, Barbosa-Silva AN, Medeiros Honorato NR, Sales LML, de Cassia Pires R, do Nascimento Brito CR, da Matta Guedes PM....Trypanosoma cruzi, the etiologic agent of American trypanosomiasis, is a vector-borne zoonotic parasite which has been little studied regarding its infection in domestic animals. In this study, we evaluated the occurrence of natural infection by T. cruzi in farm animals using molecular markers and phylogenetic analysis in blood clot samples of 60 sheep (Ovis aires), 22 goats (Capra hircus), and 14 horses (Equus caballus) in eight municipalities located in an infection risk area in the state of Rio Grande do Norte (RN), Northeast Region of Brazil. Trypanosoma spp. infection was identified by am...
Nakayama H, Shiga T, Uchida K, Chambers JK, Morino T, Sasaki N.There is no nationwide necropsy database of animals in Japan, and most of the records are available from the postwar period. To clarify the chronological transition of animal necropsy cases in Tokyo, Japan, the records accumulated in The University of Tokyo from 1902 were investigated. Of necropsy records on paper or electronic from 1902 to 2021 kept at the Laboratory of Veterinary Pathology, The University of Tokyo, totally 3,137 cases including 572 in 1903-1914 (the Meiji-Taisho period), 1,258 in 1956-1969 (the Showa period) and 1,307 in 2006-2020 (the Heisei-Reiwa period), respectively, wer...
Cotuțiu VD, Ionică AM, Lefkaditis M, Cazan CD, Hașaș AD, Mihalca AD.Equine thelaziosis is a neglected vector-borne parasitic disease in modern veterinary medicine, lacking recent reports. It is transmitted by Musca autumnalis, and potentially other Muscidae species, by ingesting the lachrymal secretions of its equine host. The distribution of both Thelazia lacrymalis and its intermediate hosts remains largely unknown throughout Europe, with most studies dating back 20 years. The aim of this study was to assess the presence, prevalence and distribution of T. lacrymalis in horses from Romania. Methods: The eyes of 273 horses, slaughtered at two abattoirs from t...
Ilić T, Bogunović D, Nenadović K, Gajić B, Dimitrijević S, Popović G, Kulišić Z, Milosavljević P.Data on gastrointestinal infections in horses in Southeastern Europe are limited; thus, this study aimed to add to the existing knowledge on this topic by reporting on the prevalence of intestinal parasites of horses in the territory of the Republic of Serbia. Methods: In the period from April 2017 to December 2018, parasitological examination of 548 samples from horses of different breed, age and sex from four regions and 18 districts of the country was performed. Coprological diagnostic was done by using qualitative methods without concentration and qualitative methods with concentration of ...
Cain JL, Norris JK, Ripley NE, Suri P, Finnerty CA, Gravatte HS, Nielsen MK.Parasitic nematodes, including large roundworms colloquially known as ascarids, affect the health and well-being of livestock animals worldwide. The equine ascarids, Parascaris spp., are important parasites of juvenile horses and the first ascarids to develop widespread anthelmintic resistance. The microbiota has been shown to be an important factor in the fitness of many organisms, including parasitic nematodes, where endosymbiotic Wolbachia have been exploited for treatment of filariasis in humans. Methods: This study used short-read 16S rRNA sequences and Illumina sequencing to characterize...
Sangster NC.Anthelmintic-resistance has emerged as a problem in several animal industries. In the horse, cyathostome resistance to all available treatments except for the avermectin/milbemycins means that these drugs provide the cornerstone of control. Ivermectin has been available for several years; the related compound moxidectin is more recent. Although we do not know for sure, aspects of moxidectin such as its persistent action and its efficacy against mucosal stages of cyathostomes, may enhance the rate of development of resistance. On the other hand, selection pressure would be reduced if the persis...
Ereqat S, Nasereddin A, Al-Jawabreh A, Al-Jawabreh H, Al-Laham N, Abdeen Z.Trypanosoma evansi is the causative agent of surra, a disease that occurs in many animal species. The disease is responsible for substantial losses in global production and can be fatal if not diagnosed early. This study aims to determine the prevalence of T. evansi in livestock, equids and dromedary camels in Palestine. Methods: Blood samples were collected during 2015-2017 from domesticated animals (n = 259 animals; 77% females and 23% males) including camels (n = 87), horses (n = 46), donkeys (n = 28), mules (n = 2), sheep (n = 49) and goats (n = 48) from eight districts: Ariha (Jericho), N...
Niederkorn JY, Ubelaker JE, McCulley JP, Stewart GL, Meyer DR, Mellon JA, Silvany RE, He YG, Pidherney M, Martin JH.A crucial requirement for establishing corneal infection by the extracellular protozoal parasite, Acanthamoeba, is the ability of the parasite to bind to the corneal surface. In a series of in vitro studies, we examined the ability of Acanthamoeba castellanii [corrected] to adhere, invade, and damage normal, intact corneas of 11 mammalian and one avian species. A. castellanii [corrected] (80-90% trophozoites and 10-20% cysts) were incubated with corneas for 24 hours in vitro and examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Results of several independent SEM experiments revealed that parasit...
Kumar S, Kumar R, Sugimoto C.The donkey population has remained unchanged in the last two decades despite a decrease in the overall population of equids, emphasizing the usefulness of the donkey as a draught and pack animal. Piroplasmosis in donkeys, caused by Theileria equi and Babesia caballi, has been recognized as a serious problem of major economic importance as the affected animals manifest decreased working capacity, loss of appetite, etc. In tropical countries, T. equi infections are more wide-spread and pathogenic than those caused by B. caballi. Donkeys usually remain asymptomatic carriers with positive antibody...
Proudman CJ, Edwards GB.A centrifugation/flotation technique for the identification of equine tapeworm eggs is described. It was validated by using faeces samples from 80 horses of known tapeworm status, and had a sensitivity of 61 per cent and a specificity of 98 per cent. The exclusion of false negative results in animals with less than 20 tapeworms increased the sensitivity to 92 per cent. No significant correlation was found between the number of eggs observed and the number of tapeworms present in the horses.
Raeghi S, Akaberi A, Sedeghi S.Toxoplasma gondii is a zoonotic protozoan parasite found worldwide and responsible for major economic losses in most classes of livestock. This study was aimed to determine the prevalence of T. gondii infection in sheep, cattle and horses in Urmia, north-west of Iran, using MAT. Methods: Blood samples of 276 livestock and 26 horses were collected from July 2009 till April 2010. The data were analyzed by the Chi-square, Fisher's Exact and Cochran's and Mantel-Haenszel Tests. The level of significance was set at P<0.05. Results: Thirty-three (21.1%) sheep, 2 (1.6%) cattle and 3 (11.5%) horses...
Schumacher J, Edwards JF, Cohen ND.A review of reported cases of inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs) of horses for which no etiology was identified included cases of granulomatous enteritis (GE), multisystemic eosinophilic epitheliotropic disease (MEED), lymphocytic-plasmacytic enterocolitis (LPE), and idiopathic eosinophilic enterocolitis (EC). The terms EC and MEED were both used to describe a disease in horses characterized by infiltration of intestine and extraintestinal tissues with eosinophils. We use EC to describe IBD characterized by only intestinal infiltration by eosinophils. Horses with GE, MEED, or LPE are usually e...
Nadler SA, Carreno RA, Adams BJ, Kinde H, Baldwin JG, Mundo-Ocampo M.Phylogenetic relationships among six isolates of Halicephalobus gingivalis (Stefanski, 1954), a species with pathogenic potential in horses and humans, were evaluated using DNA sequences from the nuclear large-subunit ribosomal RNA (LSU rDNA) gene. Sequences from nematodes obtained from in vitro cultures (soil or clinical sources), or isolated from infected horse tissues, were compared. Gene sequences from a fatal equine clinical case from southern California and a free-living isolate recovered from southern California soil showed no fixed differences. Sequences from isolates representing two ...
Näreaho A, Vainio K, Oksanen A.In order to assess the resistance situation against macrocyclic lactones in Parascaris equorum and against tetrahydropyrimidine derivatives in strongyles in Finnish trotter horses, 112 foals on 18 farms, mostly 1 year old, were examined for these parasites with a modified McMaster faecal flotation method. P. equorum positive foals (n=24) were given ivermectin orally at a dose of 200 μg/kg b.w., while strongyle positive but P. equorum negative foals (n=38) received pyrantel embonate orally at a dose of 19 mg/kg. Sixteen P. equorum infected foals, treated with ivermectin, also harboured strongy...
Abutarbush SM, Alqawasmeh DM, Mukbel RM, Al-Majali AM.The purposes of this study were to estimate the seroprevalence and distribution of horse piroplasmosis, to evaluate risk factors associated with the occurrence of the disease and to compare the different diagnostic methods used for this disease. A total of 253 clinically normal horses were sampled, and a collection form was completed for each horse from five of six different climatic zones of Jordan. The sixth zone was not sampled because it did not include horse population. Competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (cELISA) revealed 37 horses (14.6%) positive for Theileria equi, and none ...
Crawley JA, Chapman SN, Lummaa V, Lynsdale CL.Parasite infection status, intensity and resistance have traditionally been quantified via flotation techniques, but the need for immediate analysis following defecation imposes limitations and has led to the use of several faecal storage techniques. However, their effect on nematode egg counts has not been systematically validated and is often generalised across taxa despite evidence of differences between species. Here, we take the domestic horse Equus ferus caballus as a model to examine the impact of commonly used storage techniques on egg recovery: 1) high and low concentrations of ethano...
Nielsen MK.Clinically important equine parasites are ubiquitous in managed horse populations. The traditional approach to parasite control is frequent administration of anthelmintics to all horses on a farm. However, increasing levels of anthelmintic resistance is forcing horse owners and veterinarians to shift this control paradigm. Treatment regimens involving routine deworming of all horses throughout the year are now being replaced by more sustainable approaches, which take in to account the importance of maintaining adequate parasite refugia. The selective therapy principle has been recommended for ...
Li F, Su J, Chahan B, Guo Q, Wang T, Yu Z, Guo Y, Li N, Feng Y, Xiao L.Few studies have been conducted on the distribution of Cryptosporidium species and subtypes in equine animals. In this study, 878 stool specimens were collected during 2015-2019 from 551 donkeys and 327 horses in Shandong, Xinjiang, and Inner Mongolia, China and screened for Cryptosporidium spp. by PCR analysis of the small subunit rRNA gene. The Cryptosporidium species presented were identified by sequence analysis of the PCR products and subtyped by sequence analysis of the 60 kDa glycoprotein gene. The infection rates of Cryptosporidium spp. in horses and donkeys were 3.1% (10/327) and 14...
Asgarali Z, Coombs DK, Mohammed F, Campbell MD, Caesar E.Ninety-three (93) horses were investigated for serum antibodies to Theileria equi (T. equi) and Babesia caballi (B. caballi) using the immunofluorescent antibody test (IFAT). Seventy-seven (82.8%) horses were seropositive; 31 (33.3%) were positive to T. equi compared to 64 (68.8%) to B. caballi while 18 (19.4%) horses were seropositive to both parasites. No significant differences in antibody frequencies among females and males for either T. equi or B. caballi were noted. Differences in seropositivity to B. caballi among age groups were not significant. Antibodies to T. equi were more frequent...
von Samson-Himmelstjerna G.Conventional and real time polymerase chain reaction-based tests have been developed for the diagnosis of anthelmintic resistance (AR) in populations of several small and large ruminant as well as horse gastro-intestinal nematode species. To date, molecular markers that correlate well with AR are available only for the detection of benzimidazole resistance. Recently, however, a single nucleotide polymorphism was found in vitro to be of functional relevance for reduced drug efficacy to macrocylic lactones. The focus of the present review, therefore, is the molecular mechanism of action of these...
Schein E, Rehbein G, Voigt WP, Zweygarth E.The vertebrate development of Babesia equi from infected Hyalomma marginatum in Morocco was investigated in vitro and in vivo. It was demonstrated that the sporozoites of B. equi initiate a phase of exo-erythrocytic schizogony in lymphocytes both in vitro and in vivo. On the other hand, sporozoites did not invade erythrocytes in vitro. The complete vertebrate life cycle of B. equi was simulated in vitro, from the invasion of lymphocytes by sporozoites, to the development of macro- and microschizonts, the invasion of erythrocytes by merozoites, and the subsequent intra-erythrocytic schizogony. ...
Hall CM, Busch JD, Scoles GA, Palma-Cagle KA, Ueti MW, Kappmeyer LS, Wagner DM.Theileria equi is a tick-borne apicomplexan hemoparasite that causes equine piroplasmosis. This parasite has a worldwide distribution but the United States was considered to be free of this disease until recently. Methods: We used samples from 37 horses to determine genetic relationships among North American T. equi using the 18S rRNA gene and microsatellites. We developed a DNA fingerprinting panel of 18 microsatellite markers using the first complete genome sequence of T. equi. Results: A maximum parsimony analysis of 18S rRNA sequences grouped the samples into two major clades. The first cl...
Forty seven working horses from Romania were post-mortem examined for small strongyles (Cyathostominae) infections. All horses were found infected. The overall cyathostomins intensity ranged from 390 to 13,010 and horses were infected by 8-24 species. The intensity was higher in ventral colon (1531) and dorsal colon (824), the lowest in the caecum (524). Twenty four species were identified. Cyathostomum catinatum, Cylicocyclus insigne, and C. Nassatus had 100% of prevalence. Over 50% of horses were infected by Coronocyclus coronatus, Cylicostephanus calicatus, C. goldi, and C. longibursatus. O...
Lichtenfels JR, Kharchenko VA, Krecek RC, Gibbons LM.The results of an international collaborative effort to prepare a recommended list of scientific names for the small strongyles (Nematoda: Strongyloidea: Cyathostominea) of horses, donkeys and zebras are reported. Fifty-one valid species are recognized in 13 genera, including Cyathostomum, Coronocyclus, Cylicodontophorus, Cylicocyclus, Cylicostephanus, Skrjabinodentus, Tridentoinfundibulum, Petrovinema, Poteriostomum, Parapoteriostomum, Hsiungia, Cylindropharynx and Caballonema. In addition, 42 other species level names are listed as synonyms of the 51 recognized species or as species inquiren...
Nielsen MK, Monrad J, Olsen SN.In 1999, legislation in Denmark made anthelmintic drugs available only by prescription, and prohibited their use for routine, prophylactic treatment. A questionnaire survey was conducted in 2004 to determine current strategies for surveillance and control of equine strongyles used in Danish equine veterinary practices. Eighty-seven of 170 (51.2%) registered equine veterinary practices responded. Ninety seven percent of the respondents used faecal egg counts for diagnosis and surveillance, and 41% used larval cultures. Logistic regression revealed that the use of larval cultures was positively ...
Martin-Alonso A, Abreu-Yanes E, Feliu C, Mas-Coma S, Bargues MD, Valladares B, Foronda P.The nematode Angiostrongylus cantonensis is the causative agent of human angiostrongyliasis, the main clinical manifestation of which is eosinophilic meningitis. Although this parasite has been found recently in its definitive rat host in Tenerife (Canary Islands, Spain), showing a widespread distribution over the north-east part of the island, there are no available data regarding which snail and/or slug species are acting as intermediate hosts on this island. Consequently, the objective of this work was to determine the possible role of three mollusc species, Plutonia lamarckii, Cornu aspers...
Ros-GarcÃa A, M'ghirbi Y, Hurtado A, Bouattour A.The genetic diversity and prevalence of Babesia and Theileria species in the equine population of Tunisia were studied using reverse line blot (RLB) hybridization on blood samples and unfed adult ticks collected from apparently healthy horses from three bioclimatic zones in Tunisia. Piroplasms were identified in 13 of 104 of the horse blood samples analyzed (12.5%) and five genotype groups were identified: Theileria equi group A (nine animals, 8.7%), group C (one animal, 1.0%) and group D (three animals, 2.9%), and Babesia caballi groups A and B (one animal each). All horses from the semi-arid...
Salama AA, Aboulaila M, Moussa AA, Nayel MA, El-Sify A, Terkawi MA, Hassan HY, Yokoyama N, Igarashi I.Fusidic acid known to has antibacterial, antifungal, and antimalarial activities. Fusidic acid blocks translation elongation factor G gene in Plasmodium falciparum. In the present study, the inhibitory effects of fusidic acid on the in vitro growth of bovine and equine Babesia parasites were evaluated. The inhibitory effect of fusidic acid on the in vivo growth of Babesia microti was also assessed. The in vitro growth of four Babesia species that were tested was significantly inhibited (P<0.05) by micromolar concentrations of fusidic acid (IC(50) values=144.8, 17.3, 33.3, and 56.25 μM for ...
Rivera-Páez FA, Labruna MB, Martins TF, Perez JE, Castaño-Villa GJ, Ossa-López PA, Gil CA, Sampieri BR, Aricapa-Giraldo HJ, Camargo-Mathias MI.The known tick fauna of Colombia includes 58 species (15 Argasidae and 43 Ixodidae). To add to the knowledge of the biology of ticks in Colombia, hard ticks (Ixodidae) were collected from domestic animals or vegetation during 2014-2016 in 10 of Colombia's Departments. Ticks were identified to species through morphological examinations. Taxonomic identification was confirmed for some specimens by molecular methods, including phylogenetic analyses inferred from three tick genes (cytochrome c oxidase, 16S rDNA, second internal transcribed spacer). A total of 1745 tick specimens encompassing 8 spe...
Elfving K, Malmsten J, Dalin AM, Nilsson K.Both Rickettsia helvetica and Anaplasma phagocytophilum are common in Ixodes ricinus ticks in Sweden. Knowledge is limited regarding different animal species' competence to act as reservoirs for these organism. For this reason, blood samples were collected from wild cervids (roe deer, moose) and domestic mammals (horse, cat, dog) in central Sweden, and sera were tested using immunofluorescence assay to detect antibodies against spotted fever rickettsiae using Rickettsia helvetica as antigen. Sera with a titer ≥1:64 were considered as positive, and 23.1% (104/450) of the animals scored positi...
