The topic of Public Health and horses encompasses the study of interactions between equine populations and human health systems. It involves examining the transmission of zoonotic diseases, which are diseases that can be transferred between animals and humans, as well as the role of horses in the epidemiology of such diseases. This field also considers the impact of equine-related activities on public health, including injuries and environmental effects. Research in this area often explores preventive measures, management strategies, and policies to mitigate health risks associated with horses. This page compiles peer-reviewed research studies and scholarly articles that investigate the intersection of equine and public health, focusing on disease transmission, risk assessment, and health management strategies.
Dey S, Dwivedi SK.A cross sectional study recorded the Lead (Pb) concentrations in blood from 288 horses in urban areas. Mean blood Pb concentration was estimated as 0.47 +/- 0.02 and 0.55 +/- 0.02 ppm in horses for industrial and highway-adjacent localities respectively. Mean blood Pb in horses from rural areas was 0.38 +/- 0.03 ppm. The mean Pb in forage samples from these horses was 36.96 +/- 6.23, 52.08 +/- 9.86 and 11.72 +/- 1.34 ppm in industrial, highway-adjacent and rural localities respectively. No overt signs of Pb toxicosis were seen in these animals
Westermann CM, Boerma S, van Nieuwstadt RA.Since the only registrated anti-ectoparasiticum for horses (foxim) is no longer available in The Netherlands, some cases of amitraz intoxication of the horse have occurred. In this article the literature concerning amitraz intoxications and experiments will be discussed and some cases will be described.
Hall RA, Khromykh AA.West Nile virus (WNV) is a mosquito-borne flavivirus that is emerging as a global pathogen. In the last decade, virulent strains of the virus have been associated with significant outbreaks of human and animal disease in Europe, the Middle East and North America. Efforts to develop human and veterinary vaccines have taken both traditional and novel approaches. A formalin-inactivated whole virus vaccine has been approved for use in horses. DNA vaccines coding for the structural WNV proteins have also been assessed for veterinary use and have been found to be protective in mice, horses and birds...
Ciaramella P, Corona M, Cortese L, Piantedosi D, Santoro D, Di Loria A, Rigato R.One hundred and fifty horses from Italy were tested for serum antibodies to Neospora caninum by indirect fluorescence antibody test (IFAT). Antibodies were present in 42 horses (28%). The positive titres were: 1:50 (16/150-10.5%), 1:100 (26/150-17%), 1:200 (8/150-5.3%) and 1:800 (1/150-0.6%). No neurological anomalies were observed in the seropositive horses. This is the first serologic survey for Neospora spp. antibodies performed on horses born and raised in Italy.
Durand JP, Simon F, Tolou H.West Nile virus (WNV) is a common arbovirosis, transmitted by mosquitoes mainly Culex. WNV is commonly responsible for equine epizootics and epidemics in humans in sub-Saharan Africa. It has been occasionally described in Southern Europe and in some Mediterranean countries. Since 1994, WNV clinical aspects seem to change with an increase of central neurological involvement and a higher mortality, especially among people older than 50 years. In 1999, WNV reached New York, being responsible for severe clinical manifestations. It spread all over North America in less than four years Four (only fo...
Pinchbeck GL, Clegg PD, Proudman CJ, Morgan KL, French NR.Falls during racing present a risk of injury to both horse and jockey and a risk of fatality to horses. Objective: To use video recordings of races to describe the circumstances surrounding horse falls at hurdle and steeplechase fences and to identify and quantify within-race risk factors for horse falls in National Hunt racing in the UK. Methods: A retrospective, matched, nested case-control study using video recordings of races was conducted on 6 UK racecourses. Cases and controls were matched on both race type and jump number at which the fall occurred. Conditional logistic regression analy...
Ward MP, Levy M, Thacker HL, Ash M, Norman SK, Moore GE, Webb PW.To describe an outbreak of encephalomyelitis caused by West Nile virus (WNV) in horses in northern Indiana. Methods: Case series. Methods: 170 horses. Methods: Horses with clinical signs suggestive of encephalomyelitis caused by WNV were examined. Date, age, sex, breed, and survival status were recorded. Serum samples were tested for anti-WNV antibodies, and virus isolation was attempted from samples of brain tissue. Climate data from local weather recording stations were collected. An epidemic curve was constructed, and case fatality rate was calculated. Results: The most common clinical sign...
Castillo-Olivares J, Wood J.West Nile virus (WNV) is a flavivirus closely related to Japanese encephalitis and St. Louis encephalitis viruses that is primarily maintained in nature by transmission cycles between mosquitoes and birds. Occasionally, WNV infects and causes disease in other vertebrates, including humans and horses. West Nile virus has re-emerged as an important pathogen as several recent outbreaks of encephalomyelitis have been reported from different parts of Europe in addition to the large epidemic that has swept across North America. This review summarises the main features of WNV infection in the horse, ...
Horta MC, Labruna MB, Sangioni LA, Vianna MC, Gennari SM, Galvão MA, Mafra CL, Vidotto O, Schumaker TT, Walker DH.In serum samples obtained from all the healthy humans, horses, dogs, and donkeys present on three farms in the Pedreira Municipality, an endemic area for Brazilian spotted fever, an indirect immunofluorescence assay (IFA) detected antibodies against Rickettsia rickettsii in 17 (77.3%) horses, 5 (31.3%) dogs (titers ranging from 64 to 4,048), and none of 4 donkeys or 50 humans. Five canine and eight equine sera with high antibody titers to R. rickettsii were also tested by IFA against R. bellii, R. akari, and R. africae antigens. Sera from two horses and two dogs that showed similar high antibo...
Singh BR, Singh VP, Agarwal M, Sharma G, Chandra M.Haemolysin patterns of 175 strains of different Salmonella enterica subspecies enterica serovars isolated from different animal sources and places were determined using 11 different blood agar media made with either non-washed horse/sheep erythrocytes or with washed erythrocytes of cattle, sheep, horse, goat, rabbit, guinea pig, and human A, O and B blood groups. Study on 47 strains belonging to 10 serovars of Salmonella from buffalo meat (buffen), 42 strains of 11 serovars from goat meat (chevon): 16 strains of Salmonella enterica serovar Paratyphi B and 25 of S. enterica serovar Paratyphi B ...
Cêtre-Sossah C, Baldet T, Delécolle JC, Mathieu B, Perrin A, Grillet C, Albina E.Bluetongue (BT) and African Horse Sickness (AHS) are infectious arthropod-borne viral diseases affecting ruminants and horses, respectively. Culicoides imicola Kieffer, 1913, a biting midge, is the principal vector of these livestock diseases in Africa and Europe. Recently bluetongue disease has re-emerged in the Mediterranean Basin and has had a devastating effect on the sheep industry in Italy and on the islands of Sicily, Sardinia, Corsica and the Balearics, but fortunately, has not penetrated onto mainland France and Spain. To survey for the presence of C. imicola, an extensive light-trap ...
Lee SA, Willeke K, Mainelis G, Adhikari A, Wang H, Reponen T, Grinshpun SA.Bioaerosol sampling is necessary to monitor and control human exposure to harmful airborne microorganisms. An important parameter affecting the collection of airborne microorganisms is the electrical charge on the microorganisms. Using a new design of an electrostatic precipitator (ESP) for bioaerosol sampling, the polarity and relative strength of the electrical charges on airborne microorganisms were determined in several laboratory and field environments by measuring the overall physical collection efficiency and the biological collection efficiency at specific precipitation voltages and po...
Quirin R, Salas M, Zientara S, Zeller H, Labie J, Murri S, Lefrançois T, Petitclerc M, Martinez D.To determine whether West Nile virus (WNV) had reached the archipelago of Guadeloupe, a serologic study in horses and birds was conducted in 2002. Immunoglobulin (Ig) G, IgM, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and seroneutralization tests identified WNV infection in horses and chickens. Six months later, a high rate of seroconversion was observed in horses.
Spier SJ, Leutenegger CM, Carroll SP, Loye JE, Pusterla JB, Carpenter TE, Mihalyi JE, Madigan JE.To develop and use a sensitive molecular assay for detecting the phospholipase D (PLD) exotoxin gene of Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis in an attempt to identify insect vectors that may be important in transmission of clinical disease in horses. Methods: 2,621 flies of various species. Methods: A real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based fluorogenic 5' nuclease (TaqMan) system (ie, TaqMan PCR assay) was developed for the detection of the PLD gene in insects. Flies were collected monthly (May to November 2002) from 5 farms in northern California where C. pseudotuberculosis infection in...
Ueeck BA, Dierks EJ, Homer LD, Potter B.Studies of trauma patients have described patterns of injuries sustained from unfortunate encounters with large animals. However, the patterns of maxillofacial injuries have yet to be reported. The goal of this investigation was to describe and report on maxillofacial injuries that are associated with interaction with horses. Methods: Charts were selected from the trauma registry by E-code at a level 1 trauma center in Portland, OR. A retrospective review was performed on charts collected from the previous 5 years (1998-2002). Data were collected according to patient, pattern of injuries, and ...
Otranto D, Colwell DD, Milillo P, Di Marco V, Paradies P, Napoli C, Giannetto S.Two species of Rhinoestrus (i.e. Rhinoestrus purpureus (Brauer) and Rhinoestrus usbekistanicus Gan) cause nasal myiasis in horses, donkeys and zebras. In the past 15 years myiasis caused by R. purpureus has been reported in Egypt and by R. usbekistanicus in Senegal and Niger, both in horses and in donkeys. With the aim to investigate the presence of this myiasis in autochthonous horses and donkeys from southern Italy and to study the seasonal trend of larval infection, 212 native horses were necropsied in two slaughterhouses in the Apulia region (site A) from January to November 2003, and 120 ...
McCrory P, Turner M, Murray J.The case is reported of a retired professional jockey with progressive memory loss. The concern is that he may be suffering from chronic traumatic encephalopathy or the "punch drunk syndrome".
Majewska AC, Solarczyk P, Tamang L, Graczyk TK.A total of 564 fecal specimens from 318 horses used for recreational riding, child hippotherapy, and racing at ten commercial and government-run stables in western Poland were tested for Cryptosporidium parvum oocysts by microscopic examination of Ziehl-Neelsen stained smears, enzyme immunoassay, and combined direct immunofluorescent antibody and fluorescent in situ hybridization. Also, seven stool specimens from five personnel who had repeated contact with these horses were tested for C. parvum oocysts. Eleven horses that shed C. parvum oocysts were found in five of ten stables (50%). The pre...
Abutarbush SM, O'Connor BP, Clark C, Sampieri F, Naylor JM.Two horses had a history of ataxia and weakness or recumbency. One recovered and was diagnosed with West Nile virus (WNV) infection by serologic testing. The other was euthanized; it had meningoencephalomyelitis, WNV was detected by polymerase chain reaction. West Nile virus infection is an emerging disease. Year 2002 is the first year in which cases have been seen in Saskatchewan. Deux chevaux présentaient une histoire d’ataxie et de faiblesse ou de décubitus. Un cheval s’est rétabli et un diagnostic d’infection au virus du Nil occidental (VNO) a été posé par épreuve sérologiqu...
Båverud V, Gunnarsson A, Karlsson M, Franklin A.The antimicrobial susceptibility of 50 Clostridium difficile isolates, 36 of them from horse feces and 14 from environmental sites, was determined by broth microdilution. The antimicrobial agents tested were avilamycin, cephalothin, chloramphenicol, clindamycin, erythromycin, gentamicin, neomycin, oxacillin, oxytetracycline, penicillin, spiramycin, streptomycin, trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole, vancomycin, and virginiamycin. All isolates were susceptible to vancomycin (MIC 16 microg/ml), oxytetracycline (MIC >/=32 microg/ml), spiramycin (MIC > 16 microg/ml), and virginiamycin (MIC 8-16 mi...
The Journal of traumaMay 7, 2004
Volume 56, Issue 3 643-647 doi: 10.1097/01.ta.0000053470.38129.f4
Petridou E, Kedikoglou S, Belechri M, Ntouvelis E, Dessypris N, Trichopoulos D.This study aims to estimate the burden and describe the profile of equestrian injuries in Greece, where horses, donkeys, and mules are still used in agriculture and where horse riding is a popular leisure activity. Methods: Prospectively collected information on 140,823 injuries reported in the national Emergency Department Injury Surveillance System was examined and 244 equestrian-related injuries that occurred during farming, equestrian sports, or horse racing were analyzed. Results: The estimated countrywide injury incidence for farming and equestrian sports combined was 21 per 100,000 pers...
Smith GA, Scherzer DJ, Buckley JW, Haley KJ, Shields BJ.Ninety-six children were admitted during a 9-year period to a pediatric level 1 trauma center for treatment of farm-related injuries. The age range was from 6 weeks to 17 years (median, 7.5 years; mean, 7.6 years; standard deviation, 4.4). Thirty-nine patients (40.6%) had an animal-related injury, including 36 children (37.5%) who had an injury associated with a horse. Amish children had an increased risk of horse-related injury when compared with non-Amish children (p=0.04; RR=2.09, 95% CI: 1.18<RR<3.70). Thirty-seven patients (38.5%) had farm machinery-related injuries, including 14 ch...
den Boon S, Schellekens JF, Schouls LM, Suijkerbuijk AW, Docters van Leeuwen B, van Pelt W.To obtain detailed information about the current geographical distribution and incidence of tick bites and Lyme borreliosis in the Netherlands and to identify regional differences in the ecological risk factors that might be involved. Methods: Retrospective questionnaire study. Methods: All Dutch general practitioner's (GP) practices. Methods: In April 2002, all GPs in the Netherlands were asked to complete a short questionnaire on the number of cases of tick bites and erythema migrans seen in 2001 and the size of their practice. Associations with possible risk factors were determined at the m...
Li Y, Yao J, Chang M, Nikolic D, Yu L, Yager JD, Mesecar AD, van Breemen RB, Bolton JL.Catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) plays an important role in the inactivation of biologically active and toxic catechols. It has been shown that COMT is genetically polymorphic with a wild-type and variant form where a valine has been substituted with a methionine. Several, but not all, epidemiological studies have shown that women, homozygous with the variant form, have an increased risk of developing breast cancer. Previously, we showed that 4-hydroxyequilenin (4-OHEN), a cytotoxic/genotoxic equine catechol estrogen metabolite, is both a substrate of COMT and an irreversible inhibitor of t...
Studdert MJ, Azuolas JK, Vasey JR, Hall RA, Ficorilli N, Huang JA.To develop and validate specific, sensitive and rapid diagnostic tests using RT-PCR for the detection of Ross River virus (RRV), Kunjin virus (KV) and Murray Valley encephalitis virus (MVEV) infections in horses. Methods: Primer sets based on nucleotide sequence encoding the envelope glycoprotein E2 of RRV and on the nonstructural protein 5 (NS5) of KV and MVEV were designed and used in single round PCRs to test for the respective viruses in infected cell cultures and, in the case of RRV, in samples of horse blood and synovial fluid. Results: The primer pairs designed for each of the three vir...
Azuolas JK, Wishart E, Bibby S, Ainsworth C.To report clinical and clinicopathological findings in horses naturally infected with Ross River virus (RRV) and identify likely mosquito arbovirus vector species. Methods: Veterinarians submitted serum samples from 750 horses because they suspected Ross River virus (RRV) infection. The samples were tested for the presence of IgM and IgG antibody to RRV and for the presence of virus. Mosquitoes were trapped, differentiated to species level and tested for the presence of RRV by virus isolation. Results: RRV was isolated from six species of mosquitoes (Ochlerotatus camptorhyncus, Culex globocoxi...
Forrester MB, Stanley SK.A portion of calls handled by poison centers involve poisonings of animals; however, information on such calls is limited. This study used data from poison centers in Texas collected during 1998-2002 to document the epidemiology of animal poisoning calls. There were a total of 24,467 animal poisoning calls, representing 2.0% of all calls. Dogs were affected in 87% of the calls and cats in 11%. The exposures were unintentional in 99% of the cases, occurred via ingestion in 95% and involved dermal exposure in 5% of the cases. Exposures occurred at the owner's own residence 91% of the time and we...
Zendri F, Isgren CM, Sinovich M, Richards-Rios P, Hopkins KL, Russell K, Groves N, Litt D, Fry NK, Timofte D. () may cause diphtheria in humans and can be carried by a wide range of animal species including dairy cows and, more recently, dogs and cats that have been increasingly involved in zoonotic trasmission. We isolated and characterized, by WGS, a toxigenic strain from a diseased horse in the United Kingdom showing clinical signs of respiratory diphtheria comparable to those seen in people. Our results indicate a role for horses as reservoirs for zoonotic .
Hässig M, Kranz R.Animal welfare in equestrian sports is a very current and important topic for animal right groups as well as for the Swiss association for equestrian sports "Schweizerischer Verband für Pferdesport (SVPS)". The penalty commission "Sanktionskomission (SAKO)" of the SVPS reported only few to none cases of infringements of animal welfare provision on horses at a time in the past few years. This fact was criticised several times by different animal right groups in Switzerland. Therefore a survey was sent in 2017 to 544 active officials (horse show judges) of the SVPS. Overall, 146 answered questi...
Tafese A, Jibat T, Aklilu N, Zewdu H, Kumsa B.A cross-sectional study was conducted to determine the prevalence and species composition of lice infesting horses in three agroecological zones in seven different districts in central Oromia from November 2011 to April 2012. For this purpose, a total of 420 horses were thoroughly examined for presence of lice. Collected lice were identified to species level under a microscope. The study showed an overall prevalence of 28.8 % (121/420) lice infestation on horses. We identified two spp. of lice on horses namely, Bovicola (Werneckiella) equi and Haematopinus asini with an overall prevalence of ...
Fletcher MT, Hayes PY, Somerville MJ, De Voss JJ.Crotalaria medicaginea has been implicated in horse poisoning in grazing regions of central-west Queensland, which resulted in the deaths of more than 35 horses from hepatotoxicosis in 2010. Liver pathology was suggestive of pyrrolizidine alkaloidosis, and we report here the isolation of two previously uncharacterized pyrrolizidine alkaloids from C. medicaginea plant specimens collected from pastures where the horses died. The first alkaloid was shown by mass spectometric and NMR analyses to be 1β,2β-epoxy-7β-hydroxy-1α-methoxymethyl-8α-pyrrolizidine, which, like other alkaloids previousl...
Chabchoub A, Landolsi F, Zientara S, Amira A, Mejri M, Ghorbel A, Ghram A.The authors describe an equine influenza epizootic that occurred in Tunisia during February and March 1998 in the regions of Tozeur, Sousse and Tunis. They relate the symptoms, the different stages of diagnosis and the serological results.
Mentoor JL, Lubisi AB, Gerdes T, Human S, Williams JH, Venter M.We report here the complete genome sequence of a lineage 2 West Nile virus (WNV) strain that resulted in fatal neurological disease in a horse in South Africa. Several recent reports exist of neurological disease associated with lineage 2 WNV in humans and horses in South Africa and Europe; however, there are a lack of sequencing data from recent fatal cases in Southern Africa, where these strains likely originate. A better understanding of the genetic composition of highly neuroinvasive lineage 2 strains may facilitate the identification of putative genetic factors associated with increased v...
Mizobe F, Takahashi Y, Kusano K.Jockey safety is of paramount importance from the standpoint of welfare and public perception. Thus, an understanding of the epidemiology and associated risk factors is necessary to implement measures to reduce the jockey falls (JFs) and jokey injuries (JIs). This descriptive epidemiological study investigated the occurrence of JFs and JIs in 715,210 and 25,183 rides in flat and jump races, respectively, from 2003 to 2017. In flat races, the incidence rates of JFs and JIs were 1.4 and 0.6 per 1,000 rides, respectively. In jump races, they were 44.4 and 18.1 per 1,000 rides, respectively. In fl...
van der Burg LJ, Muller I, Sloet van Oldruitenborgh-Oosterbaan MM.The horse milking industry is expanding in The Netherlands and Flanders. Horse milk has become popular due to its (supposed) health-enhancing properties. A horse-milking farm is not a common client for the Dutch veterinarian. When giving advice in this circumstance it should be recognised that these horses are production animals and that their milk is for human consumption. A review of the literature is given together with the results of an extensive enquiry amongst 13 horse-milking farms in The Netherlands and Flanders.