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.
Gao S, Zeng Z, Wang H, Chen F, Huang L, Wang X.African horse sickness (AHS) is a devastating equine infectious disease. On 17 March 2020, it first appeared in Thailand and threatened all the South-East Asia equine industry security. Therefore, it is imperative to carry out risk warnings of the AHS in China. The maximum entropy algorithm was used to model AHS and Culicoides separately by using climate and non-climate variables. The least cost path (LCP) method was used to analyze the habitat connectivity of Culicoides with the reclassified land cover and altitude as cost factors. The models showed the mean area under the curve as 0.918 and ...
Ishii H, Leung GN, Yamashita S, Nagata SI, Kushiro A, Sakai S, Toju K, Okada J, Kawasaki K, Kusano K, Kijima-Suda I.The use of nicotine stimulants in horses is generally banned in horse racing and equestrian sports-accidental consumption of tobacco products is one of the possible causes of nicotine exposure in horses. The authors recently reported a comprehensive metabolic study of nicotine in equines, differentiating between nicotine exposure and sample contamination by means of a nicotine biomarker trans-3'-hydroxycotinine. To identify potential biomarkers for the differentiation of genuine nicotine administration and consumption of tobacco products, tobacco leaves (equivalent to 250 mg of nicotine) wer...
Desanti-Consoli H, Bouillon J, Chapuis RJJ.Vaccination against infectious diseases is a cornerstone of veterinary medicine in the prevention of disease transmission, illness severity, and often death in animals. In North American equine medicine, equine vaccines protecting against tetanus, rabies, Eastern and Western equine encephalomyelitis, and West Nile are core vaccines as these have been classified as having a heightened risk of mortality, infectiousness, and endemic status. Some guidelines differ from the label of vaccines, to improve the protection of patients or to decrease the unnecessary administration to reduce potential sid...
Dorph K, Haughan J, Robinson M, Redding LE.To characterize antimicrobial use on four racetracks in the eastern US during the peak racing 2017-2018 seasons. Handwritten daily treatment sheets provided by attending veterinarians who listed treatments administered to horses stabled at the racetrack were obtained. Information contained in the treatment sheets included the date, name of the horse and its trainer, type of treatment, and a brief (usually 1-word) indication for treatment. The handwritten data listed on the racetrack treatment sheets were manually transcribed and analyzed. A total of 2,684 antimicrobial prescriptions were recor...
Lawton KOY, Arthur RM, Moeller BC, Barnum S, Pusterla N.More and more studies are reporting on the natural transmission of SARS-CoV-2 between humans with COVID-19 and their companion animals (dogs and cats). While horses are apparently susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 infection based on the homology between the human and the equine ACE-2 receptor, no clinical or subclinical infection has yet been reported in the equine species. To investigate the possible clinical role of SARS-CoV-2 in equids, nasal secretions from 667 horses with acute onset of fever and respiratory signs were tested for the presence of SARS-CoV-2 by qPCR. The samples were collected from...
Neill CL, Hansen CR, Salois M.The purpose of this study is to estimate the economic cost of burnout in the veterinary profession and highlight the financial reasons why the industry should address the burnout crisis from an organizational perspective. Using data from 5,786 associate veterinarians in private practice, information was obtained using employment information related to compensation, work hours, hour preferences, and job turnover. Burnout was measured using the Professional Quality of Life Scale and used to calculate conditional probabilities on turnover and reduced working hours due to burnout. Lost revenue fro...
Annand EJ, Horsburgh BA, Xu K, Reid PA, Poole B, de Kantzow MC, Brown N, Tweedie A, Michie M, Grewar JD, Jackson AE, Singanallur NB, Plain KM, Kim K....We identified and isolated a novel Hendra virus (HeV) variant not detected by routine testing from a horse in Queensland, Australia, that died from acute illness with signs consistent with HeV infection. Using whole-genome sequencing and phylogenetic analysis, we determined the variant had ≈83% nt identity with prototypic HeV. In silico and in vitro comparisons of the receptor-binding protein with prototypic HeV support that the human monoclonal antibody m102.4 used for postexposure prophylaxis and current equine vaccine will be effective against this variant. An updated quantitative PCR dev...
Ocansey BK, Kosmidis C, Agyei M, Dorkenoo AM, Ayanlowo OO, Oladele RO, Darre T, Denning DW.Histoplasmosis is a chronic granulomatous disease caused by the thermally dimorphic fungus Histoplasma capsulatum. The 2 variants Histoplasma capsulatum var. capsulatum (Hcc) and Histoplasma capsulatum var. duboisii (Hcd) causes infection in humans and commonly termed classical or American histoplasmosis and African histoplasmosis, respectively. Histoplasma capsulatum var. farciminosum (Hcf) affects equines. In recent times, there have been heightened sensitization on fungal infections such as histoplasmosis in Africa, aimed at improving awareness among relevant stakeholders, particularly heal...
Bampidis V, Azimonti G, Bastos ML, Christensen H, Dusemund B, Fašmon Durjava M, Kouba M, López-Alonso M, López Puente S, Marcon F, Mayo B....Following a request from the European Commission, the Panel on Additives and Products or Substances used in Animal Feed (FEEDAP) was asked to deliver a scientific opinion on zearalenone hydrolase (ZenA) produced by DSM 32731 when used as a feed additive for all terrestrial animals. The production strain DSM 32731 is genetically modified and harbours a kanamycin resistance gene. No viable cells of the production strain were detected in the final product, but uncertainty remains on the presence of recombinant DNA in the final product. The ZenA contained in the additive is safe for all terrestr...
Sellon DC, Sanz M, Kopper JJ.Little is known about the acquisition and use of equine analgesic drugs by horse owners in the United States (US). Objective: To determine factors associated with possession of analgesic drugs by horse owners in the US or with analgesic drug acquisition from sources noncompliant with a valid veterinarian-client-patient (VCPR) relationship. Methods: Cross-sectional survey. Methods: An internet-based questionnaire included items related to experiences with horses and equine analgesic drugs. Factors associated with possession of ≥5 types of analgesic drugs and with the acquisition of drugs from...
Peckle M, Pires MS, Dos Santos TM, Roier ECR, da Silva CB, Vilela JAR, Paulino PG, Santos HA, Massard CL.The epidemiological aspects of Babesia caballi infection were evaluated in 516 horse samples from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The presence and infestation level of ticks on horses, breed conditions, and animal management were evaluated on each farm through an epidemiological questionnaire. The gene that codes for rhoptry-associated protein-1 (RAP-1) of B. caballi was amplified by nested PCR (nPCR). Among the horses sampled, 17.2% (n = 89/516) presented B. caballi DNA. The characterized samples showed 99-100% similarity with other isolates of B. caballi based on the RAP-1 gene, available in GenBa...
Falcão MVD, Laroucau K, Vorimore F, Deshayes T, Santana VLA, Silva KPC, do Nascimento SA, de Castro RS, Araújo FR, Mota RA.Glanders is an infectious zoonosis caused by Burkholderia (B.) mallei that mainly affects equids. The objective of this work was to provide additional knowledge on the diversity of the strains circulating in Brazil. Six Burkholderia mallei isolates obtained during necropsies of glanderous horses between 2014 and 2017 in two different states (Pernambuco and Alagoas) were analyzed by polymerase chain reaction-high-resolution melting (PCR-HRM). While four strains (9902 RSC, BM_campo 1, BM_campo 3 and UFAL2) clustered in the L3B2 branch, which already includes the Brazilian 16-2438_BM#8 strain, tw...
Shi N, Qiu X, Cao X, Mai Z, Zhu X, Li N, Zhang H, Zhang J, Li Z, Shaya N, Lu H, Jin N.The Getah virus (GETV), a mosquito-borne RNA virus, is widely distributed in Oceania and Asia. GETV is not the only pathogenic to horses, pigs, cattle, foxes and boars, but it can also cause fever in humans. Since its first reported case in Chinese mainland in 2017, the number of GETV-affected provinces has increased to seventeen till now. Therefore, we performed an epidemiologic investigation of GETV in the Xinjiang region, located in northwestern China, during the period of 2017-2020. ELISA was used to analyze 3299 serum samples collected from thoroughbred horse, local horse, sheep, goat, ca...
Gibson MJ, Roca Fraga FJ, Bolwell CF, Gee EK, Rogers CW.The objective of this study was to describe the incident and non-incident reporting of harness racing in New Zealand, the primary injury and reporting outcomes, and to examine horse- and race-level variables associated with the odds of these outcomes. Retrospective stipendiary stewards' reports of race day events during the 2015/16 to 2016/17 racing seasons were examined. The number of incident and non-incident events and binomial exact 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated per 1000 horse starts. Most reports were for non-incidents and an examination was requested for poor performance ...
Tahoun A, Elnafarawy HK, El-Sharkawy H, Rizk AM, Alorabi M, El-Shehawi AM, Youssef MA, Ibrahim HMM, El-Khodery S.This work aimed to characterize S. aureus isolates from the eyes of healthy and clinically affected equines in the Kafrelsheikh Governorate, Egypt. A total of 110 animals were examined for the presence of S. aureus, which was isolated from 33 animals with ophthalmic lesions and 77 healthy animals. We also investigated the antimicrobial resistance profile, oxacillin resistance mechanism, and the major virulence factors implicated in many studies of the ocular pathology of pathogenic S. aureus. The association between S. aureus eye infections and potential risk factors was also investigated. The...
Walker N, Huseman C, Cater M, McCorkle DA, Hanselka D, Zoller J.The COVID-19 pandemic has increased the availability of virtual horse showing opportunities. The objectives of this study were to describe survey participants' personal characteristics and participation in virtual and in-person horse shows, level of satisfaction, attitude toward technology and motivation to participate, and internal and external factors influencing the decision to participate in virtual horse shows. A survey was distributed to a target audience of adult horse show participants and/or adults supporting youth horse show participants via Qualtrics (n = 251). A majority of respo...
Nadal C, Marsot M, Le Metayer G, Boireau P, Guillot J, Bonnet SI.Caused by two blood parasites, and , equine piroplasmosis is a tick-borne disease that poses major health and economic issues for the equine industry. Our objective was to gain insight into the spatio-temporal variations of parasite circulation in France, where the disease is known to be enzootic, but has been the subject of few studies. Seroprevalence was assessed for each parasite thanks to 16,127 equine sera obtained between 1997 and 2003 from all over France and analysed through complement fixation tests. Results indicated that 13.2% (5-27% depending on the region) of horses were seroposi...
Sellon DC, Sanz M, Kopper JJ, Mattei D.Understanding factors influencing assessment of pain in horses will facilitate communication between veterinarians and horse owners. Objective: To compare estimates of pain experienced by horses as provided by veterinarians and horse owners and to determine factors associated with individuals who perceive horses to be experiencing extreme pain or minimal pain. Methods: Cross-sectional study. Methods: Internet-based questionnaires for horse owners and veterinarians included items related to recognition of pain in horses, estimated degree of pain experienced by horses, and demographic informatio...
Wollanke B, Gerhards H, Ackermann K.Uveitis is a sight-threatening eye disease in equids known worldwide that leads to considerable pain and suffering. By far the most common type of uveitis in Germany and neighboring countries is classical equine recurrent uveitis (ERU), which is caused by chronic intraocular leptospiral infection and is the main cause of infectious uveitis in horses. Other infectious causes are extremely rare and are usually clinically distinguishable from ERU. ERU can be treated very effectively by vitreous cavity lavage (vitrectomy). For proper indications of this demanding surgery, it is necessary to differ...
Rocafort-Ferrer G, Leblond A, Joulié A, René-Martellet M, Sandoz A, Poux V, Pradier S, Barry S, Vial L, Legrand L.Equine piroplasmosis (EP) is a tick-borne disease caused by Babesia caballi and Theileria equi that is potentially emerging in non-endemic countries. We conducted a descriptive study to investigate EP prevalence and spatial distribution in an endemic region: the Camargue and the Plain of La Crau in France. In spring 2015 and 2016, we carried out sampling at stables (total n = 46) with a history of horses presenting chronic fever or weight loss. Overall, we collected blood from 632 horses, which were also inspected for ticks; these horses had been housed in the target stables for at least 1...
Lotfi Z, Pourmahdi Borujeni M, Ghorbanpoor M, Ghadrdan Mashhadi AR.Brucellosis, as a zoonotic disease, mainly occurs in horses by Brucella abortus, Brucella canis and Brucella suis. The disease in equines is often asymptomatic, but the clinical signs in horses are mostly characterized by bursitis, arthritis and tenosynovitis. This study, thus, aimed to determine the seroprevalence of brucellosis and its associated risk factors in the Arabian horses of Khuzestan province, South-west Iran. To that end, the blood samples randomly collected from 180 Arabian horses were analyzed for the presence of anti-Brucella antibodies by Rose Bengal plate test (RBPT), serum a...
Dennis ST, El Hage CM, Brookes VJ.Identify veterinarians' practices, recommendations and perceptions when preventing tetanus in horses in Australia. Methods: Graduated members of Equine Veterinarians Australia participated in an online survey about the prevention of tetanus in horses in Australia. Results: Of 77 respondents (response rate ~ 8%), 50 (65%) reported that they had attended collectively 145-152 cases of tetanus in horses in Australia (1.1 cases of tetanus observed/10 veterinarian-years since qualification). The estimated case fatality rate (CFR) was at least 79%. Puncture wounds were most frequently suspected a...
Hosie MJ, Hofmann-Lehmann R.Companion animals, such as cats, dogs, horses and exotic species, play an important role in society; more than 600 million cats and 900 million dogs live closely with humans worldwide [...].
Nielsen SS, Bicout DJ, Calistri P, Canali E, Drewe JA, Garin-Bastuji B, Gonzales Rojas JL, Gortázar C, Herskin M, Michel V, Miranda Chueca MÁ.... () was identified among the most relevant antimicrobial-resistant (AMR) bacteria in the EU for horses in a previous scientific opinion. Thus, it has been assessed according to the criteria of the Animal Health Law (AHL), in particular criteria of Article 7 on disease profile and impacts, Article 5 on its eligibility to be listed, Annex IV for its categorisation according to disease prevention and control rules as in Article 9 and Article 8 for listing animal species related to the bacterium. The assessment has been performed following a methodology previously published. The outcome is the med...
Assefa A, Tibebu A, Bihon A, Dagnachew A, Muktar Y.African horse sickness is a vector-borne, non-contagious and highly infectious disease of equines caused by African horse sickness viruses (AHSv) that mainly affect horses. The occurrence of the disease causes huge economic impacts because of its high fatality rate, trade ban and disease control costs. In the planning of vectors and vector-borne diseases like AHS, the application of Ecological niche models (ENM) used an enormous contribution in precisely delineating the suitable habitats of the vector. We developed an ENM to delineate the global suitability of AHSv based on retrospective out...
Schnittger L, Ganzinelli S, Bhoora R, Omondi D, Nijhof AM, Florin-Christensen M.The order Piroplasmida, including the genera Babesia, Cytauxzoon, and Theileria is often referred to as piroplasmids and comprises of dixenous hemoprotozoans transmitted by ticks to a mammalian or avian host. Although piroplasmid infections are usually asymptomatic in wild animals, in domestic animals, they cause serious or life-threatening consequences resulting in fatalities. Piroplasmids are particularly notorious for the enormous economic loss they cause worldwide in livestock production, the restrictions they pose on horse trade, and the negative health impact they have on dogs and cats. ...
Tirosh-Levy S, Steinman A.Equine encephalosis (EE) is an arthropod-borne, noncontagious, febrile disease of horses. It is caused by EE virus (EEV), an Orbivirus of the Reoviridae family transmitted by Culicoides. Within the EEV serogroup, seven serotypes (EEV-1-7) have been identified to date. This virus was first isolated from a horse in South Africa in 1967 and until 2008 was believed to be restricted to southern Africa. In 2008-2009, isolation of EEV in an outbreak reported from Israel demonstrated the emergence of this pathogen into new niches. Indeed, testing in retrospect sera samples revealed that EEV had alread...
Almazán C, Scimeca RC, Reichard MV, Mosqueda J.Babesia and Theileria are apicomplexan parasites that cause established and emerging diseases in humans, domestic and wild animals. These protozoans are transmitted by Ixodid ticks causing babesiosis or theileriosis, both characterized by fever, hemolytic anemia, jaundice, and splenomegaly. In North America (NA), the most common species affecting humans is B. microti, which is distributed in the Northeastern and Upper Midwestern United States (US), where the tick vector Ixodes scapularis is established. In livestock, B. bovis and B. bigemina are the most important pathogens causing bovine babe...
Bergmann F, Trachsel DS, Stoeckle SD, Bernis Sierra J, Lübke S, Groschup MH, Gehlen H, Ziegler U.Following the introduction of the West Nile virus (WNV) into eastern Germany in 2018, increasing infections have been diagnosed in birds, equines, and humans over time, while the spread of WNV into western Germany remained unclear. We screened 437 equine sera from 2018 to 2020, excluding vaccinated horses, collected from convenience sampled patients in the eastern and western parts of Germany, for WNV-specific antibodies (ELISAs followed by virus/specific neutralization tests) and genomes (RT-qPCRs). Clinical presentations, final diagnoses, and demographic data were also recorded. In the easte...
Shi MW, Zhang NA, Shi CP, Liu CJ, Luo ZH, Wang DY, Guo AY, Chen ZX.Many animal species present sex differences. Sex-associated genes (SAGs), which have female-biased or male-biased expression, have major influences on the remarkable sex differences in important traits such as growth, reproduction, disease resistance and behaviors. However, the SAGs resulting in the vast majority of phenotypic sex differences are still unknown. To provide a useful resource for the functional study of SAGs, we manually curated public RNA-seq datasets with paired female and male biological replicates from the same condition and systematically re-analyzed the datasets using stand...
Borioni N, Marinaro P, Celestini S, Del Sole F, Magro R, Zoppi D, Mattei F, Dall' Armi V, Mazzarella F, Cesario A, Bonassi S.To assess the effects of equestrian rehabilitation (ER) and onotherapy (Ono) on physical and psycho-social performances of subjects affected by intellectual disability (ID), and to develop a measurement tool based on the International Classification of Functioning Disability and Health-Children and Youth (ICF-CY). Methods: A tool based on the ICF-CY classification was designed to evaluate subjects undergoing equine rehabilitation within a bio-psychosocial approach. A simplified version of this evaluation form was developed for the equestrian instructors. The agreement between the two tools was...
Dietz WH, Peralta PH, Johnson KM.The clinical and laboratory findings in ten humans infected with Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus, subtype I-D, are described in this report. Clinical and laboratory data indicate that, in contrast to equine infections, human infection with these enzootic virus strains (I-D) is similar to human infection with epizootic strains (I-ABC). In most cases there was an abrupt onset of fever, muscle pain, and vomiting. Virus was recovered from sera obtained during the first 3 days of illness. Lymphopenia occurred in all patients, and neutropenia occurred in three. No sequelae of these infections w...
Álvarez-Narváez S, Giguère S, Cohen N, Slovis N, Vázquez-Boland JA.Multidrug resistance has been detected in the animal and zoonotic human pathogen Rhodococcus equi after mass macrolide/rifampin antibioprophylaxis in endemically affected equine farms in the United States. Multidrug-resistant (MDR) R. equi emerged upon acquisition of pRERm46, a conjugative plasmid conferring resistance to macrolides, lincosamides, streptogramins, and, as we describe, tetracycline. Phylogenomic analyses indicate that the increasing prevalence of MDR R. equi since it was first documented in 2002 is caused by a clone, R. equi 2287, attributable to coselection of pRErm46 with a ch...
Saiz JC.West Nile virus (WNV) is a widely distributed enveloped flavivirus transmitted by mosquitoes, which main hosts are birds. The virus sporadically infects equids and humans with serious economic and health consequences, as infected individuals can develop a severe neuroinvasive disease that can even lead to death. Nowadays, no WNV-specific therapy is available and vaccines are only licensed for use in horses but not for humans. While several methodologies for WNV vaccine development have been successfully applied and have contributed to significantly reducing its incidence in horses in the US, n...
Nelson DE, Bixby-Hammett D.We reviewed the English language scientific literature about equestrian injuries among children and young adults. All studies showed that more females than males were injured, with falls from horses being the most common cause of injury. Fractures were common, and head injuries were associated with the vast majority of deaths (72% to 78%) and hospitalizations (55% to 100%). Although the overall injury rate was low, equestrian athletes are at risk for serious injuries. Pediatricians should know the medical contraindications for participation in equestrian sports and encourage riders to obtain h...
Fenner K, Hyde M, Crean A, McGreevy P.Owner-reported behavioural observations form an essential part of the veterinarians' diagnosis and treatment plan. The way we train and manage horses affects their behaviour and, in turn, their health and welfare. Current horse training and management practices are largely driven by traditional techniques and longstanding methodologies. These approaches generally lack an evidence base for evaluation purposes. The absence of evidence and evaluation contributes to the persistent use of risky practices and this, in turn, increases risk of potential harms for both horse and rider, and fuels questi...
Laperriere V, Brugger K, Rubel F.The West Nile virus (WNV) is an arthropod-borne virus (arbovirus) circulating in a natural transmission cycle between mosquitoes (enzootic vectors) and birds (amplifying hosts). Additionally, mainly horses and humans (dead-end hosts) may be infected by blood-feeding mosquitoes (bridge vectors). We developed an epidemic model for the simulation of the WNV dynamics of birds, horses and humans in the U.S., which we apply to the Minneapolis metropolitan area (Minnesota). The SEIR-type model comprises a total of 19 compartments, that are 4 compartments for mosquitoes and 5 compartments or health st...
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 ...
Traversa D, Castagna G, von Samson-Himmelstjerna G, Meloni S, Bartolini R, Geurden T, Pearce MC, Woringer E, Besognet B, Milillo P, D'Espois M.This paper reports a survey conducted in France during 2011 to evaluate the efficacy of commonly used anthelmintics against horse cyathostomins. A total of 40 farms and 1089 horses were screened for the presence of cyathostomins. All farms but one were positive, with an overall animal infection rate of 53.7%, ranging from 9% to 83% on individual farms. On 445 horses from 30 of these farms, a faecal egg count reduction test (FECRT) was performed to evaluate the efficacy of oral formulations of fenbendazole (FBZ), pyrantel embonate (PYR), ivermectin (IVM) and moxidectin (MOX). Calculation of the...
Mares-Guia MA, Rozental T, Guterres A, Gomes R, Almeida DN, Moreira NS, Barreira JD, Favacho AR, Santana AL, Lemos ER.Over the last recent years, the number of Q fever cases have has increased throughout the world. An epidemiological investigation was performed in the area in which the first molecular documentation of Q fever in Brazil was previously reported. Methods: Indirect immunofluorescence assay (IFA) and PCR of Coxiella burnetii targeting the htpAB gene were performed in samples from 14 dogs (blood); 1 cat (blood); 10 goats (blood, milk, vaginal swab and anal swab); 3 sheep (blood); and 2 horses (blood). Results: Two dogs, two sheep and five goats were seroreactive. DNA was amplified from 6 milk and 2...
Leblond A, Pradier S, Pitel PH, Fortier G, Boireau P, Chadoeuf J, Sabatier P.Anaplasmosis is caused by the bacterium Anaplasma phagocytophilum and transmitted by Ixodes spp. ticks. According to some reports the disease can be introduced into disease-free zones by migrating birds. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the seroprevalence of A. phagocytophilum in horses in the Camargue. Data concerning 424 horses were gathered and the sera were tested for A. phagocytophilum and for piroplasmoses using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and a complement fixation test, respectively. The seroprevalence rates were 11.3 % for A. phagocytophilum, 64.4 % for Theileria equi...
Johnson PJ, Wiedmeyer CE, Messer NT, Ganjam VK.There is growing recognition that obesity is common and represents a significant detriment to the health of companion animals in a manner similar to that by which it is affecting the human population. As is the case for other species, obesity appears to promote insulin resistance in horses and it is through this pathophysiological process that many of the adverse medical consequences of obesity are being characterized. Equine medical conditions that have been described in the context of obesity and insulin resistance differ from those in humans. Chronic human conditions that have been attribut...
Haussler KK.The clinical assessment of pain is subjective; therefore, variations exist between practitioners in their ability to identify and localize pain. Due to differing interpretations of the signs or severity of pain equine practitioners may assign varying levels of clinical significance and treatment options. There is a critical need to develop better tools to qualify and quantify pain in horses. Palpation is the most common method to detect local tenderness or sensitivity. To quantify this applied pressure, pressure algometry has been used to gradually apply pressure over specified landmarks until...
Bond GR, Christoph RA, Rodgers BM.To assess the impact of helmet use on the pattern, and severity of pediatric equestrian injuries. Methods: A prospective observational study of all children less than 15 years of age who were brought to the University of Virginia children's Emergency Department with horse-related injuries. Results: During the two-year period of the study, 32 children were evaluated. Two children were injured when a horse stepped on them. Thirty children fell from or were thrown from a horse. Of these, 20 were wearing a helmet. Head injuries were more frequent in those patients not wearing helmets. The mean Mod...
Roth D, Henry B, Mak S, Fraser M, Taylor M, Li M, Cooper K, Furnell A, Wong Q, Morshed M.In 2009, an expansion of West Nile virus (WNV) into the Canadian province of British Columbia was detected. Two locally acquired cases of infection in humans and 3 cases of infection in horses were detected by ELISA and plaque-reduction neutralization tests. Ten positive mosquito pools were detected by reverse transcription PCR. Most WNV activity in British Columbia in 2009 occurred in the hot and dry southern Okanagan Valley. Virus establishment and amplification in this region was likely facilitated by above average nightly temperatures and a rapid accumulation of degree-days in late summer....
Deardorff ER, Weaver SC.The mosquito Culex (Melanoconion) taeniopus is a proven vector of enzootic Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus (VEEV) subtype IE in Central America. It has been shown to be highly susceptible to infection by this subtype, and conversely to be highly refractory to infection by other VEEV subtypes. During the 1990s in southern coastal Mexico, two VEE epizootics in horses were attributed to subtype IE VEEV. These outbreaks were associated with VEEV strains with an altered infection phenotype for the epizootic mosquito vector, Aedes (Ochlerotatus) taeniorhynchus. To determine the infectivity for ...
Mughini-Gras L, Mulatti P, Severini F, Boccolini D, Romi R, Bongiorno G, Khoury C, Bianchi R, Montarsi F, Patregnani T, Bonfanti L, Rezza G....In Italy, West Nile virus (WNV) equine outbreaks have occurred annually since 2008. Characterizing WNV vector habitat requirements allows for the identification of areas at risk of viral amplification and transmission. Maxent-based ecological niche models were developed using literature records of 13 potential WNV Italian vector mosquito species to predict their habitat suitability range and to investigate possible geographical associations with WNV equine outbreak occurrence in Italy from 2008 to 2010. The contribution of different environmental variables to the niche models was also assessed...
Reif JS, Webb PA, Monath TP, Emerson JK, Poland JD, Kemp GE, Cholas G.In 1982-1983, an epizootic of vesicular stomatitis occurred in the western United States. Veterinarians, research workers, and regulatory personnel who were exposed to vesicular stomatitis virus were examined for patterns of human infection and prevalence of vesicular stomatitis New Jersey serotype neutralizing antibody. Insight into the mechanism of transmission was sought by comparing activities of antibody-positive and antibody-negative persons. A statistically significant risk factor was a history of infected animals sneezing in the face of serosurvey participants. Elevated odds ratios wer...
Guerrero-Carvajal F, Bravo-Barriga D, Martín-Cuervo M, Aguilera-Sepúlveda P, Ferraguti M, Jiménez-Clavero MÁ, Llorente F, Alonso JM, Frontera E.West Nile virus (WNV) is a mosquito-borne emerging virus in Europe with capacity to cause neurological complications such as encephalitis or meningoencephalitis in humans, birds or equids. In Spain, WNV is actively circulating in mosquitoes, birds and horses in different regions, but never has been deeply studied in Extremadura. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the seroprevalence of WNV in equids of those areas and to analyse the risk factors associated with exposure to the virus. A total of 199 out of 725 equids presented antibodies against WNV by competition ELISA (27.45%), w...
Ocansey BK, Kosmidis C, Agyei M, Dorkenoo AM, Ayanlowo OO, Oladele RO, Darre T, Denning DW.Histoplasmosis is a chronic granulomatous disease caused by the thermally dimorphic fungus Histoplasma capsulatum. The 2 variants Histoplasma capsulatum var. capsulatum (Hcc) and Histoplasma capsulatum var. duboisii (Hcd) causes infection in humans and commonly termed classical or American histoplasmosis and African histoplasmosis, respectively. Histoplasma capsulatum var. farciminosum (Hcf) affects equines. In recent times, there have been heightened sensitization on fungal infections such as histoplasmosis in Africa, aimed at improving awareness among relevant stakeholders, particularly heal...
Laatamna AE, Wagnerová P, Sak B, Květoňová D, Aissi M, Rost M, Kváč M.Faecal samples from two horse farms in Algeria keeping Arabian, Thoroughbred, and Barb horses were examined for the presence of Cryptosporidium in 2010-2011. A total of 138 faecal samples (16 from a farm keeping 50 animals and 122 from a farm with 267 horses) were screened for Cryptosporidium spp. infection using molecular tools. DNA was extracted from all samples. Nested PCR was performed to amplify fragments of the SSU rDNA and gp60 genes to determine the presence of Cryptosporidium species and genotypes. Sequence analyses of SSU and gp60 genes revealed four animals positive for the presence...
Guthrie AJ, Stevens KB, Bosman PP.Equine-2 influenza A virus (H3N8) infection first occurred among naïve horses in South Africa in December 1986. The virus was introduced following the importation of six horses from the United States of America. While the release of in-contact horses from quarantine three days after the arrival of these six horses played a role in the rapid spread of the disease in South Africa, other outbreaks of disease were associated with viral introduction by personnel or contaminated instruments. The control measures and implications of the introduction of equine influenza to South Africa are also discu...
Rapoport A, Aharonson-Raz K, Berlin D, Tal S, Gottlieb Y, Klement E, Steinman A.Equine piroplasmosis imposes great concerns for the equine industry regarding international horse movement, and therefore requires reliable diagnostic tools. Recent studies from South Africa and Jordan, including a preliminary study in Israel, reported extremely low seroprevalence to Babesia caballi (B. caballi) (0-1%) using the acceptable rhoptry-associated protein-1 (RAP-1) cELISA. In accordance with the study from South Africa demonstrating a significant heterogeneity in the rap-1 gene sequence of South African B. caballi isolates, the objectives of this study were to phylogenetically chara...
Havlik HS.Equestrian sports continue to grow in popularity in the Unites States and abroad, with an estimated 30 million people riding horses annually in the United States alone. Approximately one in five of these riders will suffer a serious injury during their riding career, requiring medical care and potentially hospitalization. Riding carries with it an implicit risk of injury associated with the unpredictability of the animals, the rider's head being positioned approximately 9 feet off the ground, and traveling unrestrained at speeds up to 40 mph. This article reviews common equestrian injuries, ep...
Xu Z, Kang X, Han P, Du P, Li L, Zheng A, Deng C, Qi J, Zhao X, Wang Q, Liu K, Gao GF.The origin and host range of SARS-CoV-2, the causative agent of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), are important scientific questions as they might provide insight into understanding of the potential future spillover to infect humans. Here, we tested the binding between equine angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (eqACE2) and the receptor binding domains (RBDs) of SARS-CoV, SARS-CoV-2 prototype (PT) and variant of concerns (VOCs), as well as their close relatives bat-origin coronavirus (CoV) RaTG13 and pangolin-origin CoVs GX/P2V/2017 and GD/1/2019. We also determined the crystal structures of eq...
Powell DG, Watkins KL, Li PH, Shortridge KF.Equine-2 influenza virus A (H3N8) infection occurred among vaccinated thoroughbred horses in Hong Kong during November and December 1992. The outbreak was unique in that it occurred among a large population stabled under intensive conditions. It resulted in the postponement of seven race meetings over a period of 32 days. The outbreak originated after the importation of horses 25 to 32 days before any clinical signs were reported. Vaccination did not prevent 75 per cent of the population from becoming infected, and half the infected horses developed clinical signs. Vaccination did, however, co...
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.
Tripathi VN, Harding WC, Willingham-Lane JM, Hondalus MK.Rhodococcus equi is a facultative intracellular, Gram-positive, soilborne actinomycete which can cause severe pyogranulomatous pneumonia with abscessation in young horses (foals) and in immunocompromised people, such as persons with AIDS. All strains of R. equi isolated from foals and approximately a third isolated from humans contain a large, ~81-kb plasmid which is essential for the intramacrophage growth of the organism and for virulence in foals and murine in vivo model systems. We found that the entire virulence plasmid could be transferred from plasmid-containing strains of R. equi (dono...
