Veterinary science and horses encompass the study and application of medical, surgical, and therapeutic practices to maintain and improve the health and welfare of equines. This field addresses a wide range of topics, including disease prevention, diagnosis, and treatment, as well as nutrition, reproduction, and behavior. Research in veterinary science for horses often involves understanding the pathophysiology of equine-specific diseases, developing advanced diagnostic techniques, and improving treatment protocols. This page gathers peer-reviewed research studies and scholarly articles that explore various aspects of veterinary science related to horses, providing insights into the latest advancements and methodologies in equine healthcare.
Logan AA, Snyder AJ, Nielsen BD.The effects of gait and diameter have been studied independently, but rarely together in equine circular exercise studies. This study aimed to determine the impact of diameter (10-m or 15-m) at various gaits (walk, trot, and canter) on stride frequency or forelimb stance duration. Nine mature horses were outfitted with Tekscan™ Hoof Sensors on their forelimbs during circular and straight-line exercise at various gaits on a clay and sand arena surface. Statistical analysis was performed in SAS 9.4 with fixed effects of exercise type, recording, leg, and breed (PROC GLIMMIX, p < 0.05 significa...
Reed SA, Streff LN.The field of equine sports medicine and rehabilitation provides a career opportunity for students interested in remaining in the horse industry but not focused on a career as a veterinarian. However, throughout the United States, there are limited educational opportunities for undergraduate students to prepare for this career. The objective of this work was to determine what skills and theoretical knowledge professionals in the equine rehabilitation industry deemed most useful for employment in the equine rehabilitation industry, and, using that information, develop a curriculum to meet these ...
Kaplan RM, Denwood MJ, Nielsen MK, Thamsborg SM, Torgerson PR, Gilleard JS, Dobson RJ, Vercruysse J, Levecke B.The faecal egg count reduction test (FECRT) remains the method of choice for establishing the efficacy of anthelmintic compounds in the field, including the diagnosis of anthelmintic resistance. We present a guideline for improving the standardization and performance of the FECRT that has four sections. In the first section, we address the major issues relevant to experimental design, choice of faecal egg count (FEC) method, statistical analysis, and interpretation of the FECRT results. In the second section, we make a series of general recommendations that are applicable across all animals ad...
Guyard KC, Montavon S, Bertolaccini J, Deriaz M.Quantitative information on how well a horse clears a jump has great potential to support the rider in improving the horse's jumping performance. This study investigated the validation of a GPS-based inertial measurement unit, namely Alogo Move Pro, compared with a traditional optical motion capture system. Accuracy and precision of the three jumping characteristics of maximum height (Zmax), stride/jump length (lhorz), and mean horizontal speed (vhorz) were compared. Eleven horse-rider pairs repeated two identical jumps (an upright and an oxer fence) several times ( = 6 to 10) at different hei...
Bampidis V, Azimonti G, Bastos ML, Christensen H, Durjava M, Dusemund B, Kouba M, López-Alonso M, López Puente S, Marcon F, Mayo B, Pechová A....Following a request from the European Commission, EFSA was asked to deliver a scientific opinion on the safety and efficacy of DBVPG 48 SF (BioCell®) as a zootechnical feed additive for horses, pigs and ruminants. The product, manufactured in three formulations (microsphere, micropellet and powder), is intended for use in complete feed at a minimum inclusion level of 3 × 10 CFU/kg complete feed for horses, 4 × 10 CFU/kg complete feed for dairy cows and minor dairy species, 4 × 10 CFU/kg complete feed for calves, cattle for fattening, minor growing and fattening ruminants...
Bampidis V, Azimonti G, Bastos ML, Christensen H, Durjava M, Kouba M, López-Alonso M, López Puente S, Marcon F, Mayo B, Pechová A, Petkova M....Following a request from the European Commission, EFSA was asked to deliver a scientific opinion on the safety and efficacy of anise oil and anise tincture obtained from the fruit of L., when used as sensory additives. The use of the anise oil at the proposed use level in complete feed of 1.9 mg/kg for laying hens and 5 mg/kg for horses was considered of low concern. The EFSA Panel on Additives and Products or Substances used in Animal Feed (FEEDAP) had no safety concern when anise oil is used at the proposed use levels of 1.5 mg/kg for chickens for fattening and at 1.7 mg/kg for turk...
Zollinger A, Wyss C, Bardou D, Bachmann I.In domestic conditions, adult stallions are mostly housed individually in internal stables to reduce the risk of injuries during social interactions. Social deprivation in horses results in physiological stress and behavioural problems. The aim of this study was to test the "social box" (SB), which allows closer physical contact between neighbouring horses. Eight pairs of stallions (n = 16) were filmed over a 24 h period in the SB and in their usual box stables, "conventional boxes" (CB), which strongly restrict tactile contact. The effect of housing in the SB on behaviour and the occurrence a...
Bampidis V, Azimonti G, Bastos ML, Christensen H, Dusemund B, Durjava M, Kouba M, López-Alonso M, López Puente S, Marcon F, Mayo B, Pechová A....Following a request from the European Commission, EFSA was asked to deliver a scientific opinion on DSM 11520 when used as a technological additive (acidity regulator) in feed for horses, dogs, cats and pet rabbits. The additive is intended to be incorporated into oat-derived products (ca. 55% moisture content), carrot root-derived products (≥ 90% moisture) and coconut flesh-derived products (≥ 90% moisture) at a minimum inclusion level of 8.0 × 10 CFU/kg of the feed material under scope. The bacterial species is considered by EFSA to be suitable for the qualified presumption ...
Suniga PAP, Mantovani C, Santos MG, Rieger JSG, Gaspar EB, Dos Santos FL, Mota RA, Chaves KP, Egito AA, Filho JCO, Nassar AFC, Dos Santos LR....Glanders is a contagious disease of equids caused by the Gram-negative bacterium Burkholderia mallei. In Brazil, the disease is considered to be reemerging and has been expanding, with records of equids with positive serology in most of the federative units. However, there are few reports describing the genotypic detection of the agent. This study demonstrated the detection of B. mallei by species-specific PCR directly from tissues or from bacterial cultures, followed by amplicon sequencing in equids (equines, mules, and asinines) with positive serology for glanders in all five geographic regi...
Liehrmann O, Cosnard C, Riihonen V, Viitanen A, Alander E, Jardat P, Koski SE, Lummaa V, Lansade L.Cues such as the human pointing gesture, gaze or proximity to an object are widely used in behavioural studies to evaluate animals' abilities to follow human-given cues. Many domestic mammals, such as horses, can follow human cues; however, factors influencing their responses are still unclear. We assessed the performance of 57 horses at a two-way choice task testing their ability to follow cues of either a familiar (N = 28) or an unfamiliar informant (N = 29). We investigated the effects of the length of the relationship between the horse and a familiar person (main caregiver), their ...
Alipour A, Akrami Mohajeri F, Javdan G, Pourramezani F, Fallahzadeh H, Khalili Sadrabad E.In recent years, the mare's milk has been introduced as a rich source of nutrients with hypoallergic characteristics which is widely used for Iranian infants. The present study aimed to investigate the heavy metal concentration of mare's milk and its consumption risk assessment. About 88 mare's milk was collected from Yazd, the centre of Iran, during the summer of 2020. The raw mare's milk was digested and analysed for mineral and heavy metal content (As, Ca, Cd, Co, Cu, Fe, Mg, Mn, Ni, P, Pb and Zn) by ICP-OES. To estimate the health hazard for consumers the Estimated Daily Intake (EDI), Haza...
Bampidis V, Azimonti G, Bastos ML, Christensen H, Durjava M, Kouba M, López-Alonso M, López Puente S, Marcon F, Mayo B, Pechová A, Petkova M....Following a request from the European Commission, EFSA was asked to deliver a scientific opinion on the safety and efficacy of an essential oil obtained from the oleoresin of Aiton (pine white oil, also known as turpentine oil), when used as a sensory additive in feed and water for drinking for all animal species. The Panel on Additives and Products or Substances used in Animal Feed (FEEDAP) concluded that the essential oil under assessment is safe up to the maximum proposed use levels of 35 mg/kg for laying hens, piglets, pigs for fattening, sows, rabbits, salmonids, 50 mg/kg for veal ca...
Ramin A, Abdollahpour G, Hosseinzadeh A, Azizzadeh F, Ramin P, Klalili Y, Sanajo D, Iran Nezhad S.Leptospirosis, a zoonotic disease, is characterized by fever, jaundice, abortion and hemo-globinuria. It is widespread and the determination of the dominant serotype in the animal species of each region accelerates the control and prevention program. 862 blood samples were prepared from ruminants and equines. Serum antibody of leptospira serovars were determined based on gender and age parameters. Sera were examined by microscopic agglutination test (MAT) with six live serotypes. The overall prevalence was 22.30%, with the highest (37.00%) and the lowest (6.60%) in Holsteins and mules, respect...
Darbandi H, Munsters C, Parmentier J, Havinga P.Detection of fatigue helps prevent injuries and optimize the performance of horses. Previous studies tried to determine fatigue using physiological parameters. However, measuring the physiological parameters, e.g., plasma lactate, is invasive and can be affected by different factors. In addition, the measurement cannot be done automatically and requires a veterinarian for sample collection. This study investigated the possibility of detecting fatigue non-invasively using a minimum number of body-mounted inertial sensors. Using the inertial sensors, sixty sport horses were measured during walk ...
Camp M, Kibler ML, Ivey JLZ, Thompson JM.Racehorse welfare is a prominent, public issue which affects nearly every aspect of the racing industry. Thoroughbred care after race career completion has garnered increasing attention from the equine industry, general public, and animal welfare groups alike. As the average racehorse's career lasts just 4.5 years, owner demand for thoroughbreds is essential for post-race careers and acceptable welfare standards. This study utilized data from and hedonic pricing models to analyze buyer demand for thoroughbreds sold in online auctions held from 2012 to 2020. The results indicate buyer preferenc...
Laidoudi Y, Rousset E, Dessimoulie AS, Prigent M, Raptopoulo A, Huteau Q, Chabbert E, Navarro C, Fournier PE, Davoust B., also known as the causal agent of Q fever, is a zoonotic pathogen infecting humans and several animal species. Here, we investigated the epidemiological context of from an area in the Hérault department in southern France, using the One Health paradigm. In total, 13 human cases of Q fever were diagnosed over the last three years in an area comprising four villages. Serological and molecular investigations conducted on the representative animal population, as well as wind data, indicated that some of the recent cases are likely to have originated from a sheepfold, which revealed bacterial c...
Afonso AC, Sousa M, Pinto AR, Cotovio M, Simões M, Saavedra MJ.As in human medicine, in veterinary medicine, chronic wounds are often related to polymicrobial infections and the presence of a biofilm, which compromises the effectiveness of therapeutic approaches. In this study, a Lusitano mare presented a 21-day-old chronic wound that was only being treated with an antiseptic. A swab sample was collected, and three isolates of Staphylococcus aureus and one of Pseudomonas aeruginosa were isolated. S. aureus did not show resistance to a panel of antibiotics. However, the P. aeruginosa isolate showed a resistance profile to carbapenems and fluoroquinolones, ...
Salamone D, Maserati M.Horse cloning by somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) is an attractive scientific and commercial endeavor. Moreover, SCNT allows generating genetically identical animals from elite, aged, castrated, or deceased equine donors. Several variations in the horse SCNT method have been described, which may be useful for specific applications. This chapter describes a detailed protocol for horse cloning, thus including SCNT protocols using zona pellucida (ZP)-enclosed or ZP-free oocytes for enucleation. These SCNT protocols are under routine use for commercial equine cloning.
Gołyński M, Metyk M, Ciszewska J, Szczepanik MP, Fitch G, Bęczkowski PM.Homocysteine is an endogenous, non-protein sulfuric amino acid, an intermediate metabolite formed by the methionine transmethylation reaction. Its elevated serum concentration in humans, hyperhomocysteinemia, is a sensitive indicator and a risk factor for coagulation disorders, cardiovascular diseases and dementia. However, the role of homocysteine in veterinary species has not been unequivocally established. Although some research has been conducted in dogs, cats, cattle and pigs, relatively few studies on homocysteine have been conducted in horses. So far, it has been established in this spe...
Dilling SC, TenBroeck SH, Hogsette JA, Kline DL.Mosquitoes are pests of horses, but mosquito trap efficacy data, especially the ability of traps to protect horses, are lacking. Studies were conducted to investigate the comparative attraction between traps and horses, increase trap attraction by adding horse odors to the airstream of a trap, determine the spatial distribution of adult mosquitoes, estimate the numbers of mosquitoes feeding on horses, determine the relative attraction of horses to mosquitoes, and estimate the range of mosquitoes' attraction between two horses. When a horse and a mosquito trap were placed 3.5 m apart, there was...
Arantes JA, Borges AS, Zakia LS, Surette MG, Weese JS, Costa MC, Arroyo LG.Iron is an essential element for all living organisms, including bacteria, as several virulence factors and replication components are influenced by iron concentration. The objective of this study was to determine whether the composition and diversity of the fecal microbiota of adult horses are affected by supplemental dietary iron. Ten clinically healthy horses were randomly divided into a control and an iron-supplemented group ( = 5). The treated group was supplemented with oral ferrous sulphate monohydrate (720 ppm of iron), whereas the control group received 320 ppm of iron daily for 15 d....
Moore-Colyer M, Westacott A, Rousson L, Harris P, Daniels S.Despite our improved understanding of equid digestive health and accurate rations formulations, obesity in the UK horse population remains high. Study aims: (1) to determine how owners are feeding their horses and what influences their choices, (2) to understand owners' knowledge of haylage and (3) to identify key areas that require additional education. Data were collected in 2020 from 1338 UK horse owners via two online surveys. Survey 1 was on general feeding practices, and Survey 2 was specifically on the feeding of haylage. Data were processed using chi square analyses + Bonferroni tests,...
Marsico TV, Valente RS, Annes K, Oliveira AM, Silva MV, Sudano MJ.A wide-ranging review study regarding the molecular characterization of the first cell lineages of the developmental embryo is lacking, especially for the primary events during earliest differentiation which leads to the determination of cellular fate. Here, a systematic review and meta-analysis were conducted according to PRISMA guidelines. MEDLINE-PubMed was searched based on an established search strategy through April 2021. Thirty-six studies fulfilling the inclusion criteria were subjected to qualitative and quantitative analysis. Among the studies, 50 % (18/36) used mice as an animal mod...
de Medeiros Ferreira JR, Mello Cerbaro AE, Bastos FL, Pereira RA, Duarte MA, Araújo Júnior ÂMC, da Silva AH, de Oliveira Gobesso AA.High amounts of grains in the equine diet led to high starch intake, causing gut alterations. Aimed at reducing harmful effects, extract (MCE) is a phytogenic additive that stands out for its antibiotic and anti-inflammatory effects proven in different species. However, there is no useful information for horses. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of different levels of the inclusion of commercial MCE on body weight (BW), body condition score (BCS), total apparent digestibility (AD) of nutrients, faecal pH and fermentative products, on ponies fed a high-starch diet. Eight ...
Yang P, Bi Q, Li Y, Liao J, Ding Y, Huang D, Luo X, Huang Y, Yao C, Zhang J, Wei W, Li Z, Meng J, Guo D.In this study, a novel pseudo-targeted peptidomics strategy, integrating the transition list generated by an in-house software (Pep-MRMer) and the retention time transfer by high-abundance ion-based retention time calibration (HAI-RT-cal), was developed to screen marker peptides of gelatins from five closely related animal species, including porcine, bovine, horse, mule, and donkey. Five marker peptides were screened from the molecular phenotypic differences of type I collagen. Furthermore, a simple and robust 10 min multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) method was established and performed well ...
Hofstee W.Vet and owner of Unicorn Trails Wendy Hofstee explains how she developed a horse-riding holiday business alongside a successful career in emergency veterinary work.
Abood DA, Dawood MS, Mohammed LE, Karim AJ.Certain advantages of donkeys are still not listed as for other equine species. Moreover, donkeys lack comprehensive scientific studies. The present study examines the histological architecture and histochemical characteristics of the esophagus in the Iraqi local breed donkey (). Unassigned: Eight esophagus samples were collected from a local breed donkey. Tissue specimens (~1 cm) were collected from the cervical, thoracic, and abdominal regions of the esophagus and processed via routine histological technique. The tissue sections were stained with hematoxylin and eosin, Massons Trichrome, and...
Salamanca-Carreño A, Parés-Casanova PM, Crosby-Granados RA, Vélez-Terranova M, Bentez-Molano J.The skull is divided into neurocranium and splanchnocranium, and its variation allows ecomorphological studies to learn about possible evolutionary and adaptive characteristics. The basicranial organization of the neurocranium and splanchnocranium modules was studied in a sample of 31 skulls from adult Araucanian horses by means of 2D geometric morphometric techniques. The neurocranium and splanchnocranium modules on the ventral aspect were analyzed separately using a set of 31 landmarks. The RV coefficient (the multivariate analog of a correlation) was estimated to analyze the independence of...
Olson ME, Thorlakson CL, Deselliers L, Morck DW, McAllister TA.Giardia intestinalis and Cryptosporidium spp. are commonly identified intestinal pathogens in humans and animals. In light of the clinical disease, production losses and zoonotic potential of both Giardia and Cryptosporidium infections, a study was undertaken to investigate the prevalence of these parasites in cattle, sheep, pigs and horses in Canadian farms at different geographical locations. A total of 104 cattle, 89 sheep, 236 pigs and 35 horses were sampled from 15 different Canadian geographical locations. Fecal samples were examined after concentration and immunofluorescent staining. Gi...
DebRoy C, Maddox CW.The pathogenic strains of Escherichia coli recovered from the intestinal tract of animals fall into categories called enterotoxigenic, enteropathogenic, enterohemorrhagic and necrotoxigenic. The other two categories, enteroinvasive and enteroaggregative, have not been reported in animals. The pathogenicity of these strains is determined by the presence of certain genes that encode adhesins and toxins, are generally organized in large blocks in chromosomes, large plasmids or phages, and are often transmitted horizontally between strains. In this review, we summarize current knowledge of the vir...
Islam MZ, Espinosa-Gongora C, Damborg P, Sieber RN, Munk R, Husted L, Moodley A, Skov R, Larsen J, Guardabassi L.Denmark is a country with high prevalence of livestock-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) clonal complex (CC) 398 in pigs. Even though pig farming is regarded as the main source of human infection or colonization with MRSA CC398, 10-15% of the human cases appear not to be linked to pigs. Following the recent reports of MRSA CC398 in horses in other European countries and the lack of knowledge on S. aureus carriage in this animal species, we carried out a study to investigate whether horses constitute a reservoir of MRSA CC398 in Denmark, and to gain knowledge on the ...
Williams IF, McCullagh KG, Silver IA.During tissue response to injury the glycoproteins fibronectin and Type III collagen are synthesized in increased amounts. We have studied the distribution of these molecules in the healing tendon at various times after injury by comparison with that of the major constituent of normal tendon, Type I collagen. Immunofluorescent localization demonstrated the presence of fibronectin throughout the tendon within one week after injury. Staining was found in the matrix, both around capillaries and around fibroblast-like cells. Fibronectin was still apparent in the healing tendon at one month after i...
Yarnell K, Hall C, Royle C, Walker SL.The predominant housing system used for domestic horses is individual stabling; however, housing that limits social interaction and requires the horse to live in semi-isolation has been reported to be a concern for equine welfare. The aim of the current study was to compare behavioural and physiological responses of domestic horses in different types of housing design that provided varying levels of social contact. Horses (n = 16) were divided equally into four groups and exposed to each of four housing treatments for a period of five days per treatment in a randomized block design. The four h...
Hoynowski SM, Fry MM, Gardner BM, Leming MT, Tucker JR, Black L, Sand T, Mitchell KE.Stem cells are being evaluated in numerous human clinical trials and are commercially used in veterinary medicine to treat horses and dogs. Stem cell differentiation, homing to disease sites, growth and cytokine factor modulation, and low antigenicity contribute to their therapeutic success. Bone marrow and adipose tissue are the two most common sources of adult-derived stem cells in animals. We report on the existence of an alternative source of primitive, multipotent stem cells from the equine umbilical cord cellular matrix (Wharton's jelly). Equine umbilical cord matrix (EUCM) cells can be ...
Frisbie DD, Lu Y, Kawcak CE, DiCarlo EF, Binette F, McIlwraith CW.Current autologous chondrocyte implantation (ACI) techniques require 2 surgical procedures: 1 for cell harvest and 1 for reimplantation of cultured cells. A 1-step procedure is more desirable. Objective: A 1-step surgical procedure using autologous cartilage fragments on a polydioxanone scaffold, or CAIS (cartilage autograft implantation system), in a clinically relevant defect (15-mm diameter) within equine femoral trochlea was compared with a 2-step ACI technique as well as with empty defects and defects with polydioxanone foam scaffolds alone. Methods: Controlled laboratory study. Methods: ...
Belaunzaran X, Bessa RJ, Lavín P, Mantecón AR, Kramer JK, Aldai N.The consumption of horse-meat is currently not popular in most countries, but because of its availability and recognized nutritional value consumption is slowly increasing in several western European countries based on claims that it could be an alternative red meat. In this review, horse-meat production, trade and supply values have been summarized. In addition, the advantage of horse production is noted because of its lower methane emissions and increased uptake, particularly of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), which is based on its digestive physiology. Of particular interest in thi...
Koerner J, Nesic D, Romero JD, Brehm W, Mainil-Varlet P, Grogan SP.Fibroblast-like cells isolated from peripheral blood of human, canine, guinea pig, and rat have been demonstrated to possess the capacity to differentiate into several mesenchymal lineages. The aim of this work was to investigate the possibility of isolating pluripotent precursor cells from equine peripheral blood and compare them with equine bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells. Human mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) were used as a control for cell multipotency assessment. Venous blood (n = 33) and bone marrow (n = 5) were obtained from adult horses. Mononuclear cells were obtained by Fico...
McGuigan MP, Wilson AM.A horse's legs are compressed during the stance phase, storing and then returning elastic strain energy in spring-like muscle-tendon units. The arrangement of the muscle-tendon units around the lever-like joints means that as the leg shortens the muscle-tendon units are stretched. The forelimb anatomy means that the leg can be conceptually divided into two springs: the proximal spring, from the scapula to the elbow, and the distal spring, from the elbow to the foot. In this paper we report the results of a series of experiments testing the hypothesis that there is minimal scope for muscle cont...
Stomp M, Leroux M, Cellier M, Henry S, Lemasson A, Hausberger M.Indicators of positive emotions are still scarce and many proposed behavioural markers have proven ambiguous. Studies established a link between acoustic signals and emitter's internal state, but few related to positive emotions and still fewer considered non-vocal sounds. One of them, the snort, is shared by several perrisodactyls and has been associated to positive contexts in these species. We hypothesized that this could be also the case in horses. In this species, there is a clear need for a thorough description of non-vocal acoustic signals (snorts, snores or blows are often used interch...
Maros K, Gácsi M, Miklósi A.Twenty domestic horses (Equus caballus) were tested for their ability to rely on different human gesticular cues in a two-way object choice task. An experimenter hid food under one of two bowls and after baiting, indicated the location of the food to the subjects by using one of four different cues. Horses could locate the hidden reward on the basis of the distal dynamic-sustained, proximal momentary and proximal dynamic-sustained pointing gestures but failed to perform above chance level when the experimenter performed a distal momentary pointing gesture. The results revealed that horses coul...
Weese JS, Caldwell F, Willey BM, Kreiswirth BN, McGeer A, Rousseau J, Low DE.There are increasing reports of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infection and colonization in horses and evidence that MRSA can be transmitted between horses and humans. The objective of this study was to investigate reports of skin infection in personnel working with a foal with community-associated MRSA colonization and subsequent infection. Clinical diagnostic specimens were collected from individuals reporting skin lesions following contact with the affected foal. Nasal and groin screening swabs were collected from other veterinary personnel that attended a voluntary scr...
Birch HL, Bailey AJ, Goodship AE.Injuries to the superficial digital flexor tendon are common in horses required to gallop and jump at speed. Partial rupture of this tendon usually occurs in the central core of the midmetacarpal region and may be preceded by localised degenerative changes. Post mortem examination of apparently normal equine flexor tendons has revealed an abnormal macroscopic appearance in the central core, characterised by a reddish discolouration. We have previously shown that there is also physical damage to the collagen fibres. In the present study we tested the hypothesis that the abnormal appearance is a...
BMC research notesSeptember 2, 2015
Volume 8 400 doi: 10.1186/s13104-015-1357-8
Digafe RT, Kifelew LG, Mechesso AF.Rabies is a fatal animal disease of significant public health importance. Domestic dogs are the main reservoir and transmitter of this disease particularly in developing countries. Even though rabies is a highly fatal disease, it is a preventable disease. Community awareness about rabies is one of the key components for prevention. This study describes the knowledge, attitudes and practices of a rural community in Gondar Zuria District, Ethiopia. Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted from March to June, 2013. A structured questionnaire was used to collect the data through face to face...
Poole DC, Erickson HH.Evolutionary forces drive beneficial adaptations in response to a complex array of environmental conditions. In contrast, over several millennia, humans have been so enamored by the running/athletic prowess of horses and dogs that they have sculpted their anatomy and physiology based solely upon running speed. Thus, through hundreds of generations, those structural and functional traits crucial for running fast have been optimized. Central among these traits is the capacity to uptake, transport and utilize oxygen at spectacular rates. Moreover, the coupling of the key systems--pulmonary-cardio...
Lange-Consiglio A, Rossi D, Tassan S, Perego R, Cremonesi F, Parolini O.We have recently demonstrated that heterologous transplantation of horse amniotic membrane-derived mesenchymal cells (AMCs) can be useful for cell therapy applications in tendon diseases, and hypothesized that these cells may promote tendon repair via paracrine-acting molecules targeting inflammatory processes. To test this hypothesis, here we examined the immunomodulatory characteristics of AMCs and of their conditioned medium (AMC-CM) in vitro, and studied the potential therapeutic effect of AMC-CM in thirteen different spontaneous horse tendon and ligament injuries in vivo. Our results demo...
Venter M, Swanepoel R.West Nile virus (WNV) is widely distributed in South Africa, but since a few cases of neurological disease have been reported from this region, endemic lineage 2 strains were postulated to be of low virulence. Several cases of nonfatal encephalitis in humans as well as fatal cases in a foal, dog, and ostrich chicks have, however, been associated with lineage 2 WNV in South Africa. The pathogenesis of lineage 2 WNV strains was investigated using mouse neuroinvasive experiments, gene expression experiments, and genome sequence comparisons which indicated that lineage 2 strains that are highly pa...
Anderson MA, Whitlock JE, Harwood VJ.Escherichia coli is the most completely characterized prokaryotic model organism and one of the dominant indicator organisms for food and water quality testing, yet comparatively little is known about the structure of E. coli populations in their various hosts. The diversities of E. coli populations isolated from the feces of three host species (human, cow, and horse) were compared by two subtyping methods: ribotyping (using HindIII) and antibiotic resistance analysis (ARA). The sampling effort required to obtain a representative sample differed by host species, as E. coli diversity was consis...
King S, Rajko-Nenow P, Ashby M, Frost L, Carpenter S, Batten C.African horse sickness was confirmed in horses in Thailand during March 2020. The virus was determined to belong to serotype 1 and is phylogenetically closely related to isolates from South Africa. This is the first incidence of African horse sickness occurring in South East Asia and of serotype 1 outside of Africa.
Ortega-Ferrusola C, Sotillo-Galán Y, Varela-Fernández E, Gallardo-Bolaños JM, Muriel A, González-Fernández L, Tapia JA, Peña FJ.The kinematics of the appearance of apoptotic markers was studied by flow cytometry and immunoblot assays in equine spermatozoa subjected to freezing and thawing. Caspase activity, low mitochondrial membrane potential, and increases in sperm membrane permeability were observed in all of the phases of the cryopreservation procedure. Freezing and thawing caused an increase in membrane permeability and changes in the pattern of caspase activity; decreases in mitochondrial membrane potential were observed after centrifugation and cooling to 4 degrees C and after freezing and thawing. It is propose...
Kirkpatrick JF, Lyda RO, Frank KM.Wildlife, free-ranging and captive, poses and causes serious population problems not unlike those encountered with human overpopulation. Traditional lethal control programs, however, are not always legal, wise, safe, or publicly acceptable; thus, alternative approaches are necessary. Immunocontraception of free-ranging wildlife has reached the management level, with success across a large variety of species. Thus far, the immunocontraceptive research and management applications emphasis have been centered on porcine zona pellucida and gonadotropin-releasing hormone vaccines. Contraceptive succ...
Hausberger M, Bruderer C, Le Scolan N, Pierre JS.The aim of the present study was to broach the question of the relative influence of different genetic and environmental factors on different temperament/personality traits of horses (Equus caballus). The researchers submitted 702 horses to standardized experimental tests and investigated 9 factors, either genetic or environmental. Genetic factors, such as sire or breed, seemed to influence more neophobic reactions, whereas environmental factors, such as the type of work, seemed to play a more dominant role in reactions to social separation or learning abilities. Additive effects were evident,...
Wood W, Alm K, Benjamin J, Thomas L, Anderson D, Pohl L, Kane M. To recommend (1) the adoption of optimal terminology for referring to services in the United States that incorporate horses and other equines to benefit people, and (2) the discontinuation of especially problematic terminology. A diverse multidisciplinary consortium of individuals, including representatives of relevant national organizations, participated in an inclusive, systematic, and comprehensive 2-year consensus-building process. Twelve specific types of services were identified that relate to one of three broad areas of professional work: therapy, learning, or horsemanship. Related t...
Hoagwood KE, Acri M, Morrissey M, Peth-Pierce R.To systematically review experimental evidence about animal-assisted therapies (AAT) for children or adolescents with or at risk for mental health conditions, we reviewed all experimental AAT studies published between 2000-2015, and compared studies by animal type, intervention, and outcomes. Methods: Studies were included if used therapeutically for children and adolescents (≤21 years) with or at risk for a mental health problem; used random assignment or a waitlist comparison/control group; and included child-specific outcome data. Of 1,535 studies, 24 met inclusion criteria. Results: Of 2...
Lampe JF, Andre J.This study has shown that domestic horses are capable of cross-modal recognition of familiar humans. It was demonstrated that horses are able to discriminate between the voices of a familiar and an unfamiliar human without seeing or smelling them at the same moment. Conversely, they were able to discriminate the same persons when only exposed to their visual and olfactory cues, without being stimulated by their voices. A cross-modal expectancy violation setup was employed; subjects were exposed both to trials with incongruent auditory and visual/olfactory identity cues and trials with congruen...
