A New Cause for Bloody Urine in Horses.

This research article discusses a case study in which a horse’s bloody urine (hematuria) was linked to a parasite, specifically the filarial worm, which is more commonly associated with human blood.

Case Overview

• Professor Lange presents a case of a horse with sudden onset of illness, displaying symptoms such as refusing food, becoming constipated, weakness, and jaundice. The horse also developed a feeble, irregular heartbeat and had a slightly elevated temperature.
• Upon examination, the horse’s urine was found to be darkened from blood, although few red blood cells were evident. The presence of albumen, a protein typically not observed in urine in healthy states, was also noted.

Parasitic Infection

• When samples of the horse’s blood, taken from various body parts, were examined under a microscope, a large number of thread-like, cylindrical parasites were detected. These parasites had a length of approximately 1-800th inch and a width of about 1-1850th inch.
• This worm-like creature had a noticeable feature which was a little channel running through its body. This is a key identifying trait of a group of parasites known as filarial worms.

Recovery and Findings

• Despite the horse showing improvement in a few days, its urine remained bloody for about a month, before clearing up suddenly.
• Lange identifies the parasite as identical to the one commonly found in human blood, causing a disease known as chyluria, a condition where fatty materials or chyle are present in the urine giving it a milky appearance.
• He postulates that the filarial worm may be a more common cause of hematuria in horses than previously thought. This idea is based on prior findings of the same parasite (filaria sanguinis hominis) in horses.

Implication

• Lange suggests that due to these observations, veterinarians should pay closer attention to the possibility of filarial infection as a cause of hematuria and other related symptoms in horses.