Treatment Efficiency of Combination Therapy With Diminazene Aceturate and Quinapyramine Sulfate in a Horse With Dourine.

The research focuses on the successful treatment of a lethal protozoan disease known as dourine in a Mongolian horse, using a combination of two drugs, diminazene aceturate and quinapyramine sulfate.

Introduction to Dourine

• Dourine is a fatal parasitic infection found in horses, donkeys, and mules, primarily transmitted during mating. This disease is caused by the Trypanosoma equiperdum protozoan.
• Previously, the recommendation to control dourine has been the ‘stamping-out policy,’ which involves the quarantine and elimination of affected animals because treatments often result in case relapses.
• However, this policy is tough to implement in Mongolia – a leading country in horse breeding – due to lack of an efficient livestock guarantee system.
• Hence, there is a pressing need for reliable treatment methods.

The Combination Therapy

• In this study, an 8-year-old stallion was definitively diagnosed with dourine. The diagnosis was based on the horse’s clinical symptoms, a microscopic examination of the trypanosomes, and molecular analysis.
• Next, a combination therapy of diminazene aceturate and quinapyramine sulfate was employed. These drugs are commonly used in veterinary medicine to treat protozoan infections.
• Before the treatment began, dourine’s typical clinical signs were obvious, and trypanosomes (the disease-causing parasites) were detected both via microscopic examination and Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing. Also, a serological test gave positive results certifying the presence of the disease.

The Treatment Outcome

• Following the treatment, significant improvement in the horse’s health was recorded, with no evidence of trypanosome infection in the urogenital tract as revealed by microscopy and PCR testing.
• Furthermore, the horse’s serological test results turned from positive (disease present) to negative (disease absent), indicating the successful elimination of the disease from the horse’s system.
• Even after 2.5 years post-treatment, the horse showed no signs of dourine relapse and its reproductive health improved significantly.

Conclusion

• The study concludes that the combination therapy of diminazene aceturate and quinapyramine sulfate could be an effective dourine treatment during the early stages of the infection. This finding suggests a potential for this combined therapy as a practical alternative to the ‘stamping-out policy’ for controlling dourine in horse populations.