Treatment of equine phycomycosis by immunotherapy and surgery.

The research explores the treatment of equine phycomycosis (a fungal infection in horses) using a vaccine created from a type of fungus called Hyphomyces destruens and surgery. The vaccine was found to be successful in treating over half of the cases of clinical hyphomycosis, a type of fungal infection in horses, and all surgical failure occurrences if treated within two weeks.

Research Approach

• The research involves the creation of a vaccine using ultrasonicated (vibrated at an ultrasonic frequency) hyphae of the fungus Hyphomyces destruens. This is aimed at treating equine phycomycosis, a fungal infection that affects horses.
• The investigation’s experimental group comprised 30 cases of clinical hyphomycosis, a common fungal infection in horses. It also included 10 cases involving horses that had previously undergone unsuccessful surgeries for hyphomycosis, and 5 cases of basidiobolomycosis, another type of fungal infection.

Findings and Outcomes

• The results demonstrated that approximately 53% of horses suffering from clinical hyphomycosis were successfully treated following vaccination. An additional 33% showed clinical improvement after vaccination.
• All horses treated within two weeks of surgery failure were healed. This suggests that the vaccine is potent and can effectively treat hyphomycosis if applied promptly after surgical treatment failures.
• However, the vaccine did not show any effectiveness in treating horses with basidiobolomycosis. For these horses, surgery alone was more effective, resulting in a cure rate of around 69%.
• Horses generally tolerated the vaccination procedures well with no severe adverse effects. However, there was a moderate to severe reaction at the site of the injection, which usually subsided within 96 hours. In approximately 30% of injections, a sterile abscess formed but responsively treated.
• The vaccine’s effects could be observed within 7 to 10 days after the first injection. Signs of recovery included pruritus reduction, drying of the lesion surface, expulsion of kunkers, fibrosis of the granuloma, and eventually complete epithelialisation (regrowth of the skin).