Research suggests that vaccinations for equine influenza virus (EIV) and equine herpesvirus types 1 and 4 (EHV-1 and EHV-4) can safely be administered on the same day without compromising the horse's immune response.

Scientists from the Irish Equine Centre in Kildare divided 30 healthy horses into two groups to test the efficacy of the vaccines alone and used in tandem. The first group received the EIV vaccine and then a combination EHV-1 and EHV-4 vaccine two weeks apart. The second group was given both vaccines on the same day. Blood samples were taken from all horses before and after the vaccinations to measure antibody levels to EIV, EHV-1 and EHV-4. 

Results showed that the horses vaccinated for both EHV and EIV on the same day had slightly higher antibody response to EIV vaccines than those horses that were vaccinated two weeks apart. There was no significant difference in EHV-1 and EHV-4 antibody response between the two groups. 

The study team concludes that administering EIV and EHV-1 and -4 concurrently will not compromise the  horse's immune system response.

Read more at EQUUS. 

The post Don’t Hesitate To Vaccinate For EHV With Other Core Vaccines  appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Adding to the issue is that even when the eggs are released, the packets aren't evenly distributed through the manure, meaning they could easily be missed under a microscope. However, there are other methods for detecting the presence of tapeworms in horses, including using manure, saliva or serum.

Drs.  Laura Jürgenschellert, Jürgen Krücken, Corrine Austin, Kirsty Lightbody, Eric Bousquet and Georg von Samson-Himmelstjerna used 48 horse farms in Berlin and Brandenburg, Germany, to test different tapeworm analysis methods. They took fecal samples from 484 horses, serum samples from 481 horses and saliva samples from 365 horses. The saliva and serum samples were tested to determine the antibody levels against tapeworms.

The fecal egg count tests detected tapeworm eggs in 0.6 percent of the samples (6.3 percent of the farm). However, antibodies against tapeworms were present in 16.2 percent of serum samples (52.1 percent of farms) and in 29.5 percent of the saliva samples (75.7 percent of farms).

The research team also sent out a questionnaire to horse owners and they determined that pasture access and pasture changes, as well as high strongyle egg counts, were risk factors for positive serum responses to tapeworms.

The scientists determined that treatment with a dewormer targeted to tapeworms is protective. The presence of foals and a large number of horses on the farm also seem to offer protective benefits. Interestingly, daily removal of manure didn't make a difference on whether a horse had tapeworms.

The research team concluded that conventional fecal tests for tapeworms are not accurate; for a true indication of the prevalence of tapeworms, horse owners should consider using antibody detection methods like the saliva test used in the study.

Read the full study here.

Read more at HorseTalk.

The post Fecal Tests Fail At Tapeworm Detection appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post