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AAEP Publishes Equine Protozoal Myeloencephalitis Guidelines

The American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP) has published on its website comprehensive guidelines to assist practitioners with identification, diagnosis and control of Equine Protozoal Myeloencephalitis (EPM), a progressively debilitating disease of the central nervous system that affects horses that reside or once spent time in North or South America.

“EPM is widely considered the most important infectious neurologic disease of horses in North America,” said guidelines author Amy Johnson, DVM, DACVIM. “The variable clinical signs and widespread seroprevalence pose challenges to diagnosis. These guidelines aim to summarize essential information regarding this disease process, as well as highlight the three criteria for highest diagnostic accuracy in potentially affected horses.”

The EPM Guidelines, available as a PDF file, were reviewed and approved by the AAEP's Infectious Disease Committee and board of directors. View the EPM Guidelines here.

Besides EPM, AAEP guidelines for 20 other equine infectious diseases are available here. In addition, two foreign animal disease guidelines—for African horse sickness and Glanders—can be found here.

The post AAEP Publishes Equine Protozoal Myeloencephalitis Guidelines appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Can I Contract Coronavirus From My Horse? A Vet Responds

Just weeks before the COVID-19 pandemic became a reality for people in the United States, the equine version of the coronavirus was making its way through show facilities and racetracks across the nation. Thankfully, the equine coronavirus is not transmissible to humans and is not the cause of the worldwide pandemic.

Dr. James Williams of Novato, CA, reports that the only way a human could contract COVID-19 from a horse would be for an infected human to cough onto a horse's coat and then for another human to touch the horse (and the droplets), then touch his nose or mouth. This is the same way a non-infected human might contract COVID-19 from a countertop an infected person coughed on.

Thankfully, both scenarios seem highly unlikely: Most viruses are species specific. When horses are infected with the equine corona, they typically run a fever, have no appetite, are lethargic and have diarrhea. Rarely is their respiratory tract affected. Equine coronavirus typically lasts four to five days and recovery is generally uneventful. Supportive therapies may be used, including administering fluids and non-steroidal anti-inflammatories.

Equine coronavirus is spread between horses through the fecal-oral route: a horse must have direct contact with infected feces to contract the disease. Clinical signs typically begin between 48 and 72 hours after exposure; the horse will shed the virus in his feces three to four days after exposure. This may cause horse's feces to test negative for the disease in its early stages. The horse sheds the most amount of disease three to four days after clinic signs begin.

Infected horses generally shed the disease for about three weeks. Asymptomatic shedders can also spread the disease. How long the disease can last in the environment is not known, similar to human coronaviruses. Equine coronavirus is often seen in cold weather, though transmission in warmer months is possible.

Britain Remains Free From West Nile Virus

Samples from nearly 1,000 British horses revealed no presence of West Nile Virus (WNV). Transmitted by mosquitoes, West Nile Virus can cause severe neurological issues in horses; the disease has a fatality rate of about 33 percent in unvaccinated animals.

Drs. Arran Folly, Elisabeth Waller, Fiona McCracken, Lorraine McElhinney, Helen Roberts and Nicholas Johnson note that while this is good news for horse owners, they must remain vigilant in the fight against the disease. WNV is seen in many parts of the world, including the United States, southern Europe and Germany.

The researchers focused their study on southeast England, the area of Britain considered most at risk for virus introduction. The virus is most likely spread geographically by birds that have the virus; horses are a dead-end host for WNV.

Two of the 998 horses tested were positive for WNV antibodies, but upon further review, it was deemed that the antibodies were a result of vaccination for the virus within seven days of the testing.

The scientists concluded that there was no evidence of West Nile Virus transmission in England in 2019; this is in agreeance with the results of a 2019 British bird surveillance, which also found no West Nile Virus RNA in the birds.

Read the short report here.

Horses In North Carolina Dying From Mystery Illness

New Hope Stables in North Carolina has had four horses die from a mystery illness that veterinarians cannot isolate or explain. Treasure, an 18-year-old rescue horse used in the stable's lesson program, was the first horse afflicted and was originally suspected to be colicking when barn workers found him down on September 23.

When the veterinarian arrived, however, it was apparent that Treasure was not colicking, but the horse was experiencing gastrointestinal irritation. The gelding was sent to Woodside Equine Clinic in Richmond, VA, where he deteriorated and was euthanized.

On Sept. 28, several other horses at the farm became ill and three died. Three horses remain in the clinic and nearly half of the farm's stable is on intravenous fluids.

Treating veterinarian Dr. Shanna Edwards has asked colleagues all over the United States for opinions; thus far no conclusive diagnosis has been reached, even after a necropsy of one of the horses.

Affected horses have diarrhea, colic and fever, and become bloated and lethargic. Edwards suspects a toxin may be in the horse's hay, grain or water as every horse in the farm is affected, which doesn't typically happen with an infectious disease. The farm has stopped using their well water and has brought in new hay and grain.

A GoFundMePage has raised nearly $30,000 of the $20,000 goal.