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Study: Horses And Chronic Hepatitis

The most common cause of acute viral hepatitis in horses is serum hepatitis, also called Theiler's disease, which causes liver atrophy and necrosis. Worldwide outbreaks have been reported in conjunction with the use of equine-derived blood products, including tetanus antitoxin, botulinum antitoxin, equine plasma, Streptococcus equi antiserum and pregnant mare's serum.

Between 1.4 and 18 percent of horses receiving an equine-derived product have reported a sudden or severe hepatitis infection. A novel parvovirus dubbed an equine parvovirus-hepatitis (EqPVH) has been identified as the cause of Thieler's disease in horse serum samples the United States, Canada, New Zealand, Italy, and Germany, indicating that the parvovirus occurs worldwide.

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Interestingly, EqPV-H has also been found in horses with Thieler's disease that did not receive biological equine serums.

Dr. Birthe Reinecke, postdoctoral fellow with the Institute of Experimental Virology, and a team of scientists created a study to determine if chronic EqPV-H infection is a possibility and if cross-species infection can occur. The team used 124 German horses for a five-year study as well as 318 human serum samples: 147 samples were from humans with no horse contact and 171 samples were from humans who had contact with horses for their work. They also used 494 donkey serum samples from Germany, Italy and Bulgaria, and archived samples from zebras.

Most horses used in the study were EqPV-H negative, but some has virus in their blood. The team determined that horses can be infected with the disease for up to five years, even if they show no clinical signs of the disease. About 1 percent of donkeys were positive for EqPV-H (5 of the 494 animals), meaning that the disease can also affect donkeys.

Read the full study here.

Stall-Side Test Can Help Determine If A Cough Is Contagious

A coughing horse isn't always an immediate concern, but sometimes his cough can be caused by more than just inhaled dust. A new stall-side blood test can help determine if his cough is caused by a chronic inflammatory condition or infectious disease. If the cough is caused by an infectious disease, it's important to take immediate steps to protect other horses on the farm.

Drs. Molly Vinera, Melissa Mazan, Daniela Bedenice, Samantha Mapes and Nicola Pusterla created a study to test for the significance of the protein serum amyloid (SAA) in the blood of horse's with various respiratory conditions. The presence of SAA is indicative of inflammation; it has been used to evaluate and monitor colic and joint disease treatment.

The research team reviewed records of 167 horses that were sent to clinics for respiratory issues; they then analyzed stored serum samples related to each case. The scientists divided the horses into four groups: horses with equine influenza virus (EIV), horses with equine herpesvirus-4 (EHV-4), horses with strangles and horses with heaves. Serum samples from an additional 40 healthy horses served as controls.

They then used an available stall-side test to determine SAA levels in the stored samples. The results of the test showed that all horses with respiratory issues had higher SAA levels then the control horses. Horses that had equine influenza or other infectious respiratory diseases had significantly higher SAA levels than the horses that had heaves or other noninfectious inflammatory conditions.

The team concludes that these findings suggest that stall-side SAA tests can be a useful first step in diagnosing the cause of equine coughs: It allows for the differentiation between infectious and non-infectious respiratory problems, which can help veterinarians make better treatment and management recommendations.

Read the full study here.

Study: Does Living Near An Industrial Area Place Horses At Risk?

Though minerals and trace elements are necessary for horses to survive, the ingestion of too many can be toxic. Researchers from The University of Messina in Italy created a study to learn about the bioaccumulation of vanadium, chromium, cobalt, copper, zinc, cadmium, lead and bismuth in horses that live in an industrial area of Sicily.

Drs. Francesco Fazio, Enrico Gugliandolo, Vincenzo Nava, Giuseppe Piccione, Claudia Giannetto and Patrizia Licata took blood and hair samples from 20 horses to determine the distribution and concentration of mineral elements. They also analyzed hay, water and feed.

The scientists found that minerals were not distributed evenly in the horses; vanadium, copper, zinc and cadmium concentrations were higher in serum than in whole blood and higher in tail har than mane hair. Copper content was affected by season and geographic area, but in each test, copper was within “normal” range.

Zinc was higher in whole blood than in other samples. While zinc was higher than values found in 1992, the authors note that the increase could be from a variety of factors, including smoke from nearby galvanizing operations.

Cadmium was found to be higher in whole blood and cobalt was highest in tail samples. Chromium was found to be significantly higher in tail hair samples than in other samples. Lead was higher in whole blood and serum than in hair samples. The mineral concentration in hay and feed were below toxic levels.

The researchers conclude that hair samples could be used to monitor element concentrations in horses, but further investigation is needed to “body map” the bioaccumulation of different essential trace elements.

Read the study here.