Ticks are equipped with powerful jaws, so removing them from a horse can be difficult. Though it can be tempting, don't crush or twist the tick when trying to get it off the horse. Although many people try, smothering the tick with baby oil or petroleum jelly or touching the tick with a lit match isn't the best strategy. It can potentially cause more harm if the tick regurgitates blood into the horse, increasing the risk of disease transmission. Ticks can transmit Lyme disease, equine infectious anemia, piroplasmosis or equine granulocytic anaplasmosis.

Tick bites make horses itchy, but in large numbers they can cause more than just discomfort: they can cause enough blood loss to make the horse anemic. The best way to remove a tick is to use tweezers and grab the tick where it's attached to the skin. Using a steady force, pull the tick straight out and wash the area with an antiseptic solution.

Horse owners who are unsure what types of ticks thrive in their area should contact their local extension agent.

Read more at EquiMed.

The post Safe Removal Of Ticks Imperative To Horse Health appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Horses that have piroplasmosis have a high fever, go off their feed and are lethargic. Their legs may swell, as does their spleen; they have a rapid heart rate and urine discoloration. Affected horses may die; if the horse recovers, he will be recessive carrier of the disease for the rest of his life.

EP is common in Europe, Asia, Africa and South America. An outbreak of piroplasmosis has economic consequences as it can halt international equine movement between endemic and non-endemic regions.

Drs. Sharon Tirosh-Levy, Yuval Gottlieb, Lindsay Fry, Donald Knowles and Amir Steinman analyzed the serological, epidemiological, and molecular diagnostic data on EP published in the last 20 years to better understand how prevalent the parasites that cause the disease are.

The team concluded that EP is endemic in most parts of the world and that it is spreading into more-temperate climates that had previously been considered free from the parasite. It's estimated that 90 percent of the horses in the world live in areas where EP is endemic.

There is no vaccine for EP; control of the disease includes a combination of medications, vector control and limited transport of infected horses. Treatment and control strategies differ between endemic and non-endemic regions. The United States, Australia, and Japan are non-endemic countries that deny EP-positive horses entrance to their countries; these countries quarantine, export or euthanize infected horses.

Read the review here.

Read more at HorseTalk.

The post Equine Piroplasmosis Spreading To More-Temperate Regions appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post