Equine Medicine

National Report -- An outbreak of equine herpesvirus (EHV-1) that raced through 12 Western states in late spring has officially come to an end.

Saskatoon, Canada -- The University Saskatchewan's large-animal veterinary hospital just closed its doors to non-emergency equine patients after a new equine herpesvirus (EHV-1) case surfaced in the area.

Dr. Jim Guenther offers guidelines for discussing equine herpesvirus with clients.

National Report -- While veterinary officials say the equine herpes virus (EHV-1) outbreak from a Utah cutting horse competition is on the decline, Montana confirmed its first primary case in a quarantined horse.

National Report -- Reports of new equine herpesvirus (EHV-1) cases originating from a Utah cutting horse event are slowing, veterinarians report, but new cases from secondary exposures remain a top concern.

John Cheetham, VetMB, Dipl. ACVS, Department of Clinical Sciences, Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine, has recently received a grant from the Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation to study recurrent laryngeal neuropathy in horses.

Puncture wounds of the sole in horses can range from simple to complex-even life-threatening-depending on the area of penetration.

Little Rock, Ark. - Horseshoeing, training, the selling of equine medications and certain equine reproductive procedures are no longer a part of the veterinary practice act in Arkansas.

Radiation was first used on horses in 1906. Today, finer, more sophisticated therapeutic techniques, procedures and equipment can be used to treat the relatively uncommon tumors in horses.

Outbreaks of equine viral arteritis can be devastating to the equine industry.

Mobile practitioners, follow these tips to handle horse-health conversations on the go.

Secondary exposures now make up about half of all confirmed equine herpes virus cases.

Which joint is most affected by this foal's flexural deformity?

National Report -- Equine herpes virus (EHV-1) has now been confirmed in 44 horses in nine Western states following a national cutting horse event in Ogden, Utah.

Jonesville, Fla. -- A new case of equine herpes virus (EHV-1) has been confirmed at a Jonesville, Fla., farm, although officials say the case is unrelated to a recent outbreak originating in Utah.

National Report -- An outbreak of equine herpes virus (EHV-1) continues to spread with at least 29 cases now confirmed in eight Western states, veterinary officials report.

The California state veterinarian's office confirmed 10 new equine herpes virus (EVH-1) cases today, expanding the scope of the outbreak.

Three equine herpes virus (EHV-1) cases have been confirmed, and others are feared in multiple Western states.

A variation to a routine closed castration in horses.

Few infectious diseases are more confounding to diagnose than equine protozoal myeloencephalitis (EPM).

Food allergy in horses is a confusing, poorly understood and sometimes controversial topic.

While this document does not address equipment such as syringes, needles and radiographic units, it does focus on devices marketed in the liquid form, for use exclusively within veterinary medicine.

Maintenance of excellent health and biosecurity standards at the level of the farm is the MOST effective way of maintaining an outbreak-free industry. All disease outbreaks have an index case and all index cases have a point of origin. Because horses are usually maintained at a "home" farm, then the origin of any outbreak should be traced back to the farm level.

Infectious and non-infectious hemolymphatic diseases generally present with the same clinical symptoms due to cardiovascular insult, lack of tissue oxygenation and possible impending cardiovascular collapse.

The main advantage of genomic strategies for testing is that a live organism is not necessarily needed for diagnosis. While the fact that diagnosis based on molecular techniques does not require live organism, DNA and RNA are subject to the same microbiological, biochemical and physical factors as live organism for degradation.

Staphylococcus aureus is an important human pathogen and is a significant cause of hospital acquired (nosocomial) infection of surgical wounds and infections associated with indwelling medical devices. Staphylococcus aureus can colonize the skin and nares of humans which facilitate its transmission, particularly in the healthcare setting.

Salmonella enteriticus, Neorickettsia risticii (Potomac Horse Fever), Clostridium difficile and Clostridium perfringens are most commonly associated with infectious diarrhea in adults. Foals can have a variety of agents including viral causes and bacterial such as Lawsonia intracellularis.

Neurological disease represents 0.3% (affecting between 0.2 and 0.5% of horses depending on age) of all health problems identified by owners in the latest 2005 Equine National Animal Health and Monitoring Study (NAHMS).14 Likely this is much higher given losses in young horses due to non-infectious neurological causes, in all ages of horses from underreporting of encephalitis, and misdiagnoses of these diseases as lameness and trauma.

The clinical signs of VEE are similar to both EEE and VEE with a large variation in mortality ranging from 40-90% depending on the outbreak. In addition to subclinical and overt CNS clinical signs, diarrhea has been observed in VEE horses. Florida, Texas, and Louisiana are the three states ecologically at risk but recent activity in Panama could result in a transported case by air travel.

The deliberate induction of active immunity to an agent by exposure to the agent or to non-replicating components, with the intent of inducing protective immunity to challenge with a virulent infectious agent, is termed "vaccination". Actively acquired immunity is that provided by an antigen specific response of the challenged host's own immune system in response to materials recognized as non-self.