Potomac horse fever: Waterways pose risk – expert
Keeping horses away from rivers, ponds, lakes too low-lying pastures during the peak flavour for Potomac Equus caballus fever remains a primal strategy for reducing infection take away chances inward affected regions, an practiced says.
Eliminating lighting at nighttime inward Equus caballus stables to minimize attraction of insects potentially carrying the illness may also trim back the take away chances of infection, says Dr Craig Carter, from the Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory at the University of Kentucky inward Lexington.
Cases of Potomac Equus caballus fever, also known every bit equine monocytic ehrlichiosis too equine ehrlichial colitis, convey been reported inward nearly states inward the US, at to the lowest degree 3 Canadian provinces too also inward parts of South America, Europe too India.
The bacterial illness normally occurs nigh rivers, lakes too moisture pastures from mid- to late-summer, Carter says.
The crusade is Neorickettsia risticii, formerly Ehrlichia risticii.
The reservoir for the bacterium is non clear, exactly it has been isolated from ticks, aquatic insects, flukes too other helminths.
Snails human activeness every bit an intermediate host inward the fluke cycle.
Horses are idea to endure infected through the ingestion of insects, frequently mayflies, which may Earth inward drinking water.
Experimentally, the incubation menstruum ranges from 1-3 weeks inward horses, Carter says inward the latest edition of Equine Disease Quarterly.
In the early on phase of infection, horses may croak anorexic, depressed, pyrexic too convey decreased gut sounds. This is normally followed past times unloosen stools or watery diarrhea too colic.
In the slow stages of the disease, affected animals may convey severe dehydration, ventral abdominal edema, too laminitis.
Death is the resultant of cardiovascular compromise too toxemia. Case fatality rates hit from five per centum to thirty percent.
Transplacental transmission is reported, frequently leading to fetal resorption, abortion, or weak foals, Carter says.
Horse-to-horse transmission is non idea to occur.
“Horses that recover from the illness may convey protective immunity for upwards to 2 years,” he says, adding that the available vaccines appeared to convey variable effectivness.
Limiting proximity of horses to rivers, ponds, lakes too low-lying pastures during the peak flavour for infection, too eliminating lighting at nighttime inward Equus caballus stables to minimize attraction of insects, may trim back the take away chances of infection, he says.
A provisional clinical diagnosis of Potomac Equus caballus fever needs to endure confirmed past times a veterinarian laboratory competent
inward diagnosing the disease. H5N1 unmarried positive indirect fluorescent antibody (IFA) show resultant on serum alone indicates exposure to the agent.
Paired blood samples collected 2 weeks apart demonstrating a four-fold or greater rising inward titer is evidence of an active infection.
In clinical cases, a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) attempt should endure performed on an EDTA blood sample every bit good every bit on a fecal sample, every bit presence of the causal organism inward blood too feces may non temporally coincide.
At necropsy, a scraping of the colonic mucosa is the specimen of alternative for PCR testing for the disease.
From Jan 2008 through to August 2013, the University of Kentucky Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory had 123 equine samples submitted that tested positive for illness past times PCR, he said.
Included inward this expose were 26 horses submitted for post-mortem examinations that were diagnosed alongside the disease.
Of the necropsy cases, the sexual activity distribution was 53 per cent woman somebody too 47 per cent male. The hateful historic menstruum distribution was 8.7 years (range 0.3-34 years). The breeds involved were generally thoroughbred.
Equine Disease Quarterly is funded past times underwriters at Lloyd’s, London, brokers, too their Kentucky agents.
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