Detection and isolation of equine herpesviruses 1 and 4 from horses in Normandy: an autopsy study of tissue distribution in relation to vaccination status.

Equine herpesviruses type 1 and 4 (EHV-1 and EHV-4) are ubiquitous in the equine population. One of their main properties is their ability to establish life-long latent infections in their hosts even in those with natural or vaccine-induced immunity. However, effect of vaccination status on prevalence and tissue tropism was not established.

Mechanical correlations derived from segmental histologic study of the equine superficial digital flexor tendon, from foal to adult.

Objective: To assess histologic variations of the equine superficial digital flexor tendon (SDFT) according to site and to horse age and activity, and to correlate these data with reported segmental mechanical results.

Sample Population: Superficial digital flexor tendons isolated from 42 horses 0.5 hour to 23 years old.

Emericella nidulans as an agent of guttural pouch mycosis in a horse.

A case is reported in a 9-year-old Anglo-Arab horse with guttural pouch mycosis caused by Emericella nidulans. Acute death occurred by exsanguination following erosion of the external carotid artery. Histopathological examination of the mycotic plaque demonstrated septate hyphae, conidial heads, hülle cells and mature cleistothecia containing characteristic ascospores.

Mechanical properties of pathological equine superficial digital flexor tendons.

The objective of this study was to mechanically characterise superficial digital flexor tendon (SDFT) lesions. Eight pathological SDFTs, isolated from 6 adult horses, were tested in traction until rupture (at 1 mm/s). The stresses and strains simultaneously undergone by each of the 7 segments of a tendon were determined throughout the test, and the modulus of elasticity of each segment was evaluated from the segmental stress-strain curve thus obtained.