Publications by authors named "Leslie Easterwood"
Evaluating the body temperature of horses is an essential tool for monitoring horse health and biosecurity in groups of horses. Temperatures of horses and foals are determined most often using rectal thermometry. Rectal thermometry has limitations that include safety considerations for horses and humans.
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- Metal phosphides like zinc and aluminum phosphide can poison horses when used as rodenticides, leading to acute clinical symptoms and sometimes death within 24-48 hours.
- A study of eight horses and a mule exposed to zinc phosphide indicated that some developed symptoms like sweating and anxiety, with two dying and one recovering; diagnosis was confirmed by detecting phosphine in their stomachs.
- Affected horses exhibited liver damage, characterized by swelling and steatosis, with similar histological changes noted in past phosphide poisonings, highlighting the need to consider phosphine poisoning in cases of acute equine death.
Case Description: 66 horses were potentially exposed to phosphine (a gas) 14 hours after being fed a pelleted ration treated with aluminum phosphide.
Clinical Findings: 28 horses had clinical signs of profuse sweating, tachycardia, tachypnea, pyrexia, ataxia, seizures, and widespread muscle tremors. Clinically relevant laboratory findings included hypoglycemia and high plasma concentrations of lactate and ammonia and activities of gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase, aspartate aminotransferase, and alkaline phosphatase.