Molecular phylogenetic and matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry identification of isolates from horses identified as by biochemical identification.

Enterobacter cloacae is an opportunistic pathogen of horses. Thirty isolates obtained from horses and their environments and identified as Enterobacter cloacae by biochemical methods were reidentified by taxonomic identification based on multilocus sequence analysis (MLSA) and by a commercial identification system based on matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS). MLSA identified the 30 equine isolates as E.

A novel selective medium for the isolation of Burkholderia mallei from equine specimens.

Background: Burkholderia mallei is a Gram-negative bacterium that causes glanders, a zoonotic disease, especially in equine populations (e.g. horses, donkeys, and mules).

Capillaria hepatica (Calodium hepaticum) infection in a horse: a case report.

Background: Capillaria hepatica is a zoonotic parasite in humans and animals and has a worldwide distribution. However, infections in mammals apart from rodents, which are natural hosts of the parasite, have rarely been reported. This report describes the first known case of C.

Development of a loop-mediated isothermal amplification method for detecting virulent Rhodococcus equi.

Rhodococcus equi is the most important causative bacterium of severe pneumonia in foals. We report herein the development of a specific loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assay, which targets a gene encoding vapA for detecting virulent R. equi The detection limit of the LAMP assay was 10(4) colony forming units (CFU)/mL, which was equal to 10 CFU/reaction.

Phage Therapy Is Effective in a Mouse Model of Bacterial Equine Keratitis.

Unlabelled: Bacterial keratitis of the horse is mainly caused by staphylococci, streptococci, and pseudomonads. Of these bacteria, Pseudomonas aeruginosa sometimes causes rapid corneal corruption and, in some cases, blindness. Antimicrobial resistance can make treatment very difficult.

Aneurysm of the cranial mesenteric artery as a site of carriage of Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serovar Abortusequi in the horse.

Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serovar Abortusequi is a pathogen restricted to horses. Our investigation targeted 4 draft horses (9-10 months old) kept on a Japanese farm that had suffered an outbreak of S.

Identification of immunodiagnostic antigens for cerebrospinal filariasis in horses by western blot analysis.

In the present study, the serum and cerebrospinal fluid of horses diagnosed with Setaria digitata cerebrospinal filariasis were analyzed by western blot. The results revealed S. digitata protein bands measuring 65, 34, 22, and 18 kDa in molecular weight.

A clinical case of equine fungal placentitis with reference to hormone profiles and ultrasonography.

Fungal placentitis is an infectious disease inducing abortion in pregnant mares. In the present report, we describe a field case of abortion caused by fungal placentitis with consecutive examinations. The progesterone level and combined thickness of the uterus and placenta (CTUP) were abnormal before the onset of clinical signs.

Use of loop-mediated isothermal amplification to detect six groups of pathogens causing secondary lower respiratory bacterial infections in horses.

Microbial substitution occasionally occurs following the administration of antimicrobials to horses that have pneumonia or pleuropneumonia. Four specific loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assays were developed to detect some equine respiratory pathogens, namely strains of the Bacteroides-Prevotella group, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Stenotrophomonas maltophilia, and Staphylococcus aureus. These four LAMP assays and two previously published LAMP assays targeting Escherichia coli or Pseudomonas aeruginosa were used on clinical respiratory specimens and a high accordance found between the results of the LAMP assays and bacterial culture.

Development of loop-mediated isothermal amplification methods for detecting Taylorella equigenitalis and Taylorella asinigenitalis.

Taylorella equigenitalis is a causative bacterium of contagious equine metritis (CEM), and Taylorella asinigenitalis is species belonging to genus Taylorella. The authors developed two loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) methods, Te-LAMP and Ta-LAMP, for detecting T. equigenitalis and T.

Experimental inoculation of equine coronavirus into Japanese draft horses.

Recently, outbreaks associated with equine coronavirus (ECoV) have occurred in Japan and the United States. While ECoV is likely to be pathogenic to horses, it has not been shown that experimental inoculation of horses with ECoV produces clinical signs of disease. In this study, we inoculated three Japanese draft horses with an ECoV-positive diarrheic fecal sample to confirm infection after inoculation and to investigate the clinical course and virus shedding patterns of ECoV.

Development of a loop-mediated isothermal amplification method for detecting Streptococcus equi subsp. zooepidemicus and analysis of its use with three simple methods of extracting DNA from equine respiratory tract specimens.

Streptococcus equi subsp. zooepidemicus (S. zooepidemicus) is a dominant pathogenic bacterium in equine pneumonia.

Dominant obligate anaerobes revealed in lower respiratory tract infection in horses by 16S rRNA gene sequencing.

Obligate anaerobes are important etiological agents in pneumonia or pleuropneumonia in horses, because they are isolated more commonly from ill horses that have died or been euthanized than from those that survive. We performed bacterial identification and antimicrobial susceptibility testing for obligate anaerobes to establish effective antimicrobial therapy. We used 16S rRNA gene sequencing to identify 58 obligate anaerobes and compared the results with those from a phenotypic identification kit.

Time-related Pathological Changes in Horses Experimentally Inoculated with Equine Influenza A Virus.

To investigate the pathology of equine influenza, necropsy of 7 horses experimentally infected with equine influenza A virus (EIV) subtype H3N8 was conducted on post-infection days (PID) 2, 3, 7, and 14. Histopathologically, rhinitis or tracheitis including epithelial degeneration or necrosis with loss of ciliated epithelia and a reduction in goblet cell numbers, was observed in the respiratory tracts on PIDs 2 and 3. Epithelial hyperplasia or squamous metaplasia and suppurative bronchopneumonia with proliferation of type II pneumocytes were observed on PIDs 7 and 14.

Prevalence of equine herpesvirus type 1 strains of neuropathogenic genotype in a major breeding area of Japan.

A single non-synonymous nucleotide substitution of guanine (G) for adenine (A) at position 2254 in the viral DNA polymerase gene (encoded by open reading frame [ORF] 30) of equine herpesvirus type 1 (EHV-1) has been significantly associated with neuropathogenic potential in strains of this virus. To estimate the prevalence of EHV-1 strains with the neuropathogenic genotype (ORF30 G(2254)) in the Hidaka district--a major horse breeding area in Japan--we analyzed the ORF30 genomic region in cases of EHV-1 infection in this area during the years 2001-2010. Of the 113 cases analyzed, 3 (2.

Mortierella wolfii keratomycosis in a horse.

Purpose: To describe a case of superficial keratomycosis caused by Mortierella wolfii (M. wolfii) in a horse.

Methods: A thoroughbred filly was presented with painful right eye of 2 days' duration.

Pharmacokinetics and tissue distribution of minocycline hydrochloride in horses.

Objective: To determine the pharmacokinetics and tissue distribution of minocycline in horses.

Animals: 5 healthy Thoroughbred mares for the pharmacokinetic experiment and 6 healthy Thoroughbred mares for the tissue distribution experiment.

Procedures: Each mare was given 2.

Distribution of influenza virus sialoreceptors on upper and lower respiratory tract in horses and dogs.

It is strongly suspected that equine influenza virus (EIV) is the origin of canine influenza virus (CIV, H3N8), which was first isolated in U.S.A.

Histopathological characteristics of an ossifying fibroma formed in the maxilla of a racehorse.

A 1-year-old male thoroughbred racehorse experienced swelling of the left upper lip. The swelling was attributable to enlargement around the incisive bone of the interdental space posterior to the third incisor in the left maxilla. Even after two operations to reduce the bulk of the mass, it continued to increase in size.

Antibody responses induced by experimental West Nile virus infection with or without previous immunization with inactivated Japanese encephalitis vaccine in horses.

A group of horses immunized with inactivated Japanese encephalitis (JE) vaccine (JE-Immune Group) and a group of non-immunized horses (Non-Immune Group) were infected with West Nile virus (WNV). After WNV infection, neutralizing (Nt) antibody (Ab) titers to WNV were higher than those to JE virus (JEV) in the Non-Immune Group, but the NtAb titers to JEV were higher than those to WNV during most of the post-challenge observation period in the JE-Immune Group. Immunoglobulin M (IgM) Abs to WNV tested positive in the Non-Immune Group but negative in the JE-Immune Group, except for in one horse.

Morphological survey of bovine Setaria in the abdominal cavities of cattle in Aomori and Kumamoto Prefectures, Japan.

An epidemiological survey of bovine Setaria collected from the abdominal cavities was performed morphologically on the cattle in Aomori and Kumamoto Prefectures, Japan, between August 2005 and July 2006. Fifty Setaria worms were collected from the cattle in Aomori Prefecture and 847 from those in Kumamoto Prefecture. Of these worms, 35 were identified as Setaria digitata, 14 as S.

Development of loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) method for diagnosis of equine piroplasmosis.

Loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) is a novel nucleic acid method whereby DNA is amplified with high specificity, efficiency, and rapidity under isothermal conditions using a set of four specifically designed primers and a DNA polymerase with strand displacement activity. In this study, we used LAMP primer sets designed from EMA-1 and Bc 48 genes for detection of Theileria equi and Babesia caballi infections, respectively. These primer sets specifically amplified DNA of the respective parasites.

Evaluation of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays with recombinant antigens for the serodiagnosis of equine Babesia infections.

Two enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) with recombinant protein as antigens were evaluated by comparison with the indirect fluorescent antibody tests (IFAT) for the detection of specific antibodies to Babesia caballi and Babesia equi, respectively in 380 sera from experimentally infected, uninfected, and field horses. The high concordances of 92.4% (351/380) and 98.

Unilateral basement membrane zone alteration of the regenerated laminar region in equine chronic laminitis.

Between the laminar epidermis and the laminar dermis of laminar region (LR) in equine foot, it can be observed the basement membrane zone (BMZ), which is composed of a basement membrane and its accompaniments like the hemidesmosome and anchoring fibril. Alteration in the BMZ in equine laminitis is possibly related with not only development but also recovery outcome and recurrence of this disease. However, there is little known about the structure of the BMZ during the recovery phase of this disease.

Immunohistochemical and ultrastructural detection of intestinal spirochetes in Thoroughbred horses.

Studies of equine intestinal spirochetes have long focused on intestinal contents alone, but intestinal spirochetosis has been reported recently in a 21-month-old Thoroughbred colt in Japan. To define the clinical and pathological significances of intestinal spirochetosis in several horses, an epizootiologic survey with histologic, immunohistochemical, and ultrastructural methods was conducted for Brachyspira antigen-containing intestinal spirochetes in 12 diseased or injured Thoroughbred horses, aged from 35 days to 17 years. Brachyspira antigen-containing spirochetes were found in 7 of 12 horses (58.