CPD Article | EQUINE
Monitoring
• Monitor lameness and joint swelling.
Prevention
Control
• Poor survival of Borrelia burgdorferi outside the
body, leading to a requirement for a host/vector to
survive, means control of hosts/vectors is important.
• Control of tick populations by pasture management
and repellant therapy.
• Restrict access to tick-infested areas, ie woods, areas
with lots of leaf litter and vegetation.
• Remove ticks from the skin quickly with insecticidal
sprays or use insecticidal washes which persist in
hair.
Prophylaxis
• No vaccine available.
Outcomes
Prognosis
• Highly variable.
• Poor if:
○○
Neurologic or cardiovascular damage.
○○
Slow to diagnose à severe joint damage.
Expected response to treatment
• Resolution of clinical signs.
Reasons for treatment failure
• Failure to diagnose and treat appropriately.
• Chronicity of infection with marginalization of
spirochetes can lead to persistent infection on the
face of appropriate treatment.
Further Reading
Publications
Refereed papers
• Recent references from PubMed and VetMedResource.
• Divers T J et al (2018) Borrelia burgdorferi Infection and Lyme
Disease in North American Horses: A Consensus Statement. J
Vet Int Med 32 (2), 617-632 PubMed.
• Wagner B, Goodman L B, Rollins A & Freer H S (2013)
Antibodies to OspC, OspF and C6 antigens as indicators for
infection with Borrelia burgdorferi in horses. Equine Vet J 45
(5), 533-537 PubMed.
• Priest H et al (2012) Diagnosis of Borrelia-associated uveitis in
two horses. Vet Ophthal 15 (6), 398-405 PubMed.
• Durrani A Z, Goyal S M & Nadeem Kamal (2011) Retrospective
study on seroprevalence of Borrelia burgdorferi antibodies in
horses in Minnesota. J Eq Vet Sci 31 (8), 427-429 VetMedResource.
• Metcalfe K B et al (2008) The prevalence of antibodies against
Borrelia burgdorferi found in horses residing in the Northwestern
United States. J Eq Vet Sci 28 (10), 587-589 VetMedResource.
• Divers T J et al (2001) Lyme disease in horses. Comp Cont Educ
23 (4), 375-381 VetMedResource.
• Manion T B et al (1999) Viable Borrelia burgdorferi in the urine
of two clinically normal horses. J Vet Diagn Invest 10 (2), 196-
199 PubMed.
• Chambers M A et al (1996) Novel indirect fluorescent antibody
test for Lyme disease. J Vet Diagn Invest 8 (2), 196-201 PubMed.
• Hahn C N et al (1996) A possible case of Lyme borreliosis in a
horse in the UK. Equine Vet J 28 (1), 84-88 PubMed.
• Carter S D et al (1994) Borrelia burgdoferi infection in UK
horses. Equine Vet J 26 (3), 187-190 PubMed.
• Rees D H et al (1994) Lyme disease - a rare but clinically important
disease in the UK. Equine Vet J 26 (3), 175-177 PubMed.
• Madigan J E (1993) Lyme disease (Lyme borreliosis) in horses.
Vet Clin North Am Equine Pract 9 (2), 429 PubMed.
• Browning A et al (1993) Lameness associated with Borrelia
burgdorferiinfection in the horse. Vet Rec 132 (24), 610-611
PubMed.
• Parker J L et al (1992) Lyme borreliosis in cattle and horses - a
review of the literature. Cornell Vet 82 (3), 153-174 PubMed.
• Lindenmayer J et al (1989) Borrelia burgdorferi infection in
horses. JAVMA 194 (10), 1384 PubMed.
Other sources of information
• Wagner et al (2011) A New Sensitive Lyme Multiplex Assay to
Confirm Neuroborreliosis in Horses: A Case Report. In: Proc
57th AAEP Convention. pp 70-75.
• Johnson A C (2010) Lyme Disease in Horses. In: Proc North Am
Vet Conference. pp 170-171.
• Divers T J (2004) Lyme Disease in the Horse: Experimental
Studies. In: Proc 43rd BEVA Congress. Equine Vet J Ltd, UK.
pp 170.
• Divers T J, Chang Y F & McDonough S P (2003) Equine Lyme
Disease: A Review of Experimental Disease Production, Treatment
Efficacy and Vaccine Protection. In: Proc 49th AAEP
Convention. pp 391-393.
• Volume 22 Issue 02 | June 2020 •
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