Equine Disease Quarterly | EQUINE
First Quarter 2019
The International Collating Centre, Newmarket,
United Kingdom, and other sources reported the
following equine disease outbreaks.
For the period under view, African horse sickness
(AHS) was reported by Cameroon, Chad, the Republic
of South Africa (RSA), and Swaziland. Swaziland
reported four outbreaks of AHS, each involving very
limited numbers of horses. Two outbreaks of AHS were
confirmed in Cameroon and Chad. Both outbreaks in
Cameroon involved working horses and donkeys, and
horses were primarily affected in Chad. Incidence of
the disease was above average in the RSA, especially
in Gauteng Province. Sporadic cases were recorded
in the remaining provinces in the AHS infected area.
No cases were reported to date in the Western Cape
Province, either in the infected or disease-free areas.
Equine influenza (EI) was confirmed in numerous
countries in Europe (Belgium, Denmark, France,
Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands and the UK), West
Africa (Burkina Faso, Ghana, Mali, Nigeria, Niger,
and Senegal), and the USA. In Europe, the outbreaks
primarily involved unvaccinated horses, but the
disease also was observed in vaccinated horses. Strains
of clade 1, Florida sub-lineage of H3N8 EI virus were
implicated. The major impact of EI in West Africa was
seen in donkeys, in which thousands of cases were
reported with very high fatality rates. Equine influenza
is endemic in the USA; 57 outbreaks were confirmed
in eight states during the first quarter of 2019.
Strangles remains endemic in most countries: France
(33 outbreaks), New Zealand (one outbreak), Sweden
(three outbreaks), the UK (one outbreak), and the USA
in which the disease is endemic. Eighty-four outbreaks
were diagnosed in 18 states, with multiple outbreaks
in three states.
Equine herpesvirus 1 (EHV-1) related diseases were
reported by Belgium, Canada, France, Germany,
Japan, Norway, Sweden, the UK, and the USA. The
number of confirmed outbreaks of respiratory disease
ranged from one (Norway and Sweden), two (Belgium,
the UK and the USA), and four (France). Cases of
EHV-1 abortion were diagnosed in Belgium (one),
Canada (two), France (five), Germany (one), Japan
(eight), Sweden (two), the UK (four), and the USA
(eleven). Equine herpesvirus 1 neurologic disease was
reported by France (three outbreaks), Germany (three
outbreaks), Sweden (three outbreaks, each involving
multiple cases), and the USA (13 outbreaks in eight
states, three involving multiple cases).
Equine herpesvirus 4 respiratory disease was recorded
in Argentina, Belgium, and the RSA (one outbreak
apiece), Sweden and the UK (each with seven
outbreaks), France (36 outbreaks), and the USA, in
which the disease is endemic.
Equine herpesvirus 2 infection was reported by the
USA, in some instances associated with respiratory
disease.
Bulgaria, Canada, Peru, and the USA confirmed
outbreaks of equine infectious anemia. The number
of cases ranged from one (Bulgaria, Peru) to five in
Canada. The USA recorded the disease in five states,
with the number of cases by state ranging from one to
nine.
Equine piroplasmosis was reported by Ireland (a case
of Babesia caballi infection in an imported mare and
her aborted foal) and the RSA in which the disease is
endemic.
Cases of leptospiral abortion were confirmed by
Belgium (one) and the USA (two). The USA diagnosed
four cases of nocardioform placentitis, three associated
• Volume 21 Issue 3 | September 2019 •
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