A case for:
Universal Horse ID
by Mara Coote-Freeman
We
register our cars, tag our dogs, now the world is asking us to have
a horse ID for our horses. Why?
Horse nations such as France, Sweden, the UK and Ireland have imposed
a mandatory horse ID system for all horses in thier countries. From
the backyard pony to the most traveled performance horse, each horse
in these countries is now identified. All European Union countries
are imposing an ID system. The Department of Agriculture of Canada
has asked all livestock industries to develop plans to ID each animal
by 2008. Why?
Well
it is hard to miss the headlines of the past 2 years not to notice
that there is a growing problem of zoonotic (
species jump) of nasty sometimes lethal organisms to humans.
We
have SARS ( a respiratory virus ) which is believed endemic in the
Civet Cat that has jumped the species barrier and now can kill humans.
We
have BSC or Mad Cow that is believed to cause a fatal brain wasting
disease in humans if infected meat is eaten.
We
have Avian Flu that can make people sick and some strains can kill
humans.
OK
-- but this is not horses. You are right! Historians think the
horse gave humans the flu thousands of years ago but not a fatal
human zooinotic. So we don't need a traceback ( a system to know
where an animal is, has been, born, herdmates ) system for horses.
Do we?
Well----
maybe we do need to be proactive and have a system!
A
short Internet study has revealed some interesting current outbreaks.
It points out there is a need to be able to trace back where these
horses have been, where they live, and who was handling them.
The following are examples of current zoonotic outbreaks --- horses
to dogs, and humans to horses. May there never be a fatal horse
to human zoonotic outbreak but if it is known where every horse
is, any disease outbreak is easier to contain, control and treat.
UF
RESEARCHERS: EQUINE INFLUENZA VIRUS LIKELY INVOLVED IN RECENT RESPIRATORY
DISEASE OUTBREAK IN RACING GREYHOUNDS
April
22, 2004
Contact Information
GAINESVILLE,
Fla. --- In what is believed to be the first scientific report of
equine influenza virus jumping the species barrier, University of
Florida veterinary researchers say the virus is the likely cause
of a respiratory disease outbreak that killed eight racing greyhounds
from kennels in Jacksonville in January.
Although
the researchers stress the findings involve only these particular
Jacksonville dogs, they will investigate possible connections to
similar disease outbreaks that have affected racing dogs in Florida
and elsewhere in recent years. These outbreaks could have a significant
economic impact on the greyhound racing industry due to track closures
and quarantines on dog movement between tracks.
“I
want to stress that our team’s findings are preliminary and confined
to the dogs affected by an outbreak at one Florida track, an outbreak
that occurred three months ago and was contained through a voluntary
statewide quarantine, which is no longer in effect,” said Cynda
Crawford, a UF veterinary immunologist who spearheaded the research
funded jointly by the UF College of Veterinary Medicine Racing Laboratory
and the state’s Division of Pari-Mutuel Wagering, which regulates
greyhound racing in Florida. Her findings are the result of a team
effort involving virologists from Cornell University’s College of
Veterinary Medicine in Ithaca, N.Y., and the national Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention.
“There
is absolutely no evidence to suggest that these findings extend
beyond this group of dogs affected during that period of time, or
that it poses any significant threat to people or their pets,” Crawford
said, adding that to make sure the virus was confined to the Jacksonville
dogs, blood samples were collected from two additional dog populations
in Florida, including randomly selected pets and racing greyhounds
from a track in South Florida. Both groups tested negative for equine
influenza virus.
Equine
influenza is a disease of horses, and the virus is in the same group
of viruses that cause flu in people. The disease is present in horse
populations throughout Europe, North America and parts of Asia,
with horses typically developing a fever and a dry hacking cough.
In the early stages of the disease, horses are reluctant to eat
or drink for several days but usually recover in two to three weeks.
Crawford and other scientists warn dog owners not to experiment
with prevention products approved for other species because of the
potential for extremely negative consequences, including death.
With
16 tracks, Florida is the leading state for greyhound racing, according
to the National Greyhound Association. Respiratory disease outbreaks
appear generally in winter and early spring. The last significant
outbreak occurred in March 2003, after which state officials approached
UF scientists for help. A respiratory illness also struck greyhounds
at tracks across the nation in 1999.
When
Crawford learned about the January outbreak, she immediately visited
the Jacksonville track, where 24 dogs were affected with symptoms
that included cough, fever and other more serious symptoms. Of those,
eight died and 16 recovered. Crawford collected blood and nasal
fluid samples from 35 dogs, and five of the dogs that died underwent
postmortem examinations at UF. She sent the samples for analysis
to Ed Dubovi, director of the virology section at Cornell’s Animal
Health Diagnostic Lab.
“Cornell’s
virology group is one of the best in the country, and Dr. Dubovi
cracked this,” Crawford said. “He was able to isolate an influenza-like
virus, which he then sent to the CDC, which routinely monitors influenza
outbreaks involving interspecies transmission to determine if there
is a threat to public health.”
On
the basis of genetic sequencing, the CDC’s Ruben Donis and his colleagues
at the Influenza Branch concluded the virus found in the canine
samples resembled a strain of equine influenza virus that appeared
in horses in Wisconsin last year.
“The
virus found in the canine samples is probably representative of
the strain that is circulating now in horses in Florida and elsewhere
in the U.S.,” Donis said, adding that to strengthen its findings,
the CDC plans now to sequence the entire genome of the canine virus.
The
scientists report their findings are strong because they also verified
that the dogs developed antibodies specific for the influenza virus.
“This
implies that the virus replicated enough within the dogs for their
immune system to recognize it and form antibodies,” said Crawford,
who plans to present the team’s findings later this month at a meeting
sponsored by the National Greyhound Association.
The
scientists say they have no idea how the Jacksonville greyhounds
could have been exposed to equine influenza virus, and that is one
of many questions they intend to pursue through further epidemiological
studies.
“The
important thing is that now we have something to look for, which
will help future efforts to eradicate or prevent these devastating
respiratory disease outbreaks that affect racing greyhounds,” said
Paul Gibbs, a professor of virology at UF and a co-investigator
on the project.
Dave
Roberts, director of the Division of Pari-Mutuel Wagering, said
the respiratory illness adversely impacts greyhounds as well as
the racing industry in many ways.
“In
order to better treat the dogs and manage the outbreaks, the division
felt it was imperative to investigate the possible causes. We are
encouraged by the scientists’ preliminary results and look forward
to the university’s future findings as its researchers continue
to study the illness,” Roberts said.
| AVMA |
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15, 2003 |
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Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus:
An emerging problem in horses?
Outbreaks of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus
in horses and humans in Canada have researchers concerned
that MRSA infections in horses may be emerging as a serious
zoonotic and veterinary nosocomial disease. Researchers are
recommending that veterinary hospitals launch surveillance
programs for the pathogen.
 "I
really believe that maybe this is something that people are
quietly battling or just not noticing," said Barbara Willey,
an infection control and methods development technologist
at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto. Willey presented research
results on the outbreaks at the annual Interscience Conference
on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy held in Chicago in
September.
Before this
research, little was known about the transmission of this
pathogen between horses and humans. MRSA is most often seen
in high-risk, human patients, including the elderly and those
with open wounds, and is believed to be rare in animals. Thus,
when Canadian veterinarians recognized clusters of infections
in horses, they became worried, and researchers at Mount Sinai
Hospital and the University of Guelph's Ontario Veterinary
College initiated a human and equine surveillance program.
Between Oct.
1, 2000, and Nov. 16, 2002, scientists isolated MRSA from
82 horses and 29 humans. Although many clinically infected
horses were seriously ill and required prolonged hospitalization,
MRSA was implicated directly in the death of only one horse.
Importantly, 50 percent of the equine cases were from one
Thoroughbred farm. When researchers identified horse farms
that had outbreaks, they tested people on the farms and commonly
found that they, too, were infected.
 The
scientists found that 95 percent of the MRSA in horses and
93 percent of the MRSA in humans were the same strain, Canadian
MRSA-5. This strain accounts for only about 5 percent of MRSA
infections in humans in Canada.
Dr. Scott
Weese, an assistant professor of clinical studies at the Ontario
Veterinary College who works with Willey, believes the strain
originally jumped from human to horse and that this strain
has an adaptation that allows it to thrive in the horse.
"If there
wasn't a special adaptation, you would think that a horse
would be more likely to carry other strains that are much
more common in people," Dr. Weese explained. Once the pathogen
jumps to a horse, it can easily spread to people or other
horses. Willey says they even tested twitches on infected
farms and found MRSA.
Since November
2002, the Canadian researchers have continued their aggressive
surveillance program. Every horse that comes into the veterinary
college's large animal clinic is swabbed for MRSA, upon arrival
and departure, and periodically during hospitalization. They
are continuing to test horses and people at facilities that
have infected horses, and, because it is rare, when the infection
is diagnosed in individuals at hospitals, physicians ask them
if they have contact with horses. "(The patient) will say,
'How did you know?'" says Willey.
Dr. Weese
says he is seeing higher incidence rates of the pathogen on
breeding farms, which is of concern. The infection is difficult
to treat and even more so in young horses.
The investigators
note that the equine community needs to recognize the potential
for MRSA to become a serious endemic problem in veterinary
hospitals. CMRSA-5 causes high rates of colonization and infection
on certain farms, not only among horses, but also among humans
in close contact with the horses.
It's too soon
to tell just how big the problem is going to be. "Whether
we are just at the beginning of MRSA in horses or whether
it is going to be a low-level peripheral problem is hard to
say," Dr. Weese said, noting that the pathogen is most likely
widespread in horses at a low level throughout North America.
Dr. Tom Lenz,
who has been president of the American Association of Equine
Practitioners this past year, says that in talking with colleagues,
he has learned that MRSA infection is becoming more common
in referral hospitals. Some clinics are also beginning to
see secondary MRSA infections in foals in their neonatal care
units. "It would be a good research project for someone to
look for the organism at the various equine clinics across
the country or to do a retrospective survey," Dr. Lenz said.
Dr. Weese
said that establishing surveillance programs is key. "The
horse industry in North America is a very transient group,"
Dr. Weese said. "Horses will move around very large distances,
very frequently, so basically it is impossible to have a nice,
confined disease anymore."
The problem
is compounded by the fact that clinical infections are just
the tip of the iceberg. Fewer than 10 percent of the infections
that Canadian researchers have identified are clinical infections;
a large pool of carriers may be silently infecting other horses
or humans.
"What we are
hoping is that with surveillance, quarantine, and treating
human carriers that might be infecting horses, we might be
able to keep the prevalence quite low," Dr. Weese said. Willey
notes, investigators have their work cut out for them. "It's
a delicate situation, looking for the MRSA in breeding farms.
Thoroughbred breeding farms are not going to want to be known
to have MRSA. These are million-dollar racehorses."
–Kate
O'Rourke
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with
thanks to AVMA and U Florida