AGam in Kansas - Leptospirosis in Horses - July 7, 2016 скачать в хорошем качестве

AGam in Kansas - Leptospirosis in Horses - July 7, 2016

(Dr. Chris Blevins) Hello and welcome to Horsing Around. I’m Dr. Chris Blevins at Kansas State University Veterinary Health Center. Today, joined by Dr. Laurie Beard. She is our Equine Internal Medicine Specialist here at the vet school and as a Clinical Professor here at the college. Today we are going to talk about a topic that maybe people don’t know a lot about or even associate with horses and that’s Lepto. Can you shed a little light on that disease? (Dr. Laurie Beard) Sure. Leptospirosis is an infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Horses do get infected. I would say that the infections we see are somewhat sporadic. One of the things that we see is an eye disease that either occurs as an infection or as an exposure to the organism called Equine Recurrent Uveitis or some people might know it as moon blindness. (Chris) Yes. (Laurie) Okay, and that results in the inflammation in the eye and can result in blindness. The other thing we do see with Lepto is abortion in some cases and then there are a number of horses that we’ve seen for non-specific types of clinical signs with Lepto. (Chris) I think a lot of people will hear about Lepto and Lepto in their dogs or at least vaccines. Do we have anything like that for horses? (Laurie) Yes, actually there is a new Lepto vaccine that some people may have seen in the horse magazines that has been marketed to the equine clients and so then the question is: do I need to vaccinate? I would say that probably what you need to do as a horse owner is consult with your veterinarian because there may be certain areas or certain types of horses that might benefit from that vaccine, but as of right now, I don’t know that we’re recommending that as a core vaccine. (Chris) Okay, when you say areas, what would people say be more concerned with when it comes to Lepto or maybe their horse getting exposed to Lepto? (Laurie) Very good questions. We know that Lepto shed in the urine from wild animals, cattle, even dogs, and sometimes we see it, at least we don't know as much in horses, but we know that other animals get exposed in the wetter times of the year. Right now, we do actually have some research going on to kind of answer some of those questions. Do we see Lepto being shed in the urine of horses that aren’t showing any clinical signs? Because we certainly see that in dogs, cattle, and other animals so that might better help answer those questions as far as is my horse at risk for having Lepto or getting exposed to Lepto. In general, we would say exposure to other animals and certainly exposure to things like streams, ponds, that sort of thing and then wetter things of the year for sure. (Chris) Yes, just like that of which would be concerned potentially with the dog maybe with concern with the horse. Now, you mentioned there’s ongoing research, there’s current research kind of going on, and we’re actually doing some of that research here at the vet school. What is that type of research that we’re doing with that? (Laurie) It’s basically we’re looking at trying to identify some owners that have healthy horses and we’re just collecting urine and blood and we’re actually looking for the Leptospirosis themselves in the urine and we are looking at a few things on the blood work themselves. If there are people that would be interested in participating, that’s something we would be thrilled at. Just again, it’s healthy horses and it’s simply just collection of urine sample and a blood sample. (Chris) Yes, I guess seeing the prevalence of what horses may have or may not have it here at even in the region. (Laurie) Yes and we may find a very low prevalence, but that’s why we’re doing the research. (Chris) Well, that is great news and I sure appreciate all the information about Lepto, Dr. Beard. If you have extra questions about Leptospirosis in horses or other aspects of it, you can sure give us a call here at Kansas State University Veterinary Health Center and we’ll sure answer or help with those things. In addition, just like what Dr. Beard says, if you’re considering the Lepto vaccine, consult with your veterinarian and decide if that’s what your horse may need depending on the area. Well, that’s all we have for Horsing Around, I’m Dr. Chris Blevins at Kansas State University Veterinary Health Center and we’ll see you around.