A 2-year-old Quarter Horse gelding presented for anaemia, icterus, depression and intermittent colic 2 weeks after routine castration. Bilateral septic funiculitis with Streptoccocus equi ssp. equi with secondary immune-mediated haemolytic anaemia were diagnosed. A blood transfusion was required to facilitate general anaesthesia for surgical excision of the septic funiculitis. Antibiotic therapy was provided initially with chloramphenicol and later enrofloxacin. Immunosuppressive therapy was provided with dexamethasone and later azathioprine. The horse responded well to treatment and was discharged 8 weeks after presentation. Streptococcus equi ssp. equi should be considered in cases with septic funiculitis and the potential for a secondary immune-mediated haemolytic anaemia exists with this bacterial species.

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Background: Equid herpesvirus-1 (EHV-1) reactivation and shedding can occur in latently infected, asymptomatic animals. Risk factors for reactivation include stress and illness. The risk of asymptomatic shedding in hospitalized, critically ill horses with acute abdominal disease is unknown. This information is important to assess the need for additional biosecurity protocols to prevent spread of EHV-1 in hospitalized critically ill horses with acute abdominal disorders.Objectives: To determine the frequency of reactivation and nasal shedding of EHV-1 in hospitalized critically ill horses. Animals: One hundred twenty-four client-owned horses admitted to the Veterinary Teaching Hospital with acute abdominal disorders were included in the study.Methods: Cross-sectional study examining the risk of reactivation of EHV-1 in horses admitted with acute, severe, gastrointestinal disease. Whole blood and nasal secretions were collected throughout hospitalization. In addition, mandibular lymph nodes were collected from 9 study horses and 26 other Michigan horses. All samples were tested for the presence of EHV-1 nucleic acid by real-time PCR assays targeting the glycoprotein B gene and the polymerase (ORF 30) gene.Results: One hundred and twenty-four horses met the inclusion criteria. None of the samples were positive for EHV-1 DNA.Conclusion and Clinical Importance: These results suggest that nasal shedding and viremia of EHV-1 in hospitalized critically ill horses with acute abdominal disorder is extremely rare. Implementation of additional biosecurity protocols to limit aerosol spread of EHV-1 among horses with acute abdominal disease and other hospitalized horses is not necessary.

Abstract. The objective of this study was to investigate whether intramuscular vaccination of healthy adult horses with a killed or a modified live equine herpesvirus type 1 (EHV-1) vaccine could induce transient positive PCR results in either blood or secretions collected on a nasopharyngeal swab. Four horses in each group received either a single killed or a modified-live vaccine intramuscularly. Two local commingled and 2 distant nonvaccinated controls were included for each group. All horses were observed daily for evidence of clinical abnormalities throughout the study periods. Blood and nasopharyngeal swabs were collected twice before vaccination and once weekly for 4 weeks after vaccination and submitted for PCR testing for EHV-1 by 2 independent laboratories using different real-time PCR methodologies. Serum samples collected from all horses on the vaccination day and 21 days later were tested for antibodies against EHV-1 using a serum neutralization test. Whereas the 2 vaccine strains tested positive in both EHV-1 PCR assays, nasopharyngeal swabs and whole blood collected from vaccinated and control horses had negative PCR test results for EHV-1 during the entire study period. Serum neutralization testing revealed a 2-to 4-fold increase in titers for all vaccinated horses, whereas titers in control horses were largely unchanged. The use of seropositive horses before immunization and the sampling frequency of 7 days may have prevented the occasional molecular detection of the vaccine virus in whole blood and nasopharyngeal secretions. However, the study results demonstrate that detection of EHV-1 DNA by PCR in vaccinated and unvaccinated healthy horses is not a common event.