OCTOBER 2022 VOLUME 31, NO. 4
A PUBLICATION BY THE UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY DEPARTMENT OF VETERINARY SCIENCE, MAXWELL H. GLUCK EQUINE RESEARCH CENTER FUNDED BY:
EQUUS / STANDARDBRED STATION, INC. M&J INSURANCE
IN T HIS IS S U E INTERNATIONAL Fourth Quarter 2022......3 KENTUCKY Paranasal Sinuses...........4 NATIONAL Standing Surgery...........6 Allergy Testing...............7
TH A N K YO U SPON SO RS
C O MME N TARY - C EL E BRATING 30 YEARS This issue celebrates the 30-year anniversary of the Equine Disease Quarterly. The EDQ was first published in 1992 with a goal of providing accurate and current information on a variety of diseases affecting horses worldwide. The Quarterly has survived and thrived, thanks to the support of donors who helped keep the publication accessible as well as the many authors who have contributed their time and knowledge to the articles. Looking at the many topics covered over the last 30 years, one can see a snapshot of how our knowledge of equine health and disease has progressed. Of equal importance, articles emphasizing diseases of significance have been highlighted with regularity. In 1992, topics such as rabies, equine herpesvirus and leptospirosis were discussed. These diseases remain a continued concern today, and it is only through the appropriate vaccination, biosecurity and vigilance that losses due to these diseases are controlled. In contrast, articles on equine rotavirus in the 1990s focused on neonatal diarrhea, morbidity and mortality associated with equine rotavirus A. Today we have added another equine rotavirus to our knowledge base, equine rotavirus B. Only recently identified as a cause of equine neonatal diarrhea, this new virus highlights the need for continued vigilance and communication to identify and publicize the emergence of infectious diseases. Certain topics have recurred throughout the Quarterly, highlighting their continued importance to the equine community. These have often included communicable diseases such as equine infectious anemia, African horse sickness, equine viral arteritis and contagious equine metritis. These diseases must be continually recognized for their importance to the worldwide equine population, both from a health as well as
equine movement perspective. Similarly, topics in equine reproduction, biosecurity and toxicology have been common themes, highlighting the importance of these areas to the equine industry. The progression of scientific knowledge has been of equal interest over the last 30 years. The EDQ has witnessed the introduction and spread of West Nile virus through North America, a disease that can now be well controlled with vaccination. Theiler’s disease, or equine serum hepatitis, a disease of acute liver failure in horses, progressed from a condition of unknown pathogenesis to being strongly linked to equine parvovirus-hepatitis virus. The search for the cause of this disease has additionally led to the discovery of multiple new equine viruses, as well as wide-reaching changes in the screening and management of equine plasma donors. Mare reproductive loss syndrome, which caused massive devastation to the equine industry, is now largely prevented with pasture management and monitoring. Equine metabolic syndrome and Cushing’s disease/pituitary pars intermedia dysfunction are two additional areas which have shown significant advances in our understanding, diagnosis and treatment of endocrine diseases. Veterinary researchers have shown a large percentage of laminitis in horses continued on page 2 Thank you for enrolling in our online Equine Disease Quarterly. Please feel free to share this publication in the equine community. Others may enroll visiting https://tinyurl.com/EDQemail. You may also email EDQ@uky.edu to be added to the listserv or for additional questions.
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