The Modern
Equine Vet www.modernequinevet.com
Afib:
common problem often missed Thermography accurate? I feel your pain
Vol 2 Issue 4 2013
Table of Contents
Cover story:
4 Exercise intolerance often first sign of AFib Cover photo by Mikhail Pogosov /shutterstock
Pain
How accurate is thermography of horse's legs?......................... 6 The technique tolerates field variations
To know a horse is to feel its pain..................................................... 8
Listen to your clients. They might be pretty good at assessing horse's pain
More data about development of osteoarthritis.....................10 Protein appears to protect against the development of this debilitating disease
Behavior
Idle 'hands' are the devil's workshop..............................................................................11
Fat and idle horses more likely to misbehave
News
The equine 'Adam'..................................................................................................................12 DNA provides insight into the history of people and horses
That's horse manure.............................................................................................................17 Enzymes from horse manure could help streamline biofuel production
technician update
The equine technician's role in biosecurity..................................................................15 Deborah Reeder talks about how technicians can help protect horses and people.
To contact us, email Marie Rosenthal LEGAL DISCLAIMER: The content in this digital issue is for general informational purposes only. PercyBo Publishing Media LLC makes no representations or warranties of any kind about the completeness, accuracy, timeliness, reliability or suitability of any of the information, including content or advertisements, contained in any of its digital content and expressly disclaims liability of any errors or omissions that may be presented within its content. PercyBo Publishing Media reserves the right to alter or correct any content without any obligations. Furthermore, PercyBo disclaims any and all liability for any direct, indirect, or other damages arising from the use or misuse of the information presented in its digital content. The views expressed in its digital content are those of sources and authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinion or policy of PercyBo. The content is for veterinary professionals. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.
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Cardiology
heart Can't stop my
Veterinarians can manage sustained atrial fibrillation
One of the most common
cardiac problems associated with poor performance is atrial fibrillation, but it is not always picked up until the horse experiences exercise intolerance, according to Kelsey A. Hart, DVM, PhD, DACVIM (LAIM). “It can be acute exercise intolerance where the horse is racing and all of a sudden just quits and can’t race anymore,” she said. “Or it can be more subtle — the horse just isn’t performing at the owner’s desired level or not moving up the levels like they would like.”
My achy, breaky heart AFib occurs when the muscles in the atria fibrillate instead of experience a coordinated ventricle contraction. There are two types of AFib: paroxysmal atrial fibrillation and sustained atrial fibrillation, explained Hart, assistant professor of large animal internal medicine, at the University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine. Paroxysmal atrial fibrilla-
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tion, which is often diagnosed in the race horse that just quits while racing, usually does not require treatment because the sinus rhythm almost always returns to normal on its own. “It usually only lasts a day or two, and the horse will spontaneously convert back to sinus rhythm,” she said.
without any signs of underlying cardiac disease tends to be straightforward. If the horse does not have an underlying cardiac condition, such as a leaky valve or enlarged heart, then the veterinarian can attempt to return the heart rhythm to a normal sinus rhythm by administering a sodium channel blocker, such as quinidine gluconate or quinidine sulfate, which slows the atrial fibrillation and allows the regular heart rhythm to take over. However, there can be severe adverse events to this treatment, including death, although that is rare. Transvenous electrocardioversion (TVEC), which works like the defibrillators used in human medicine, delivers a shock directly to the heart through an electrode inserted through a long catheter in the jugular vein. TVEC can reset the heart’s rhythm, but the horse must be under general anesthesia to perform this procedure. Although the procedure has
Returning to normal However, veterinarians need to manage chronic or sustained atrial fibrillation. ”If the horse needs to go back to doing its job and it is not performing at the desired level than the veterinarian may attempt to convert that horse back to a normal sinus rhythm either pharmacologically or electrically. “Whether or not that will work depends on whether the horse has underlying cardiac disease and how long the horse has been in atrial fibrillation,” she said. For veterinarians, the diagnosis and treatment of sustained AFib of short duration
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Shown are normal and abnormal equine ECGs, the definitive method for evaluating arrhythmia, showing changes in the heart's electrical activity. The p wave reflects whether the atria has received a normal electrical impulse and has contracted. The q,r, and s waves reflect whether the ventricles have received a normal electrical impulse and contracted. The t wave reflects whether the electrical impulse has traveled all through the heart and is no repolarizing to start the SA node. Source: DR. Hart at UGA.
been available for awhile, Hart told The Modern Equine Vet that it is not something that all centers do. However, it is being used more frequently in equine medicine. Complications are not common but dangerous arrhythmias or cardiac arrest can occur, although cardiac arrest is rare, she said. And some horses do not convert to a normal sinus rhythm with this procedure. A recent study by the University of Guelph, found that optimal electrode placement can reduce the energy requirement for TVEC, which means that someday, this technique might be done under short-term IV anesthesia with good response.
Whether a veterinarian will be successful changing an abnormal rhythm to normal depends on how long the horse has been in AFib and whether it has an underlying cardiac disease. “If it is a race horse with paroxysmal AFib, it has a pretty good prognosis. We don’t know why it happens, but it doesn’t seem to recur, and it doesn’t seem to impact a horse’s racing performance once it resolves,” she said. The story is different for a
horse with sustained AFib, especially if the horse has underlying cardiac disease. If AFib has been present for more than four months, there is a 60% chance it will recur even if the horse initially responds well to treatment. MeV
For more information: Preiss EE, Kenney DG, McGurrin et al. Influence of electrode position on cardioversion energy requirements during transvenous electrical cardioversion in horses. Am J Vet Res. 2011 Sep;72(9):1193-203. doi: 10.2460/ajvr.72.9.1193. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21879977
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Lameness
Diagnosing lameness:
How accurate is thermography
Thermographic images of a horse's forelegs, no draft (left) and draft of 1.3 to 2.6 meters per second (right). After 2:30 minutes the right hand leg has cooled down considerably. (Graphics: Vetmeduni Vienna/Westermann)
Infrared thermography is
being used more often to investigate the cause of lameness in horses, because the equipment is easy to use and the method is fast and safe for the animal and the veterinarian. But is it accurate? Recent work by Simone Westermann, DrMedVet, in Vienna
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shows that the technique is surprisingly tolerant of variations in the position of the equipment, such as how far from the horse the camera is or at what angle to the animal the infrared camera is held. However, it is important to ensure that the horse is not standing
in a draft as even barely detectable wind speeds are sufficient to effect the measurements dramatically. The findings were published in two articles, one in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association and the other in the Equine Veterinary Journal. The horse’s body surface emits
of horse's leg? infrared radiation that can be detected by an infrared camera, which is both easy and inexpensive to use. The camera produces a colored image that shows the variation in surface temperature across the area investigated. The temperature is directly related to the presence of blood vessels near the skin, so the method can detect local inflammatory lesions or regions of modified blood flow and help localize the origin of lameness. The theory is clear but until now, there have been little data concerning the reliability of the method for diagnosing horses.
Real-world experience
In practice trivial matters, such as time constraints and the horse's movement, can cause changes in both camera angle and distance of the camera to the area of the horse being investigated. Westermann wanted to know if these changes affected the results of thermographic imaging. She also wanted to know the affect that drafts might have on the results, since thermographic imaging of horses should be performed in draft-free surroundings. Westermann of the clinical unit of equine surgery at the University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, with colleagues at the University of Veterinary Medi-
Ensure horse is not standing in a draft for best results
cine, Vienna (Vetmeduni Vienna) and the Vienna University of Technology decided to find the answers to these questions. They found that the method was highly reproducible and was less sensitive to variations in camera position and angle than might be expected. In fact, the results were almost completely unaffected by 20° changes in camera
ficulty in remaining within this limit, so the method is applicable in practice,” Westermann said. Surprisingly, the results showed that horses’ left and right forelimbs show minor differences in temperature, and she cautioned that “it might be important to take these into account before reaching a final diagnosis.”
Thermography is
The technique is reliable and robust, at least in terms of variation in where the camera is located. However, it turned out to be extremely sensitive to even very gentle drafts. A wind speed of less than 1 m/s causes a drop in measured temperature of about 0.6°C, while winds of 1.3-2.6 m/s cause a drop of 1.5°C and winds of 3-4 m/s cause a drop of 2.1°C. The discrepancies are more than sufficient to lead to a wrong diagnosis, although even the highest wind speed tested is hardly perceptible: it would barely cause leaves on trees to move. “It turns out that it is not too important to be sure that the camera is in exactly the correct position before taking measurements. But it is essential to perform thermography on horses in a room that is completely free of draughts. If you don’t, your diagnosis will be completely unreliable,” Westermann said. MeV
highly reproducible and is less sensitive to variations in camera position than might be expected. angle and increases of up to 50 cm in the distance of the camera from the animal. At a distance of 1 m from the horse a 20° change in camera angle corresponds to about 35 cm. This represents the effective horizontal tolerance in positioning of the camera. “Vets should have little dif-
Blowin' in the wind
For more information: Westermann S, Heinz HF Buchner, Schramel JP, et al. Effects of infrared camera angle and distance on measurement and reproducibility of thermographically determined temperatures of the distolateral aspects of the forelimbs in horses. JAVMA. 2013;242:388-395. http://dx.doi.org/10.2460/javma.242.3.388
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Pain
To know a horse is to
feel its pain Listen to your clients – they might be pretty good at assessing pain Veterinarians would do well
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indicate that the horse is stressed, which likely has an impact on the horse's pain level. “The recognition and successful management of pain in people and animals remain among the greatest challenges faced by health care providers,” Wagner wrote in a review on the topic. “Human patients are able to provide a self-assessment of pain, whereas, assessment of pain in animals is more complex and requires evaluation of behavioral and physiologic changes.” Veterinary pain management is “suboptimal” she said because people don’t always pick up the horse’s cues and appropriate pain relief is not always provided. However, efforts are being made to improve the recognition and quantification of animal pain. Just as pediatricians might use facial expressions to help determine whether an infant is in pain, veterinarians might be able to assess pain from animal expressions. Dale J. Langford and colleagues developed the mouse grimace scale, a standardized behavioral coding system, which had a high degree of accuracy and reliability. Emma J. Love, BVMC, PhD,
to listen to owners and trainers when assessing a horse’s pain, according to Ann E. Wagner, DVM, MS, DACVP, DACVA. Because they are more familiar with the horse’s normal relaxed behavior, they might do a good job at recognizing abnormal mannerisms that could signal stress and pain, said Wagner, of Colorado State University, who is a specialist in equine anesthesiology and pain management. “There is no ‘gold standard’ for assessing pain in horses,” said Wagner, although researchers have developed different pain scales that focus on painful sites, such as gastrointestinal or orthopedic, to determine if a horse is in pain and how much pain it might be experiencing. “Many of the signs of pain mentioned in various pain scales are changes in behaviors that can be detected by owners," she said. Behaviors that can be indicators of equine pain include decreased response to people and surroundings, restlessness, agitation, reluctance to move, sweating, kicking, pawing, changes in appetite, and lameness. Many of these also can
DAV, DECVAA, MRCVS, performed a study to quantify facial movements in horses during a brief painful stimulus to develop a similar scale. She looked at 24 horses and watched for reflective markers at the eyelids, nostril, facial crest and midline and was able to measure changes that resulted from mild stimulus. However, the study was small and she could not say with certainty whether the expressions were the
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result of pain or stress. In a review article, Wagner found that stress might intensify the horse’s perception of pain. Therefore, actions taken to reduce stressors and make the horse more comfortable might help reduce the pain the horse feels.
Reducing stress means doing common sense things like remaining calm, minimizing activity and noise around the horse, speaking in soothing tones, rubbing or patting the horse if he likes that, and offering a small amount of feed if possible to
distract it. “If the horse is not already in its own stall but can be moved, put it back in its stall or familiar surroundings. Don't let other horses annoy it, but if the company of another horse is calming, keep another horse nearby or in sight," she said. MeV
For more information: Wagner AE. Effects of stress on pain in horses and incorporating pain scales for equine practice. Vet Clin Equine 2010;26:481-492. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21056295
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behavior
Idle ‘hands’ are the devil’s workshop Fat and idle horses more likely to misbehave than exercised and fit horses B y
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When a horse misbehaves
the reason might have more to do with how the horse was managed than as the result of bad temperament, according to Petra Buckley, BVSc, DipVetClinStud, MVetClinStud, MANZCVSc, PhD. “Misbehavior is not a horse temperament trait, but the result of our mismanagement,” said Buckley of the school of agricultural and veterinary sciences, Charles Sturt University in New South Wales, Australia. Good nutrition and regular exercise improves the horse’s behavior and increases the bond between horse and rider, she added. Buckley and her colleagues examined the risk factors for misbehavior by observing a cohort of 84 Pony Club horses owned by 41 families for 13 months. Pony Club is an international youth organization, and Pony Club horses are an important aspect of the pleasure horse sector in Australia, where the study took place. The results were published in the Equine Veterinary Journal. When purchasing horses, par-
ents of riders were particularly concerned about the horse’s temperament, Buckley said, but they did not see the connection between body condition and behavior. During the prospective, longitudinal study, owners recorded daily
horse management, and veterinarians examined the horses monthly. Daily management observations included nutrition, housing, exercise, health care and health problems. They also noted when the horses misbehaved. The researchers determined which factors influenced the horse’s behavior. They found that the heavier horses misbehaved more than conditioned horses. The risk of misbehavior was higher among heavier horses, horses with access to
For more information: Buckley P, Morton JM, Buckley DJ, et al. Misbehavior in Pony Club horses: Incidences and risk factors. Equine Vet J. 2013 Jan;45(1):9-14. doi: 10.1111/j.2042-3306.2011.00541.x. Epub 2012 Mar 11. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23237295
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newsnotes
pastures with more green grass cover, those fed daily supplements and those that did not receive enough exercise. Buckley said that regular exercise and conditioning (about three times a week) ensured that • Horses were better conditioned, less prone to injury and more likely to meet the demands of Pony Club rallies and competition. • Horses and riders spent more time together in positive activities that improved the horserider bond. • Horses learning improved through repetition. “In other words, regular exercise sessions provide opportunities for horse education,” she said. “We believe the excess feed energy that is deposited as fat provides (apart from altering the horse’s metabolism toward unhealthy) excess energy for the horses to engage in non essential activities (non-survival activities), such as play, and misbehavior. In other words, we believe that too much feed lowers the bar for misbehavior to occur,” she said. Many of the heavier horses misbehaved more during competition, which might be due to the added tension created during competition. Veterinarians can play an important role in helping owners overcome behavioral issues by discussing nutrition and exercise. When owners keep a horse well conditioned, they will not only improve behavior, but also help the horse live a long, healthy life. “Previously, misbehavior was difficult to generalize about. It is important to spread the message, that the responsibility to monitor horse health and body condition score lies with the owners. They have the power to very strongly influence their horse’s health through management every day,” she said. MeV
Protein found that may prevent osteoarthritis Researchers from Baylor College of Medicine have unraveled the effects of a naturally occurring protein called lubricin or Proteoglycan 4, which appears to protect joints from signs of aging, such as osteoarthritis, as well as helps with joint remodeling related to injury. “This protein also affects the metabolism of the cartilage and does it in a way that prevents its breakdown. This is not just lubrication of the joints,” said Brendan Lee, MD, PhD, who is professor of molecular and human genetics at Baylor College of Medicine and director of the Rolanette and Berdon Lawrence Bone Disease Program of Texas. Osteoarthritis is a common condition, affecting man and beast, and there is no cure. “In spite of a lot of investment, there is no disease-modifying treatment that affects the course of the disease,” said Lee. Graduate student Merry Z.C. Ruan, in Lee’s laboratory, developed a special imaging technique called phase contrast ultra-high resolution micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) that allowed the researchers to “see” the tiny cartilage in the knee joint and to quantify that amount in the mouse joint. The researchers studied mice that produced higher levels of the protein in cartilage and found that mice with an injury to their knees did not develop traumatic or injuryinduced osteoarthritis. As the mice that made extra lubricin aged, their cartilage resembled that of young mice, he said. There was no osteoarthritis suggesting that this protein may protect against the two common forms of OA-related and agerelated injuries. Eventually, they tried a gene therapy on normal mice, using a specially developed virus to inject the gene into the joints of the mice. “The lubricin protein was expressed for the life of the mouse after a single injection into the joint,” said Lee. Moreover, the injection similarly protected the mouse against the development of injury-related OA. He and his colleagues plan to test the gene therapy in horses that suffer from osteoarthritis. The most immediate use would probably be to treat osteoarthritis that occurs after a sports- or work-related injury. Using a special “chip” or microarray panel, they found that the protein not only lubricated the joint, it also affected metabolism and prevented breakdown of cartilage in the joint. MeV
Proteoglycan 4 appears to protect joints from signs of aging, such
as osteoarthritis, and
helps with joint changes related to injury.
For more information: Ruan MZC, Erez A, Guse B, et al. Proteoglycan 4 expression protects against the development of osteoarthritis. Science Translational Medicine, 2013; 5 (176): 176ra34 DOI:10.1126/scitranslmed.3005409 http://stm.sciencemag.org/content/5/176/176ra34
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Newsnotes
The equine
‘Adam’ The analysis of DNA in-
herited from a single parent has provided valuable insights into the history of human and animal populations. However, until recently we had insufficient information to be able to investigate the paternal lines of the domestic horse. This gap has been filled by Barbara Wallner and colleagues at the University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna (Vetmeduni Vienna), who recently published information about the genetic variability in the horse Y chromosome and demonstrated how various breeds of the modern horse are interrelated in the online journal PLOS ONE.
Like father, like son
In mammals, an individual’s sex is determined by the chromosomes it inherits from its parents. Two X chromosomes lead to a female, whereas one X and one Y lead to a male. Y chromosomes are only passed from fathers to sons, so each Y chromosome represents the male genealogy of the animal in question. In contrast, mitochondria are passed on by mothers to all their offspring. This means that an analysis of the genetic material or DNA of mitochondria can give information on the female ancestry. For the modern horse, it is well known that mitochondrial DNA is extremely diverse 12
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lived fairly recently
and this has been interpreted to mean that many ancestral female horses have passed their DNA on to modern horse breeds. Until recently, though, essentially no sequence diversity had been detected on the Y chromosome of the domestic horse. Not only does the lack of sequence mark-
The restricted genetic diversity of the modern horse's Y chromosome reflects the species dynamic history. ers on the Y chromosome make it impossible to trace male lineages with confidence, it also represents a scientific paradox. How can a species with so many female lines have so few male lines? Wallner initially selected 17 horses from a range of European breeds. She pooled their DNA and used modern sequencing technology to examine the level of diversity on a 200 kb portion of the Y chromosome she had previously
sequenced. The Y chromosomes were found to be highly similar: with a variability in only five positions. “The results confirmed what we had previously suspected: that the Y chromosomes of modern breeds of horse show far less variability than those of other domestic animals,” Wallner said. The five variable positions, or polymorphisms, were nevertheless sufficient to enable the researchers to derive a “family tree” for the various breeds of modern horse they investigated. An examination of more than 600 stallions from 58 (largely European) breeds showed that the animals could be grouped into six basic lines or haplotypes. The ancestral haplotype is distributed across almost all breeds and geographical regions. A second haplotype also occurs at high frequencies across a broad range of breeds, although not in northern European breeds or in horses from the Iberian Peninsula. A third haplotype is present in almost all English Thoroughbreds and in many warm-blooded breeds. The final three haplotypes are only found in local northern European breeds: one in Icelandic horses, one in Norwegian Fjord horses and one in Shetland ponies. The pedigree of horses is very tightly controlled, with studbooks in many cases going as far back as the 18th century. Combining the results of the genetic analysis
with pedigree data enabled the scientists to trace the paternal roots of many of the current male lines. “The results were intriguing, for example in the way the distribution of one haplotype reflects the widespread movement of stallions from the Middle East to Central and Western Europe in the past 200 years. Another haplotype results from a mutation that occurred in the famous English Thoroughbred stallion ‘Eclipse’ or in his son or grandson. It is amazing to see how much influence this line has had on modern sport
horses: almost all English Thoroughbreds and nearly half the modern sport horse breeds carry the Eclipse haplotype,” she said. The scientists have confirmed the low diversity of the horse Y chromosome, which contrasts sharply with range of mitochondrial DNA haplotypes observed in modern horses. The difference is presumably due to the strong variation in male reproductive success. Wild horses have a polygynous breeding pattern, while the intensive breeding practices in domestic horses mean that single
stallions can effectively pass on their DNA to entire generations. “Most modern breeds were established in the last two centuries, during which time the horse has undergone a transition from working and military use toward leisure and sports. This has largely been achieved through the use in breeding of a few selected males. The restricted genetic diversity of the modern horse Y chromosome is a reflection of what has survived the species’ dynamic history,” said Gottfried Brem. MeV
Distribution of the six haplotypes (HT1-HT6) found in the stallions across Europe and America (Graphics: Vetmeduni Vienna/ Wallner)
For more information: Wallner B, Vogl C, Shukla P, et al. Identification of genetic variation on the horse Y chromosome and the tracing of male founder lineages in modern breeds. ” PLoS ONE 8(4): e60015. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0060015. http://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0060015
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AAEVT Membership
AAEVT* membership is open to US and international equine veterinary technicians, assistants, practice managers, and support staff employed in the veterinary industry. It is also open to students of AVMA/CVMA accredited programs
AAEVT Membership • • • • • • • •
Bi-Annual Newsletter Weekly “HoofBeats” email NEwsblast Full access to www.aaevt.org, including the Career Center and the Library Up-to-date information on the AAEVT Discounted registration for AAEVT Regional Meetings and the annual AAEP/AAEVT Convention NTRA, Working Advantage and Platinum Performance Benefits The opportunity to participate in the AAEVT Online Certification Program or to become a member of the AEVNT Academy-Specialty in Equine Veterinary Nursing • Scholarship opportunities. • AAEVT’s Equine Manual for Veterinary Technicians (Blackwell Publishing 20% discount on purchase price) • Subscription to THE HORSE Magazine, compliments of Intervet Schering/Plough Opportunity to attend Purina’s Annual Equine Veterinary Technician Conference All Expenses paid!
AAEVT Objectives • • • •
Provide opportunities for CE, training, communication, and networking Educate the equine veterinary community and the public about our profession Inform Members of issues affecting our profession Assist in providing the best medical care to improve the health and welfare of the horse
AAEVT Online Equine Certification Program
• A three course, 10 module, equine-only online program offered through ACT • Geared toward Credentialed Veterinary Technicians, Assistants, Support staff, & Students • Areas of study include: equine medical terminology, anatomy and physiology, parasitology, laboratory, diagnostics, equine basics (breeds, wellness, husbandry,) diagnostic procedures, emergency medicine, restraint, pharmacology, surgical assistance and anesthesia, equine office procedures • A certificate of completion is awarded to those who: Successfully complete required courses Complete the list of required skills (per a supervising DVM who is an AAEP member) Attend an AAEVT regional CE symposium and participate in the we labs • Those individuals who successfully complete the programs will be recognized as AAEVT Certified Equine Veterinary Technicians / AAEVT Certified Equine Veterinary Assistants depending on their current designation. The certificate is recognized by the AAEVT and the AAEP but does not grant the credentialed status by the AVMA • For more information go to www.aaevt.4act.com or call 800-357-3182
AAEVT Mission Statement: To promote the health and welfare of the horse through the education and professional enrichment of the equine veterinary technician and assistant.
For more information visit www.aaevt.org
*American Association of Equine Veterinary Technicians and Assistants
technician update
The equine technician's role in biosecurity not apply to those horses or previous location where the horse came from. And there is usually not a focused attention on infection control biosecurity at most farms or equine events in between Biosecurity is a set of prethe events or moving of a horse in and out. This ventive measures designed is probably more in effect at an equine practice, to reduce the risks for introespecially if a compromised patient was admitted. duction and transmission of Influenza, rhinopneumonitis, encephalitis, tetaan infectious disease agent. nus, equine infectious anemia, West Nile virus, raInfectious disease pathogens may be brought to bies, equine herpes virus, equine protozoal myeloand spread at your practice, at a client’s barn, or to encephalitis, Rhodococcus, strangles, pigeon fever, an equine event venue by horses, people, domesetc. all have unique characteristics, signs, methods tic animals other than horses, vehicles, equipment, of transmission, duration of illness and virulence. insects, ticks, birds, wildlife including rodents, It is why we have to be aware of administer so many feed, waste and water. vaccines! The most successful program has a well It is important to create and implement a biosthought out immunization program and follows it. ecurity plan ahead of time, so as to minimize or The prepared technician is knowledgeable about prevent the movement of diseases and to control these diseases and has resources available. He or pests. The equine technician can be instrumental she must also stay abreast of any new medical upin developing this plan dates, as well as perceived and implementing it at outbreaks. the practice, for a client A second basic comor in preparation of an ponent of the biosecurity equine event. plan is to house horses Horses and horse based on their risk of events have now become exposure, along with international. Horses are the farm, stable, ranch no longer immune to exneeds. Horses should be posure to diseases and housed in small groups pests from other states and grouped by age, or countries. The first use and gestation time. role of the technician in Where there is an event, charge of biosecurity is the stalls should be indito become familiar with vidual enough so there is the basic principles and little contact with other understand the basic biolhorses next door. ogy of infectious diseases In all cases, there and their agents. How should be a protocol in do these diseases spread, place for daily monitorwhich horses and areas ing and charting of temare at the greatest risk for The University of Guelph has a useful tool to assess the biosecurity of a farm. peratures. Movement an outbreak, and how to Take the test here www.equineguelph.ca/Tools/biosecurity_2011.php among different stables best protect your practice or barns should be miniand its patients. mized, as well as new arrivals. Equipment that is Breeding and show farms, stables, racetracks, used should be kept to a specific group of horses and horse events are at a high risk for outbreaks. and as much as possible minimize sharing to and There is a high concentration of horses in one area including stall pickers, buckets, brushes, wheeland there is high traffic movement on and off the barrows, etc. premises from a wide variety of locations and proA daily physical examination should be a pritocols. Even if there is a vaccination protocol for mary part of your biosecurity and overall equine those entering the farm, stable or event – it does protocol, especially in a clinic situation. Checking By Deborah Reeder, RVT, VTS-EVN AAEVT Executive Director
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technician update
The basic principles of biosecurity include: • Understanding the infectious disease process • Understanding how to house horses based on risk of exposure • Perform daily monitoring and taking of temperatures • Hand Hygiene • Cleanliness, decontamination and disinfection controls • Prepare a contingency plan • Immunization protocols attitude, appetite, temperature, appearance of nasal discharge, coughing, fecal character, and any onset of neurological signs should be noted daily and in good record format for each horse. Helping clients or event managers to create systematic charts for these parameters will go a long way to protect the industry and build awareness.
Practicing good hand hygiene is an important step to prevent disease and one we are all familiar with in human medicine, but a step we often forget when dealing with horses. The protocol should be in place to wash hands before and after attending each horse with soap and water and use a hand sanitizer or gloves. Posting signs as a reminder and having a sink or area available to wash hands appropriately is a good reminder. Cleanliness should also be applied to housing areas, traffic areas, equipment, grooming supplies and trailers. The protocol should include an overview of how each of these areas will be cleaned and disinfected routinely as well as before and after admittance of a patient or arrival of a new horse. Even if you have prepared your practice well or your clients farm, there is always the threat of an outbreak. Have a predetermined plan in place that addresses how and when to isolate a sick animal, what protective clothing is needed, and how you will implement nursing precautions, barriers and providers. Post signs to communicate the situation and communicate directly with any team members involved. An outline of how to take samples and where to submit will be a great resource for your team. Technicians can take the reins on implementing a successful biosecurity program with a little extra effort. It will not only communicate to your clients that you care, and that you are prepared, but it will also help your clients know that your technician and your team is resourceful, prepared, and is looking out for the health and welfare of your patients – their horses. MeV
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Issue 4/2013 | ModernEquineVet.com
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newsnotes
Scientists have discovered a potential treasure trove of candidate enzymes in fungi thriving in the manure and intestinal tracts of horses. These enzymes might be the key to the economical production of biofuels from non-food plant material, according to a report at the 245th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS) held recently in New Orleans. Cellulose is the raw material for making biofuels from non-food plant materials, but it is sealed inside a tough network of lignin within the cell walls of plants, according to Michelle A. O'Malley, PhD. To produce biofuels from these materials, lignin must be removed through an expensive pretreatment process. Then, a collection of enzymes breaks cellulose down into sugars. Finally, in a process much like making beer or wine, these sugars become food for microbes to ferment into alcohol for fuel, ingredients for plastics and other materials. “Nature has made it difficult and expensive to access the cellulose in plants. Additionally, we need to find the best enzyme mixture to convert that cellulose into sugar,” O’Malley said. “We have discovered a fungus from the digestive tract of a horse that addresses both issues — it thrives on lignin-rich plants and converts these materials into sugars for the animal. It is a potential treasure trove of enzymes for solving this problem and reducing the cost of biofuels.” The digestive tracts of large herbivores like horses, which can digest lignin-rich grasses, have been a well-trodden path for scientists seeking such enzymes. But in the past, their focus has been on enzymes in bacteria, rather than fungi. The goal: Take the genes that produce such enzymes from gut fungi and genetically engineer them into yeasts. Yeasts already are used in time-tested processes on an industrial scale to produce huge quantities of antibiotics, foods and other products. That proven production technology would mean clear sailing for commercial production of biofuels. O’Malley explained that several genes from gut fungi are unique compared with bacteria, since the fungi grow invasively into plant material. Also, they secrete powerful enzyme complexes that work together to break down cellulose. Until now, however,
Photo credit : Credit: John K. Henske
Treasure trove in that there horse manure!
An anaerobic gut fungus from the digestive tract of a horse.
fungi have largely been ignored in the search for new biofuel enzymes — and for good reason. “There was relatively little scientific knowledge about fungi in the digestive tracts of these large animals,” O’Malley explained. “They are there, but in low numbers, making it difficult to study. The low concentrations also fostered a misconception that fungi must be unimportant in digestion of cellulose. And it is extremely difficult to isolate and grow these fungi to study their enzymes.” O’Malley’s research group at the University of California, Santa Barbara, collaborated with researchers at the Broad Institute of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University. They worked with a gut fungus isolated from horse manure and identified all the genetic material that the fungus uses to manufacture enzymes and other proteins. This transcriptome, the collection of protein-encoding material, led to the identification of hundreds of enzymes capable of breaking through that tough lignin and the cellulose within. The team now is shifting through that bounty to identify the most active enzyme and working on methods for transferring the genetic machinery for its production into the yeast currently used in industrial processes. MeV
These enzymes might be the key to the
economical production of biofuels from non-
food plant materials.
ModernEquineVet.com | Issue 4/2013
17
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