Emergence of a new epidemic/epizootic Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus in South America.

One of the most important questions in arbovirology concerns the origin of epidemic Venezuelan equine encephalitis (VEE) viruses; these viruses caused periodic, extensive epidemics/epizootics in the Americas from 1938-1973 (reaching the United States in 1971) but had recently been presumed extinct. We have documented the 1992 emergence of a new epidemic/epizootic VEE virus in Venezuela. Phylogenetic analysis of strains isolated during two outbreaks indicated that the new epidemic/epizootic virus(es) evolved recently from an enzootic VEE virus in northern South America. These results suggest continued emergence of epizootic VEE viruses; surveillance of enzootic viruses and routine vaccination of equines should therefore be resumed.

Mental Health Effects of Equine Therapy with Children

This study examined the effects of eight weekly lessons of therapeutic horseback riding (THR) on five children between the ages of 6 and 12 years who displayed behavioral issues, mood disturbance, relationship issues, or other mental health disorders. All of the children's parents/caregivers completed the Child Behavior Checklist for Ages 6-18 at the onset of the lessons and at the conclusion of the lessons. The children did not show any significant improvement on the Internalizing, Externalizing, Total Problems scales or the syndrome scales. However, comparisons between the pre-test and post-test scores on the Behavior scale and the Externalizing scale showed positive trends which warrant further study. The lack of significance in the data suggests that a greater participant population or a mixed method study using a combination of quantitative and qualitative strategies may yield more conclusive results.

Genetic variability of the equine casein genes.

The casein genes are known to be highly variable in typical dairy species, such as cattle and goat, but the knowledge about equine casein genes is limited. Nevertheless, mare milk production and consumption is gaining importance because of its high nutritive value, use in naturopathy, and hypoallergenic properties with respect to cow milk protein allergies. In the current study, the open reading frames of the 4 casein genes CSN1S1 (αS1-casein), CSN2 (β-casein), CSN1S2 (αS2-casein), and CSN3 (κ-casein) were resequenced in 253 horses of 14 breeds. The analysis revealed 21 nonsynonymous nucleotide exchanges, as well as 11 synonymous nucleotide exchanges, leading to a total of 31 putative protein isoforms predicted at the DNA level, 26 of which considered novel. Although the majority of the alleles need to be confirmed at the transcript and protein level, a preliminary nomenclature was established for the equine casein alleles.

Optimized methods for extracting circulating small RNAs from long-term stored equine samples.

Circulating miRNAs in body fluids, particularly serum, are promising candidates for future routine biomarker profiling in various pathologic conditions in human and veterinary medicine. However, reliable standardized methods for miRNA extraction from equine serum and fresh or archived whole blood are sorely lacking. We systematically compared various miRNA extraction methods from serum and whole blood after short and long-term storage without addition of RNA stabilizing additives prior to freezing. Time of storage at room temperature prior to freezing did not affect miRNA quality in serum. Furthermore, we showed that miRNA of NGS-sufficient quality can be recovered from blood samples after >10 years of storage at -80 °C. This allows retrospective analyses of miRNAs from archived samples.

Diseases & disorders of the horse : a treatise on equine medicine and surgery /

Includes index.

Equine piroplasmosis report, fiscal year 1966.

Mode of access: Internet.

Governor's sunset report on the Illinois Podiatry Act /

"March 1986."

Illinois Equine Infectious Anemia Control Act /

Description based on: 1990.

Equine infectious anemia : 2001 update /

Shipping list no.: 2004-0264-P.

EVA, EQUINE VIRAL ARTERITIS, A MANAGEABLE PROBLEM, PROGRAM AID NO. 1698, ISSUED APRIL 2001

Shipping List Date: 02/27/2007

Journal of the American Podiatry Association.

Mode of access: Internet.

A compend of equine anatomy and physiology

Mode of access: Internet.

The second generation of the International Equine Gene Mapping Workshop half-sibling linkage map

A low-density, male-based linkage map was constructed as one of the objectives of the International Equine Gene Mapping Workshop. Here we report the second generation map based on testing 503 half-sibling offspring from 13 sire families for 344 informative markers using the crimap program. The multipoint linkage analysis localized 310 markers (90%) with 257 markers being linearly ordered. The map included 34 linkage groups representing all 31 autosomes and spanning 2262 cM with an average interval between loci of 10.1 cM. This map is a milestone in that it is the first map with linkage groups assigned to each of the 31 automosomes and a single linkage group to all but three chromosomes.

Detection of surfactant protein A (SP-A) and surfactant protein D (SP-D) in equine synovial fluid with immunoblotting

Once considered unique to the lung, surfactant proteins have been clearly identified in the intestine and peritoneum and are suggested to exist in several other organs. In the lung, surfactant proteins assist in the formation of a monolayer of surface-active phospholipid at the liquid-air interface of the alveolar lining, reducing the surface tension at this surface. In contrast, surface-active phospholipid adsorbed to articular surfaces has been identified as the load-bearing boundary lubricant of the joint. This raises the question of whether surfactant proteins in synovial fluid (SF) are required for the formation of the adsorbed layer in normal joints. Proteins from small volumes of equine SF were resolved by 1- and 2-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and detected by Western blotting to investigate the presence of surfactant proteins. The study showed that surfactant proteins A and D (SP-A and SP-D) are present in the SF of normal horses. We suggest that, like surface-active phospholipid, SP-A and SP-D play a significant role in the functioning of joints. Next will be clarification of the roles of surfactant proteins as disease markers in a variety of joint diseases, such as degenerative joint disease and inflammatory problems.

Equine laminitis: increased transcription of matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) occurs during the developmental phase

Reasons for performing study: The dysadhesion and destruction of lamellar basement membrane of laminitis may be due to increased lamellar metalloproteinase activity. Characterising lamellar metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) and locating it in lamellar tissues may help determine if laminitis pathology is associated with increased MMP-2 transcription. Objectives: To clone and sequence the cDNA encoding lamellar MMP-2, develop antibody and in situ hybridisation probes to locate lamellar MMP-2 and quantitate MMP-2 transcription in normal and laminitis tissue. Methods: Total RNA was isolated, fragmented by RT-PCR, cloned into vector and sequenced. Rabbit anti-equine MMP-2 and labelled MMP-2 riboprobe were developed to analyse and quantitate MMP-2 expression. Results: Western immunoblotting with anti-MMP-2 detected 72 kDa MMP-2 in hoof tissue homogenates and cross-reacted with human MMP-2. Immunohistochemistry and in situ hybridisation detected MMP-2 in the cytoplasm of basal and parabasal cells in close proximity to the lamellar basement membrane. Northern analysis and quantitative real-time PCR showed MMP-2 expression significantly (P