Animal Health - Treatment & Needs - Horses

What has animal experimentation achieved so far?

There are now better vaccines for protecting horses from the flu [Jennifer Bremer, IFT].

As in humans, a wide range of bacterial diseases affecting horses can be safely treated with antibiotics. Vaccines have also been developed in horses to prevent a number of serious conditions such as tetanus, the viral, mosquito-borne encephalitises (Eastern, Western or Japanese), and equine influenza. Typically, horses are the most economically valuable of all domestic animal species and so a great deal of effort has gone into preventing those conditions that may result in the loss of a foal, such equine herpes virus, a common cause of abortion.

What diseases are important now?

The size and cost of horses means that it is very unusual for them to be used as an experimental animal except to test the safety and efficacy of new drugs or vaccines intended for horses themselves. Research is carried out on old established disease such as strangles for which current vaccines are not ideal and to prepare against the possible introduction of exotic disease such as African horse sickness.

In addition, some scientific procedures are carried out on horses where there is no logical alternative – for example, to research those diseases of muscles, tendons and bones that occur in competition horses. Much of this work is ‘minimally invasive’ in that there is no need for any surgical procedure other than an injection.

How can humans benefit from research on horses?

Apart from diseases affecting athletic performance or reproductive success the next most important use of horses in veterinary research is in basic research on the equine immune system. One of the most common disorders seen in horses of all types is the skin disease sweet itch. This is a condition that shows important similarities to allergic dermatitis in humans and it is hoped that a comparative study of the two conditions will yield information that is useful for the treatment of both.

Compared with most other domestic species, horses are only rarely a source of the zoonotic diseases that can also affect human beings. One exception is the bacterial condition, glanders. This is one of the oldest known diseases, causing ulcerating nodules in the skin and respiratory tract and is usually fatal in both species. Although it is now rare, glanders is still a serious threat because currently available antibiotics are only partially successful in controlling the bacteria responsible.