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EIA and HIV
EIA AND HIV
From Equine Research & Service Report, Volume Xll, No. 2, Fall 1998
Currently, there is a live vaccine that has been used in China to help control the spread of EIA. However, according to Dr. Issel, it has the potential for reversion to a virulent form in horses. Dr. Issel said the fear of using the vaccine in this country, where the national infection rate is relatively low, is that it will spread between horses and cause disease, a risk that regulators are not willing to take.
EIA shares structural and biochemical features with its close relative, the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Because of the similarities the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has provided funding for research. The NIH is interested in several areas of current EIA research. Since most horses infected with the virus ultimately become clinically inapparent carriers, the NIH wants to further understand the immune responses in the horse that limit the infection to a non-disease state. Infection with HIV, in contrast, is usually progressive. NIH is also looking at the genetic aspects of the virus. Like HIV, the EIA virus mutates at a very high rate, and the regulation of replication of the equine lentivirus is of comparative value. The basic work is to understand the genetic structure of the virus and how it varies in time within individual horses. Dr. Issel and coworkers, at the Gluck Equine Research Center, are looking at the variation of EIAV within the horse and between isolates from around the world. Once they understand where those changes occur, they might be able to design effective immunogens to protect horses against infection and/or disease with all strains in the field. Funding is also being provided by the USDA to look into EIA diagnostics. The hope is that this research will clarify the status of horses with results which differ in the official tests for EIA. The goal is to investigate the need for improvements in routine testing for EIA and to work with the industry to increase the accuracy of testing.
New research grants
Morris Animal Foundation From Morris Animal Foundation Newsletter Vol. 3, 1998
Central Nervous System Robert J. MacKay, BVC, PhD, of the University of Florida's College of Veterinary Medicine, is conducting a one-year investigation entitled, "Experimental Induction of Sarcocystis Neuroma Infection in Horses Using Sporocysts From Feral Opossums." The study will examine how Equine Protozoal Myeloencephalitis (EPM) is transmitted to horses. EPM attacks the nervous system, and there is no known cure. MacKay hypothesizes that half of the horses in the United States may be infected with the causative organism, Sarcocystis Neuroma, and at least two percent of infected horses likely show signs of EPM. Bacterial Infection and Colic Bacterial infection and colic are leading causes of death in foals and adult horses. The high mortality rate is associated with the release of a toxic bacterial product called endotoxin, which, once in the blood, channels the horse's defense mechanisms toward self-destruction and shock. Michelle Henry Barton, DVM, from the University of Georgia's College of Veterinary Medicine, has been approved to conduct a one-year study, "Evaluation of the Ability of Polymyxin B Sulfate to Bind Endotoxin in an In Vivo Equine Model," to evaluate polymyxin B, an antibiotic that binds endotoxin, thereby neutralizing its toxic effects.
Laminitis David M. Hood, DVM, from Texas A & M University's College of 824
JOURNAL OF EQUINE VETERINARYSCIENCE
From Equine Research & Service Report, Volume Xll, No. 2, Fall 1998
Currently, there is a live vaccine that has been used in China to help control the spread of EIA. However, according to Dr. Issel, it has the potential for reversion to a virulent form in horses. Dr. Issel said the fear of using the vaccine in this country, where the national infection rate is relatively low, is that it will spread between horses and cause disease, a risk that regulators are not willing to take.
EIA shares structural and biochemical features with its close relative, the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Because of the similarities the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has provided funding for research. The NIH is interested in several areas of current EIA research. Since most horses infected with the virus ultimately become clinically inapparent carriers, the NIH wants to further understand the immune responses in the horse that limit the infection to a non-disease state. Infection with HIV, in contrast, is usually progressive. NIH is also looking at the genetic aspects of the virus. Like HIV, the EIA virus mutates at a very high rate, and the regulation of replication of the equine lentivirus is of comparative value. The basic work is to understand the genetic structure of the virus and how it varies in time within individual horses. Dr. Issel and coworkers, at the Gluck Equine Research Center, are looking at the variation of EIAV within the horse and between isolates from around the world. Once they understand where those changes occur, they might be able to design effective immunogens to protect horses against infection and/or disease with all strains in the field. Funding is also being provided by the USDA to look into EIA diagnostics. The hope is that this research will clarify the status of horses with results which differ in the official tests for EIA. The goal is to investigate the need for improvements in routine testing for EIA and to work with the industry to increase the accuracy of testing.
New research grants
Morris Animal Foundation From Morris Animal Foundation Newsletter Vol. 3, 1998
Central Nervous System Robert J. MacKay, BVC, PhD, of the University of Florida's College of Veterinary Medicine, is conducting a one-year investigation entitled, "Experimental Induction of Sarcocystis Neuroma Infection in Horses Using Sporocysts From Feral Opossums." The study will examine how Equine Protozoal Myeloencephalitis (EPM) is transmitted to horses. EPM attacks the nervous system, and there is no known cure. MacKay hypothesizes that half of the horses in the United States may be infected with the causative organism, Sarcocystis Neuroma, and at least two percent of infected horses likely show signs of EPM. Bacterial Infection and Colic Bacterial infection and colic are leading causes of death in foals and adult horses. The high mortality rate is associated with the release of a toxic bacterial product called endotoxin, which, once in the blood, channels the horse's defense mechanisms toward self-destruction and shock. Michelle Henry Barton, DVM, from the University of Georgia's College of Veterinary Medicine, has been approved to conduct a one-year study, "Evaluation of the Ability of Polymyxin B Sulfate to Bind Endotoxin in an In Vivo Equine Model," to evaluate polymyxin B, an antibiotic that binds endotoxin, thereby neutralizing its toxic effects.
Laminitis David M. Hood, DVM, from Texas A & M University's College of 824
JOURNAL OF EQUINE VETERINARYSCIENCE