Horse Lyme Disease | petmd

You’ve probably heard of the risk of Lyme Disease in dogs, but what about Lyme Disease in horses? Just like our dog companions, it is important to understand Lyme disease signs, treatments and preventive options in our horse friends.

What is Lyme Disease in Horse?

Lyme disease is caused by bacteria Borrelia burgdorferiis sent through the mites bite.

Lyme disease is not as common in horses as dogs, but certain species of horses living in the northeastern, Pacific coast and Midwest Deer ticks can be common and can increase your risk of contracting the disease.

Lyme disease usually causes the progressive onset of ambiguous symptoms. However, if your horse suddenly becomes very stiff, hypersensitivity, shows behavioral changes, or other symptoms that are occurring rapidly, it is safest to have your veterinarian examine them.

Early intervention is important as severe Lyme disease in horses can be fatal.

Symptoms of Lyme Disease in Horse

The most common symptoms of Lyme disease in horses include:

• Uveitisif caused by Lyme infection, it usually occurs very quickly. Some horses may lose their full vision within a month.

• NeurobioticsIt is caused by bacteria entering the horse’s nervous system. This can cause symptoms such as ataxia (wobble), difficulty breathing due to larynx paralysis, and cranial nerve defects (depression, tilting head, irregular eye movements, and turning).

• Synovial bursitisor inflammation of Bursus, a fluid-filled sac near the horse’s joints.

• Skin pseudolymphomathe superficial uplift of the tick bite site.

Other potential symptoms of Lyme disease include:

• Changes in behavior

• rigidity

• Sensitive skin

• Muscle atrophy (waste)

• Weight loss

• Lethargic

• la la line

• Swelling and pain in the joints

Causes of Lyme Disease in Horse

A horse can develop Lyme disease after being bitten by an Ixodes Tick (also known as The Seeer Tick or Black-Peghed Tick). B. burgdorferi. The mites first pick up this bacteria by eating the mouse or other small mammals that carry it.

It is usually thought that mites need to adhere to the horse for at least 18 hours to begin transmission of this bacterial disease. This time frame allows bacterial organisms to enter the horse’s body and modify themselves enough to survive in the new environment.

Lyme disease cannot be transmitted from horses to horses, and at the time of this publication there were no recorded cases of foals who acquired the disease from their mothers. Horse, like humans, are therefore considered “accidental or dead-end” hosts of Lyme disease.

It may take three weeks to several months for your horse to develop signs of Lyme disease. Many horses do not develop obvious symptoms.

How Vets Can Diagnose Lyme Disease in Horse

Diagnosis of Lyme disease can be somewhat difficult while the horse is alive. B. burgdorferi Do not develop clinical symptoms. However, if your horse is experiencing anything regarding clinical signs such as visible mites bites or live mites, always contact your veterinarian to check your horse.

After their first exams are performed, the veterinarian usually undergoes a blood test and B. burgdorferi Bacteria. These tests can return to positive even from simple exposures, so this test is not recommended unless the horse shows clinical signs consistent with Lyme disease or other conditions.

If antibody production against Lyme disease antigen is positive, other tests may be performed, including cytology and histopathology. These tests examine affected tissues to assess characteristic signs and cells of inflammation consistent with Lyme disease.

A preliminary diagnosis of Lyme disease can only be made if clinical signs are present, tests are positive, and all other potential causes of horse symptoms are ruled out.

Samples or cultured swabs taken from the horse’s brain or central nervous system can be diagnosed as to whether the horse has died or euthanized due to severe disease progression.

Treatment of Lyme Disease in Horse

If your horse is diagnosed with Lyme disease, the typical approach to treatment is antibiotics. At this time, there is no “gold standard” treatment approach for Lyme disease in horses, but the most commonly used antibiotics for Lyme disease are:

These medications are usually given to horses for 2 to 6 weeks, but can be prescribed for treatment up to several months.

If your horse is experiencing painful symptoms, NSAIDs such as phenylbutazone and flunixin meglumine may also be administered for some time.

Additional treatments, including acupuncture, herbal therapy, and chiropractic, have also been used with reasonable success for horse discomfort if Lyme disease is present.

Recovery and management of Lyme disease in horses

Retesting illness is not usually recommended, as horses may have a high antibody count even after completing their antibiotic course and their symptoms have improved. It will also result in positive results in months or years.

Once symptoms improve and the horse returns to normal, treatment for Lyme disease in the horse is considered to have been successful.

The prognosis of mild Lyme disease in horses is usually good with rapid diagnosis and treatment.

On the other hand, horses that develop neurobial disease usually develop severity of clinical signs even after receiving treatment, and are protected by a poor prognosis due to the worsening severity of the disease.

If the horse prolongs joint inflammation or pain due to Lyme disease, recovery can take more than a few months and these horses may occur later arthritis.

Your vet may recommend an NSAID, such as phylocoxyb. Joint supportive therapyor supplement During or after treatment for Lyme disease, or if arthritis develops, the latter part of life.

Prevention of Lyme Disease in Horse

The owner of the horse can help prevent Lyme disease in the horse. Horse helps prevent Lyme disease in horses by avoiding and repelling mites and controlling the environment wherever possible.

There are a variety of commercially available Tickle Playing Spray and Local prevention It will help keep mites from your horse. However, these are not 100% effective, so it is important to stay vigilant against mites.

Check your horse daily to remove any potentially present, especially if you live in a typical area. This can be easily touched and scanned when feeding or grooming.

It is also important to keep the environment as unappealing as possible. This includes keeping pastures mowed, removing tree piles and leaf debris, and maintaining food stalls and paddocks well as ticks prefer a shady, wet environment and plant cover. Masu.

Unfortunately, there is currently no FDA-approved vaccine for Lyme disease in horses. However, it has been shown that dog lime vaccines will be given Partial and short protection.