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PIROPLASMOSIS
demonstrated clinical disease (i.e., horses that tested positive for EP) since at least 2005. Details regarding the total number of cases were not available through WAHID. Further, the true prevalence of EP in countries such as France actually appears to be unknown. Peter Timoney, MVB, MS, PhD, FRCVS, a veterinary scientist at the University of Kentucky’s Maxwell H. Gluck Equine Research Center, says that relate to the thoroughbred racehorse industry the impact of piroplasmosis remains unclear. “It is a confused and murky picture,” relays Timoney. “There are numerous performance horses, including eventers and show jumpers, et cetera that are piro positive and are competing in the top echelon.” One point to consider is the difference in medication rules between North America and France. Because the use of medications in racehorses are less permissible in France, the chance of the spread of piroplasmosis via contaminated equipment (as was the presumed spread of piroplasmosis at Calder Casino & Race Course, in Miami Gardens, Florida) probably occurs less frequently in
racehorses in France. Timoney concurs and adds, “The persistence of piro in France cannot be completely attributed to iatrogenic spread of the disease.” In the Republic of Ireland “Piroplasmosis is a Notifiable Disease. Thus, when it occurs here, the disease is controlled by the State,” explains Dr. Des Leadon, a European College & RCVS Registered Consultant, Specialist in Equine Medicine, and Head of Clinical Pathology at the Irish Equine Centre, County Kildare, Ireland. “We investigated a poor performance episode in a racing yard here in 2009. Three horses were anaemic with no obvious cause and no history of importation. The stable contained some 60 horses in training at this time. More than 40 were shown to be piroplasmosis-positive on further investigation,” Leadon recalls. “There was no evidence of spread and the outbreak was subsequently officially declared over within three months of the diagnosis.” Because Ireland does not have the tick
vectors (needed to spread the disease), the presumptive causation was iatrogenic. That is, spread from humans to horses via medical or other equipment. Leadon adds, “This episode heightened our awareness of the disease.” No testing for piroplasmosis is necessary for any horse being imported into Ireland. In contrast, all horses being imported into the US (except those from Iceland and Canada) are required to be tested cELISA negative at the US import centre before they are granted entry. In England “There is free movement of horses throughout the European Union without restrictions,” relays Fred Barrelet, an equine surgeon from Rossdale & Partners, in Newmarket, UK, despite the occurrence of
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