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Battle Tick-Borne Diseases Symptoms, Diagnosis,

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Pest Control e-book

4 What’s New 8 Fecal Egg Counts How to determine if your horse needs to be dewormed.

2019

BY JUSTIN HIGH, DVM

Welcome to Equine Journal’s third annual Pest Control e-book. Although flies, mosquitoes, and ticks are as pesky as ever, the world is continually changing with new products to help you combat these pests, which is why we always love to highlight the latest and greatest new products on the market. Check out a range of products to help protect you, your horse, and even man’s best friend on page 4.

If you are a horse owner, it’s likely that you’re familiar with dewormer. But how much dewormer is too much, and when do you need to administer it to your horse? Learn the ins and outs of deworming your horse in “Fecal Egg Counts” on page 8.

Lastly, lyme disease and anaplasmosis are both diseases that we are all too familiar with here in the Northeast. But whether you’re from New England or not, these are two tick-borne diseases that can wreak havoc on both horse and human, which is why it’s important to be sure to protect yourself and your horse as much as possible. Read about the symptoms, treatments, and long-term effects of both diseases in Kathleen Labonville’s article, “Battle Tick-Borne Diseases” on page 10.

Be sure to take caution of all pests this season by keeping this reference on hand.

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10 Battle Tick-Borne Diseases Diseases like Lyme and Anaplasmosis can wreak havoc on their hosts, humans and horses alike.

BY KATHLEEN LABONVILLE

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A staple among the equine community, the SmartPak Deluxe Fly Sheet has released their popular product with new and improved features. This lightweight and breathable sheet blocks up to 70% of harmful UV rays to protect your horse’s skin and coat. The new version of this sheet offers a better fit through the shoulders and hindquarter, and is less likely to bunch with the new front buckle placement. BUY IT: smartpakequine.com, $89.95

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FOR HOUND: SAWYER PERMETHRIN INSECT REPELLENT Although it can be used on humans, Sawyer’s Permethrin Insect Repellent can be applied to dogs to help control mosquitoes and fleas for 35 days and can be used against ticks for six weeks. It also protects against ticks, chiggers, mites, and over 55 other kinds of insects. BUY IT: dickssportinggoods.com, $14.99 2019 Pest Control e-book

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Be The Solution To Your Horse’s Fly Problem ARTICLE AND PHOTO PROVIDED BY SMARTPAK

BUGS ARE MORE THAN JUST a nuisance! From skin issues to serious conditions, they can lead to a variety of health challenges for your horse.

SmartPak is here to help you learn more about the insects that you and your horse are facing and find out what problems they can cause.

TYPES OF INSECTS Different insects require different strategies to combat them, so it’s important to understand which insects are bugging your horse before you put together your insect control plan.

The most common fly you’ll see around horses is the non-biting house fly, which reproduces mostly in manure. You’ll primarily find these flies going for the moisture in the eyes, but they can be found anywhere on your horse. Meanwhile, the biting stable fly is the second most common around horses. These are blood feeders, and you’ll find them on the forelegs and flanks of your horse, in particular.

Mosquitoes are small insects that, like the biting stable fly, are blood feeders. In addition to leaving irritating bites on your horse, mosquitoes can transmit several diseases to horses, including equine encephalitis and West Nile Virus. Ticks are also blood-sucking eight-legged arachnids that hitch on to your horse to feed.

You’ll commonly find them attached to your horse’s legs or chest, but they could be anywhere on his body.

Besides irritating your horse when they bite and latch on, they can transmit a variety of serious diseases, including Lyme Disease.

Other common insects you might see around your farm include biting midges, chiggers, and bot flies. To learn more about the insects to be wary of, visit smartpak.com/flysolutions.

ALLERGY AND SKIN CONDITIONS Now that you know a little more about the insects that are found around your horse and the diseases they can spread, it’s also important to understand some of the other health concerns that are associated with 6

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these pesky bugs.

Allergies are an exaggerated response from the immune system to a substance in the environment, called an allergen. Allergic reactions are common in horses, and horses can develop allergies from a wide variety of things in their environment, including insects such as black flies, horn flies, and stable flies. Hives and intense itching of the skin are one of the most frequent displays of allergies in horses.

“Sweet Itch,” also known as “summer itch” or summer seasonal recurrent dermatitis (SSRD), is an allergic reaction to the Culicoides biting midge or “no-see-um” gnat. The classic signs of “sweet itch” are a horse that becomes very itchy in the spring, often to the point of rubbing out its mane and tail hair. In addition to this “buzzed mane” and “rat tail” appearance, there may be a pattern of skin irritation all along the topline: from head and face, to neck and withers, to back and rump.

“Summer Sores” or “Fly Sores” is a seasonal skin disease in horses referred to by veterinarians as Cutaneous Habronemiasis. “Summer Sores” are characterized by one or more open and draining nodules and are typically found on the legs, inner corner of the eyes, and moist areas, especially where the skin has undergone injury or irritation. They are the result of an interruption in the normal life cycle of the stomach worm. Instead of Habronema and larvae passing into the manure, being ingested by fly larvae, then deposited on the horse’s lips to be swallowed which completes the usual cycle, flies deposit the stomach worm larvae on other parts of the horse’s body, leading to a severe local reaction that is often itchy.

SOLUTIONS FOR EVERY AREA OF YOUR FARM When it comes to solving your bug problem, it’s important to have a barnwide system that has every area on your farm covered. From inside the barn and out, there are many areas to consider. Here are just a few to start:

Look in your feed room—To start, a daily insect control product is the smartest way to help ensure that your horse has what he needs to defend himself from the inside.

There are two main types of insect control products to choose from: EPA-approved insect growth regulators, which help reduce the fly population, and insect defense supplements, which help deter insects from biting your horse.

If you’re looking to band together with your barn mates and start all of the horses on the property on an insect control product, consider choosing an insect growth regulator.

Formulas in this category are feedthrough larvacides that inhibit the development of house and stable flies. They provide targeted ingredients such as cyromazine, which passes safely through the horse’s system to affect the fly larvae in manure.

If everyone in your barn isn’t on board, pick an insect defense supplement that can help give your horse his own personal no-fly zone.

Formulas in this category provide key ingredients like garlic, apple cider vinegar, and brewer’s yeast to help discourage insects from biting your horse. Even if you’re giving your horse an insect growth regulator, this type of formula is a great addition to your program, too, because it can help protect your horse from bugs that might migrate from nearby barns.

Turnout—When your horse is turned out, he has two lines of defense that can help along with a feed-through supplement: fly spray, which helps ward off insects, and physical barriers like fly masks, fly sheets, and fly boots, which deny insects access to your horse.

Fly sprays and repellents can work in three different ways; they can act as insecticides, which means that they’re able to kill insects; they can repel insects which means that they’ll discourage flies from landing on your horse but won’t actually kill them; or they can confuse flies and prevent them from even finding your horse.

If you’re looking for an insecticide,

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choose a fly spray that contains permethrin, pyrethroids, and/or pyrethrins. If you’re looking for a plant-based formula that repels insects, choose one with ingredients such as peppermint, geraniol, and citronella. If you want to try a formula that confuses insects, look for one that contains fatty acids such as octanoic acid, nonanoic acid, and decanoic acid.

There are also protective barriers such as fly masks, fly sheets, and fly boots that can add another layer of defense for your horse!

A fly mask is the perfect way to keep the bugs away from your horse’s sensitive face, eyes, and ears when he’s in turnout. Most fly masks are made from lightweight, breathable mesh that will protect your horse’s face while still allowing air to pass through, while still providing coverage just for your horse’s face.

Using a fly sheet is a smart way to give your horse a full-body physical barrier against biting pests. The number of fly sheets available may make choosing the right one for your horse seem impossible, but there are several key factors you can use to decide between the options available, including the amount of coverage, the material, and basic features such as front closures and shoulder gussets.

Many fly sheets offer UV protection to help prevent sun-bleaching.

If you want your horse to show off his true colors no matter what time of year it is, look for fly sheets that tout a percentage of “UV protection” as one of the benefits and keep in mind that the higher the percentage listed, the more blockage it provides.

Finally, if your horse spends his time outside stomping, consider protecting his legs from the pests with a set of fly boots. Fly boots are typically made from a mesh material, which allows for maximum airflow so that your horse’s legs stay both cool and protected from biting flies.

Along with the key areas mentioned here, there are several other areas where you can implement solutions that will help you beat the bugs, including the manure pile, the barn perimeter, inside the barn, and out in the rings and on the trails. To learn more about how you can be the solution to your horse’s fly problem in all of these areas, visit smartpak.com/flysolutions.

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Fecal Egg Counts

By Justin High, DVM

Historically, everything from chewing tobacco to used motor oil has been given to deworm horses. With the advent of a wide variety of effective anthelmintics (deworming medications) over the last few decades, the control of equine parasites has gone from cutting-edge medical technology to more of an over-the-counter transaction at the local feed store for many horse owners. I do not consider this to be a bad thing. After seeing firsthand the truly devastating effects rampant parasitism can have in Third World countries, where any deworming medication is a luxury, I do not begrudge the aggressive, but often misinformed use of them in my own backyard.

When first introduced, anthelmintics were a God-send. I can remember old timers talking about how great ivermectin was for the simple fact it saved lives. Ask anyone under 50 years of age if they’ve had a horse die of cranial mesenteric arteritis. I doubt if they will know what you’re talking about. That’s the point—it stopped an entire class of diseases. Now, after decades of continuous use, the issue of parasite resistance to deworming medications is real, and it should affect how and why you choose to deworm your horses.

There are several classes of anthelmintics for horses and not all of them control the same parasites, so a logical approach to deworming horses has been to use a rotational system of administration.

Depending on what book you read or your veterinarian’s preference, horses would be given a different dewormer every 60-90 days throughout the year. In the world of more is better, though, I still hear of far too many people deworming their horses every 30 days with whatever the feed store has on sale.

Believe it or not, sometimes doing nothing is better. The thought process of treating for the sake of doing something has advanced the cause of parasite resistance faster than anything else. Think of anthelmintics just like you would antibiotics. A healthy, well-cared-for horse with no evidence of infection does not need a dose of penicillin, gentocin or any other antibiotic.

Sure, they have bacteria on their skin and

in their nasal passages and mouths—but it is not causing clinical disease because they have an intact immune system to keep things in check.

So, how do you determine if a healthy, slick and shiny horse needs to be dewormed? Fecal egg counts. Fecal egg counts are the gold standard for diagnosing equine parasite loads. By no means a new technology, fecal egg counts separate the parasite eggs from fecal matter through floatation in specific saline solutions. This method gives you a number of parasite eggs per gram of feces tested. Quantitative answers such as these are integral for identifying parasitized horses. Based on these results, horses will be divided into three categories: low egg shedders: <200 eggs per gram of feces; medium egg shedders: 200 to 500 eggs per gram of feces; high egg shedders: >500 eggs per gram of feces.

One caveat to these numbers is that horses younger than four years of age have a much less consistent egg shedding pattern. They tend to have higher and more variable numbers, and should be treated accordingly.

What I would like you to think about is this—based on your operation, what is the best way to keep your horses clean and healthy, while not over-treating? How can you use the least amount of drug that gets the best results?

Without question, the interval-dose program introduced in the 1960s that had us giving specific products at certain intervals throughout the year selects for parasite resistance. Continuous daily treatments with pyrantel tartrate do an excellent job of targeting the high egg shedders with strongyles, but may also contribute to the higher levels of pyrantel resistance seen primarily in the U.S. Strategic dosing is a more complete method of accounting for parasite life cycles, seasonality and local climate conditions to determine the best time to treat horses to eliminate parasites.

This is typically done without routine diagnostic testing, such as in a larger herd setting, and more treatment is done only in the grazing season, when re-infestation

is likely. Selective therapy is the most accurate way to deworm your horses. By screening all your horses at once through fecal egg counts, only the horses that meet threshold levels for treatment will be given anthelmintic medications. Equine parasitology is a lot like workplace politics, in that 80 percent of the problems are caused by 20 percent of the people.

Likewise, 20 percent of the horses will be carrying 80 percent of the parasite load, thereby being responsible for the bulk of the fecal egg output for the entire herd. By treating only the horses you and your veterinarian have decided upon, the overall fecal egg counts of your herd will stay very low while also decreasing the treatment intervals and amounts of medication administered.

By this method, the high egg shedders can be identified and treated appropriately, often by continuous daily pyrantel and periodic doses of moxidectin. The low egg shedders can be given a single dose when needed and monitored periodically for re-treatement.

Ultimately, how you deworm your horses should be based on your operation and practicality. If you have several horses that live in the same small pasture all year, you need to do fecal egg counts and treat based off that information.

If you are running several hundred head of horses scattered across the prairie, treat them based off the knowledge of what they are most likely exposed to in a given season. There is no single solution to all equine parasite control programs, but there is a wealth of information to apply to your situation. Can you rotate pastures?

Where do you spread stall manure, and how long is the climate conducive to parasite life cycles? Take advantage of the information and the easily accessible medications. Trust me—you and I take it for granted. There are plenty who can’t.

Dr. Justin High is a veterinarian and partner in Reata Equine Hospital in Weatherford, TX. Send your questions and comments to justinhighdvm@reataequinehospital.com.

This article was originally printed in the June 2016 issue of Quarter Horse News.

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Battle Tick-Borne Diseases

Diseases like Lyme and Anaplasmosis can wreak havoc on their hosts, humans and horses alike.

BY KATHLEEN LABONVILLE Ticks: How can something so small—two to three millimeters, like a black pepper flake—bring such devastation? Ask anyone who has had a tick-borne disease, and they will likely tell you that the ordeal was like something right out of a nightmare.

Unexplained and often overwhelming fatigue, headache, and joint pain are but a few of the symptoms of tick-borne diseases in humans. Symptoms in horses are similar, with lethargy, fever, lameness or swelling of the limbs, and neurological problems at the forefront. If detected early, these diseases can be successfully treated with large doses of antibiotics. If not treated early, the diseases, particularly Lyme, can go deep and wreak absolute havoc on their host.

Here in the Northeast the two most common tick-borne diseases are Lyme disease and Anaplasmosis. For insight on how best to battle these diseases, we spoke with Dr. Sara Cook, a mixed animal practitioner at Henniker Veterinary Services in Henniker, NH.

LYME DISEASE Symptoms “Lyme disease symptoms include shifting leg lameness, lethargy, behavior change, weight loss, neck or back pain, and neurologic signs,” says Dr. Cook. Other symptoms can include a new unhappiness under saddle, an uncharacteristically grumpy demeanor, or a general sense of malaise.

PHOTO: ISTOCK.COM/TONY BAGGETT

Diagnosis The sooner your horse is diagnosed, the better its chances for a complete recovery, so if you see any of these symptoms and you live in an area with ticks, call your veterinarian right away.

He or she will draw your horse’s blood and have it tested.

Dr. Cook explains, “For Lyme disease, most practitioners currently use the multiplex analysis, which screens for antibodies produced by the horse to three differGuinea fowl are a great option for ent antigens found on the Borrelia helping to lower burgdorferi bacteria. In theory, this tick population on test can differentiate between early your property. and chronic infections. It can also be used to determine the horse’s response to vaccination, if the owner has chosen to use the canine outersurface protein A (OspA) vaccine.

This test is used as a screening test because it is quite sensitive, meaning that most horses that have been exposed to B. burgdorferi will come up with a positive titer.”

This sensitivity can be a doubleedged sword. “Many horses in New England will test positive (indicating exposure) even though they may show no clinical signs of Lyme disease,” Dr. Cook notes. “Other drawbacks of the test include the fact that higher titer levels may not nec-

essarily correlate to more severe disease, and there have been reports of cases of neurological Lyme disease confirmed on post-mortem exams that had low or negative multiplex titers if only serum is used.”

Dr. Cook continues, “The SNAP 4Dx test developed for dogs may also be used for horses. It has been shown to be reasonably accurate for Lyme disease. It screens for a different antibody than the multiplex test.”

Treatment Tetracycline antibiotics for a minimum of 30 days if the disease is in its early stages and much longer if the disease has advanced. Dr. Cook says, “Oxytetracycline may be diluted and given slowly intravenously. Oral options include either or minocycline.”

Long-Term Effect If detected and treated early, horses can often make a full recovery from Lyme disease with no need for long-term treatment. However, “Lyme disease is often chronic and insidious in its progression,” explains Dr. Cook. As a result, it can take a long time for a horse to become symptom-free, and even once that is achieved, symptoms can recur if the infection reappears.

“Treatment of chronic Lyme disease can definitely be difficult, because the Borrelia bacteria can ‘hide’ in the horse’s skin, joints, and nerves,” says Dr. Cook. “Most horses do respond with an improvement in symptoms, but the disease can recur in the future and it is not easy to decide how long the treatment should continue. There are some cases that unfortunately do not respond to antibiotic treatment, especially when the infection has reached the central nervous system.”

ANAPLASMOSIS Symptoms “Anaplasmosis is characterized by a sudden loss of appetite with a high fever, often with mild to moderate swelling of the limbs,” Dr. Cook explains.

Diagnosis “For Anaplasmosis, the preferred test is a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay which detects the presence of Anaplasma phagocytophilum bacteria in the blood,” Dr. Cook states. “A. phagocytophilum invades white blood cells, so if the horse is sick with Anaplasmosis, the bacterium is often detectable in the bloodstream. Sometimes it can even be seen under the microscope on a blood smear. The benefit of the PCR test is that it’s highly specific; that is, if the test is positive, then we can say with confidence that the horse has Anaplasmosis. However, it is not very sensitive because the bacteria may be 2019 Pest Control e-book

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Treatment The treatment for Anaplasmosis is same as for Lyme disease, except that the length of treatment is seven to 10 days.

Long-Term Effect Anaplasmosis is an acute illness that usually responds well to antibiotic treatment. “The horse is often back to normal within 24-48 hours of initiation of treatment,” states Dr. Cook.

Prevention Strategies Since vaccines are not available for tick-borne diseases in horses, the best defense against ticks is a good offense. Groom your horse thoroughly every day, feeling carefully for ticks as you go.

Remove any you find and dispose of them in a jar of rubbing alcohol. You will undoubtedly find ticks often, but most are relatively harmless. The ones that carry Lyme and other diseases are blacklegged ticks, commonly known as deer ticks, which are quite small and about the size of a poppy seed. If you find an engorged deer tick on your horse, keep the tick in a sandwich bag for your vet.

Other methods of tick bite prevention for your horse include the application of repellants that contain Pyrethrin. And of course, there is the all-natural approach of keeping a flock of birds like chickens or guinea fowl to eat the ticks and keep the tick population lower on your property. Also, ask your veterinarian if you should include a Lyme test for your horses as part of their routine healthcare.

In closing, remember that while tick-borne diseases can have devastating effects, not all ticks carry Lyme or Anaplasmosis. If you see a tick on yourself or your horse, chances are it is a dog tick, and you have nothing to worry about. It’s the tiny ticks, the ones that are hard to see with a naked eye, that cause concern.

Don’t let ticks make you afraid to be outside enjoying your horse or, worse yet, make you afraid to turn your horse out. Just use preventative measures, stay alert for disease symptoms, and enjoy the great outdoors with your beloved partner.

The ticks that carry Lyme and other diseases are blacklegged ticks, commonly known as deer ticks, which are quite small and about the size of a poppy seed.

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A PERSONAL BATTLE “I wouldn’t wish this on my worst enemy,” says Deb Wilson, of Warner, NH. Wilson contracted Lyme, and specifically a co-infection called Bartonella, six years ago. She plucked a tiny engorged tick off her body and immediately sought medical care as she had witnessed a neighbor whose life was halted by Lyme disease and she did not want the same. The nurse Deb saw told her she could have two days’ worth of antibiotics. Nervous, Deb insisted on more. The nurse finally agreed to give her 14 days of medication, which she took.

About a month later, Deb started experiencing symptoms including a sore throat, fatigue, brain fog, and night sweats. A return trip to the doctor still left her misdiagnosed. Finally, a blood test for Lyme came back positive, and she was put on an antibiotic, doxycycline. The treatment was not that easy and straightforward, however. Each case of Lyme is different, and there are not many doctors who are knowledgeable about the disease, which made it difficult to find proper treatment. Deb became her own advocate, researching all she could about tick-borne diseases. She learned that the disease goes very deep, and it moves from one system to another. She’d be treated for one symptom, such as a burning sensation in her stomach, and the disease would move elsewhere and cause a different symptom, like tingling in her fingers and toes.

For four years, Deb’s life came to a standstill. She was plagued with intense fatigue. Once strongly self-sufficient, she had to rely on others to do most everything for her.

“Your life changes,” she reflects. “You read about marriages that don’t last…my husband had to step up and take over all the household stuff and all the kid stuff.”

Once very physically active, Deb became housebound.

Her love–tennis–stopped. We horse lovers can relate to this; if we become unable to ride or care for our horses, we lose the true essence of ourselves. In the throes of Lyme, “You lose those things that keep you a healthy, functioning person,” Deb explains. Her way of parenting stopped as she could only listen from her bed to her family’s daily activities downstairs. “You’re not the parent, the partner, the friend you were. You have to surrender to it. You have to accept that ‘This is me and I am not what I used to be,’” Deb explains.

With high rates of failure to diagnose, failure to treat, and the overwhelming progression of the disease, many people with tick-borne diseases lose hope and feel despair.

To complicate matters, while the Lyme patient is so sick, they do not appear to be outwardly. Deb explains, “When people have a sickness like cancer they get support and understanding from family and community; not necessarily so with Lyme, because you don’t look sick.” As a result, many lose their friends, their jobs, and their partners due to lack of understanding.

Six years post-contraction, Deb is living her full life again, working and parenting. It has been a long and, literally, tiresome battle. Today, she warns us of the importance of Lyme prevention. There is no vaccine for humans, but we must all take the time to apply repellant, seal pant legs, and wear long sleeves and hats.

PHOTO: ISTOCK.COM/NECHAEV-KON

missed if the blood sample is drawn either too early or too late in the course of the disease.”

“The SNAP 4Dx is less useful for Anaplasmosis,” Dr. Cook continues, “because it is an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and most horses that are acutely ill with Anaplasmosis have not yet mounted an antibody response. By the time the test shows a positive result, the infection has usually resolved.”

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