Re-Emergence of the Apicomplexan Theileria equi in the United States: Elimination of Persistent Infection and Transmission Risk
| Autor: | Angela M. Pelzel, Benjamin Espy, Robert H. Mealey, Andy Schwartz, Nancy Kumpula-McWhirter, Lowell S. Kappmeyer, Donald P. Knowles, Thomas O. Bunn, Stephen N. White, Massaro W. Ueti, Josie L. Traub-Dargatz, Juanita F. Grause, Alan John Guthrie, Amy Hendrickson, W. Kent Fowler |
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| Rok vydání: | 2012 |
| Předmět: |
Veterinary Medicine
Quantitative Parasitology Animal Types Veterinary Microbiology Antiprotozoal Agents lcsh:Medicine Large Animals Biology Animal Welfare Polymerase Chain Reaction chemistry.chemical_compound Agricultural Production Risk Factors Theileria Protozoan infection parasitic diseases medicine Animals Horses lcsh:Science Pathogen Animal Management Imidocarb Multidisciplinary Transmission (medicine) lcsh:R Horse Agriculture Veterinary Parasitology biology.organism_classification medicine.disease Veterinary Diagnostics Virology United States Theileriasis Veterinary Sports Medicine Veterinary Diseases chemistry Immunology biology.protein lcsh:Q Veterinary Science Female Horse Diseases Antibody Nested polymerase chain reaction Research Article |
| Zdroj: | PLoS ONE PLoS ONE, Vol 7, Iss 9, p e44713 (2012) |
| ISSN: | 1932-6203 |
| Popis: | Arthropod-borne apicomplexan pathogens that cause asymptomatic persistent infections present a significant challenge due to their life-long transmission potential. Although anti-microbials have been used to ameliorate acute disease in animals and humans, chemotherapeutic efficacy for apicomplexan pathogen elimination from a persistently infected host and removal of transmission risk is largely unconfirmed. The recent re-emergence of the apicomplexan Theileria equi in U.S. horses prompted testing whether imidocarb dipropionate was able to eliminate T. equi from naturally infected horses and remove transmission risk. Following imidocarb treatment, levels of T. equi declined from a mean of 10(4.9) organisms/ml of blood to undetectable by nested PCR in 24 of 25 naturally infected horses. Further, blood transfer from treated horses that became nested PCR negative failed to transmit to naïve splenectomized horses. Although these results were consistent with elimination of infection in 24 of 25 horses, T. equi-specific antibodies persisted in the majority of imidocarb treated horses. Imidocarb treatment was unsuccessful in one horse which remained infected as measured by nested PCR and retained the ability to infect a naïve recipient via intravenous blood transfer. However, a second round of treatment eliminated T. equi infection. These results support the utility of imidocarb chemotherapy for assistance in the control and eradication of this tick-borne pathogen. Successful imidocarb dipropionate treatment of persistently infected horses provides a tool to aid the global equine industry by removing transmission risk associated with infection and facilitating international movement of equids between endemic and non-endemic regions. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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