From: Valeria
Jessica, I very much enjoy your digest. Here is my question. Where would I go to find out general information regarding horse related veterinary subjects on the web. Specifically, this past weekend, my 7 year old Morgan gelding was diagnosed with Potomac Horse Fever. We were able to quickly control the virus, and he is doing quite well now...no projected after effects.
Never taking the place of the care and guidance of a vet, I do like to be an informed owner, and couldn't find anything in my own general books/journals.
So I guess my question is this 1) I'd be interested in some information from you on Potomac....and 2) it might be useful for others visiting your list if you could recommend general equine search sites that were user friendly.
Thank you for your help.
PHF, also known as EME (Equine Monocytic Ehrlichiosis) was first diagnosed in the late 1970s, in Maryland -- near the Potomac River. Hence the name.... It is caused by the rickettsia Ehrlichia risticii. The disease affects horses of all types and ages, and tends to appear more often in the summer than in the winter.
Profile PHF is an acute diarrheal disease. An affected horse will typically run a fever for a time (two days to a week or more), and will present with depression and anorexia. The majority of cases, though, will be mild, and relatively few cases will result in founder. The disease is particularly dangerous for pregnant mares, which may abort months after exposure even if they never showed any clinical signs of the disease.
Diagnosis The veterinarian will draw blood from the horse and have it tested for increasing serum titer.
Treatment The basic treatment for PHF is a course of antibiotics. If the horse is suffering from diarrhea/dehydration, the veterinarian(s) on the case will usually attempt to counter the dehydration by administering fluids and electrolytes.
Prevention There IS a vaccine, and most veterinarians will suggest that horseowners vaccinate those horses that either live in or near endemic areas, or that are being shipped in and out of those areas -- perhaps for a show or racing or breeding schedule. Vaccination may be a guarantee that your horse cannot get PHF, but it should prevent it in many cases and lessen the severity of the disease in other cases. Talk to your veterinarian about when and how often to give the vaccine -- the usual pattern would be an initial injection in the spring, followed by a second one toward the end of summer.
Looking for information This should have given you some ideas about what to look for if you're doing online (or offline) searches, and some topics to discuss with your veterinarian. Valerie, I agree with you that horse-owners should be INFORMED horse owners -- and I also agree that no amount of information is a substitute for the help and advice of a veterinarian. But the library is still a good source for information -- and so is the Internet.
One of the best online sites for equine health information, IMO, is The Horse Interactive. This is a high-quality, user-friendly site; the URL is
http://www.thehorse.com
Jessica
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