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Message |
    
Teresa W. Cooper
| | Posted on Wednesday, Aug 4, 1999 - 10:54 pm: |   |
I have been told of two cases of lyme disease recently in North Carolina from the same general area.Is this catching and what does one look for?Thanks |
The Advisor Vet, RN Oglesby DVM
| | Posted on Thursday, Aug 5, 1999 - 12:53 pm: | |
Lymes disease in horses is a controversial subject. Lymes disease is caused by the organism Borrelia burgdorferi. It is transmitted to mammals by ticks. If use to be thought that only the deer tick was responsible but the organism may be transmitted by other types of ticks.
We know horses can become infected with this microbe. Both experimental infection and serum antibodies to this organism in endemic areas have been found. The controversy is over what type disease, if any at all, is caused by Borrelia in horses. When horses where experimentally infected the organism reproduced in the blood, settled in the kidneys, and was excreted out the urine for several weeks, until the horse cleared became seropositive and cleared the organism from their body. The problem is horses that have been experimentally infected showed no signs of illness during the acute and recovery phases. Also many horses with high titers to the organism had no past history of infection.
In other species, I believe, Borrelia has been shown to cause recurrent fevers, polyarthritis, muscle soreness, and neurological disease. In horses from endemic areas veterinarians feel they see the same constellation of symptoms that are responsive to tetracycline, the best choice of antibiotic for this infection. There have been some surveys to suggest a higher seroprevalence in horses having some of the signs of Lyme's disease, some have not found a relationship.
So do horses get sick from Lymes disease? Possibly, but there is no proof yet and a lot of work that suggest the vast majority of the horses exposed get infected but show no signs of the infection.
Currently, it is recommended that horses suspected of this infection have paired serum samples run 14 days apart while being treated for it. A significant rise during the infection and treatment phase is strong evidence of disease due to infection with Borrelia. A high titer alone is common in healthy horses in endemic areas.
DrO |
Edward G. Vocell (Evocell)
| | Posted on Tuesday, Sep 26, 2000 - 9:43 am: | |
Hello,
I recently purchased 2 horses, one 16 month old filly and one 10 year old mare who is pregnant. The mare is a good school horse but is getting increasingly hard to get to move. The filly is very stiff in her hind end. I had my vet take blood to have a Lyme test done. Both horses are from an area (Pine Island, NY) where Lyme is very common. They both tested positive.
They just started treatment (Doxycycline) orally. I asked my vet if that was safe for a pregnant mare and he said he's had very little problem with it, a common side effect is that the foal will be born with dark teeth. He didn't seem to concerned.
My question(s). I believe these two horses had Lyme long before I got them. Their former owner keeps all of her horses out to pasture 24/7 so it is very likely they've had it for a while (months to years). Do you think the Doxycycline is going to reverse the effects of the disease or will it just stop the progression? The pregnant mare has a good disposition but really fights you if you ask her to canter. I believe she is sore in the hind end??
Also, what effects will the Doxycycline have on the unborn foal? The mare weighs 1000-1100lbs and is getting 10 pills twice per day.
Thanks in advance for your help! |
Robert N. Oglesby DVM (Dro)
| | Posted on Wednesday, Sep 27, 2000 - 7:09 am: | |
Hello Edward,
I personally am unaware of any proof that a titer to Lymes in horses is correlated with any clinical signs so I think the diagnosis and therefore the cure is very speculative.
There is very little work in horses on the effects of doxycycline so recommendations come from what happens in other species. Because tetracyclines, including doxycycline, can retard fetal skeletal development and discolor deciduous teeth, they should only be used in the last half of pregnancy when the benefits outweigh the fetal risks. We do not know what the chance of causing fetal problems is in horses.
DrO |
Edward G. Vocell (Evocell)
| | Posted on Saturday, Sep 30, 2000 - 8:50 am: | |
Hi Dr. O.
Thanks for the info. Here's a little more info on the pregnant mare.. She is was just over 5 months pregnant when started on the doxycycline which was just a week and a half ago. The thought of this effecting the foal scares me but I wonder if not doing anything would be worse...
I have a cousin who was pregnant (now 10-11 years ago) who was bit by a lyme tick. She didn't think anything of it then and it went untreated for years. 6-8 years after her daughter was born she was diagnosed with having MS. She wasn't responding to (whatever) treatments they were giving her for MS so she went to Connecticut and got tested for lyme by specialists. She was positive for it and unfortunately, in the later stages of it. She is walking with a cane now and her mind is effected. Her speach is very different, don't really know how to describe that.. To make it even more upsetting, her daughter was just diagnosed with it also, I believe she is 10 years old now and they think she was exposed when her mother was pregnant with her and was infected with lyme.
Anyway. I thought that would interest you. I am not happy with the possible side effects of Doxycycline but wonder if we are better off to treat the mare?
Thanks!
Kim (Edward is my hubby) |
Robert N. Oglesby DVM (Dro)
| | Posted on Saturday, Sep 30, 2000 - 10:55 am: | |
While humans have been shown to get ill from exposure to Lymes, this is not the case in horses...yet
DrO |
Dr. Carol Artlett (Cartlett)
| | Posted on Monday, Oct 2, 2000 - 12:54 pm: | |
Lyme disease is not traditionally known to be the cause of MS. It may be just a coincidence between the two. It is very common for patients of incurable diseases to associate their disease with something in the past whether it is of sound rational thinking or not. We see this phenomenon with other autoimmune diseases all the time.
Carol |
denise murrer
New Member
Username: Murrer72
Post Number: 1
Registered: 1-2007
| | Posted on Sunday, Jan 14, 2007 - 1:45 pm: | |
I have two horses in my barn who are both positive for lymes. I am waiting for the results on my mare who is due to foal in mid May. Since two are already positive and since they are all in the same pasture I am assuming my pregnant mare will be positive as well. My question is can she be put on a 30 day regimine of doxy, will the lymes be transmitted to the foal and will the doxy be safe for the foal? I sure would appreciate any advice my vet is not sure as to how she should proceed if this mare is positive for lymes disease. Thankyou |
Robert N. Oglesby DVM
Moderator
Username: Dro
Post Number: 17501
Registered: 1-1997
| | Posted on Monday, Jan 15, 2007 - 6:17 am: | |
Welcome Denise,
you don't indicate your horses are sick and if not, why treat them? You have to remember titers' do not equate with infection. I want you to back up one page (use the navigation bar at the top of this frame and select the first Lyme Disease) and read all the posts on this disease. If you then have questions you should start a new discussion, using the link at the bottom of the list of discussions.
We do have articles on Doxycycline also in the Medication/Antibiotic sections of the site.
DrO |
Patricia Bell
Member
Username: Boomer
Post Number: 192
Registered: 1-2006
| | Posted on Tuesday, Jan 16, 2007 - 2:30 pm: | |
Denise, please let us know the outcome, I for one am interested. Thanks for sharing, welcome it's wonderful that you have joined us.. |
Sara Wolff
Member
Username: Mrose
Post Number: 2110
Registered: 1-2000
| | Posted on Tuesday, Jan 16, 2007 - 5:26 pm: | |
Edward (Kim)- I just wanted to comment on the human lymes. One of my closest friends was misdiagnosed as having MS, and after further testing it turned out to be Lymes. When left untreated it can mimic MS and make it very hard to diagnose. The one thing that helped her a lot was hyperbaric chamber treatment. It might be something your cousin would want to look into. It's my understanding that one of the top Lymes doctors in the country is there on L.I. My friend has flown out to see him several times. |
Imogen Bertin
Member
Username: Imogen
Post Number: 887
Registered: 4-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, Jan 17, 2007 - 3:17 am: | |
Sara, not disagreeing with you but there are an awful lot of false positive tests for Lyme in humans and great disagreement about diagnosis, suitable tests, symptoms, treatment for late stage disease. Just in case people are thinking after looking it up "I must have that!" - it is a very confusing area best left to neurologists.
All the best
Imogen |
Sara Wolff
Member
Username: Mrose
Post Number: 2117
Registered: 1-2000
| | Posted on Wednesday, Jan 17, 2007 - 10:13 am: | |
Imogen, I totally agree. Lymes mimics so many other deseases, the symptoms are those of many other conditions,and not everyone has all or the same symptoms. One question I've had about the desease is why didn't we get this desease years ago? I lived back east as a child and can remember the dogs, horses and I all having lots of ticks(yuck!) They were always removed and the bites treated with alchohol or something, but I never heard of anyone, or any animal getting Lymes. The only thing I ever heard about was Rocky Mtn. Tick Fever. Is that the same thing? Is Lymes a relatively new desease? |
