Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Natural superinfection of Parascaris equorum in a stall-confined orphan horse foal.
- Journal:
- Veterinary parasitology
- Year:
- 1996
- Authors:
- Lyons, E T et al.
- Affiliation:
- Department of Veterinary Science · United States
- Species:
- horse
Plain-English summary
A 4-day-old orphan horse foal was moved to a clean stall after being born on a pasture. Unfortunately, the foal was euthanized at 205 days old, and a check-up showed it had many worms called Parascaris equorum, which indicates it had been reinfected while in the stall. The initial infection likely came from the pasture, and the foal was seen eating its own poop, which might have allowed the worm eggs to develop and infect it again. This situation raises concerns about how easily these parasites can spread, especially in young horses. The findings suggest that the treatment for the foal did not work as it continued to have severe worm infections.
Abstract
At 4 days of age, an orphan horse foal born on a pasture was placed in a parasite-free stall. It was euthanized at 205 days of age and examination revealed numerous. Parascaris equorum specimens, ranging from 3.0 mm to adult size, indicating reinfections in the stall over an extended period of time. Initial infection of the foal was from stages on pasture. The foal had been observed repeatedly eating its own feces and the question is posed as to whether "recycling' of P. equorum eggs several times by coprophagy allowed time for embryonation and reinfection to occur.
Find similar cases for your pet
PetCaseFinder finds other peer-reviewed reports of pets with the same symptoms, plus a plain-English summary of what was tried across them.
Search related cases →Original publication: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8988563/