Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Transmission and passage in horses of the agent of human granulocytic ehrlichiosis.
- Journal:
- The Journal of infectious diseases
- Year:
- 1995
- Authors:
- Madigan, J E et al.
- Affiliation:
- Department of Medicine and Epidemiology · United States
- Species:
- horse
Plain-English summary
Researchers studied a type of bacteria called human granulocytotropic ehrlichia, which can cause illness in both humans and horses. They found that when they injected infected human blood into horses, the horses developed a disease that looked just like the one caused by a similar bacteria known as Ehrlichia equi, which usually affects horses. This suggests that these two bacteria are very closely related and might even be the same species. The findings raise the possibility that some human illnesses thought to be caused by human granulocytotropic ehrlichia could actually be due to strains that primarily affect horses. Overall, the study shows a strong connection between these two pathogens.
Abstract
The human granulocytotropic ehrlichia and Ehrlichia equi produce similar diseases in their respective host species (humans, horses). Currently, the phylogenetic and biologic relationships of these 2 uncultured pathogens remain unclear. Previous studies have revealed nucleotide sequence similarity approaching identity at the level of the 16S ribosomal RNA gene. To investigate the biologic similarities of these 2 ehrlichiae, the susceptibility of horses to the human agent was tested by intravenous inoculation of infected human blood. The results demonstrate that the human granulocytotropic ehrlichia produces a disease in the horse indistinguishable from that caused by E. equi, providing biologic evidence that these 2 organisms are highly related and potentially conspecific. It is possible that cases of human illness now attributed to human granulocytotropic ehrlichia may in fact be caused by 1 or more strains of an ehrlichia known chiefly as an equine pathogen.
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Search related cases →Original publication: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/7561199/