Can Theileria equi be eliminated from carrier horses?

摘要

Equine piroplasmosis (EP) remains endemic in most (sub) tropical regions and poses an ongoing threat in countries with temperate climates, most of which have regulations in place to prevent the importation and establishment of the disease in their indigenous horse populations. The disease is caused by tick-borne infection with Babesia caballi, Theileria equi, or both of these protozoa. Their natural reservoir is individual horses, which subsequently become the source of infection for other horses when competent ticks are present. Particularly in the case of T, equi infection, horses remain life-long reservoirs usually without showing clinical signs. The question of whether or not this persistent protozoal infection can be eliminated from carrier-horses using multiple high-dose (4 mg/kg) imidocarb dipropionate treatment is obviously of considerable interest, but few studies to date have addressed this question.