Diarrhoea in adult horses: a survey of clinical cases and an assessment of some prognostic indices.
Samples of faeces and blood were obtained from 66 adult horses with diarrhoea. The results of routine bacteriological, parasitological, haematological and biochemical tests were correlated with the outcome of the cases. Twenty-two (33 per cent) of the horses died or were destroyed as a consequence of the diarrhoea. A diagnosis was reached in only 23 cases (35 per cent), and in nine of them only at post mortem examination. Salmonella typhimurium was isolated from five cases. Statistical analysis revealed significant differences between the horses which survived and those which died in their packed cell volumes, white blood cell counts, neutrophil counts, serum albumin concentrations and alkaline phosphatase activities.
Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Bristol, School of Veterinary Science, Langford.
T S
TS
Mair
L V
LV
de Westerlaken
P J
PJ
Cripps
S
S
Love
D000367:Age Factors; D000818:Animals; D003967:Diarrhea / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D005243:Feces / Q000382:microbiology / Q000469:parasitology; D005260:Female; D006734:Horse Diseases / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006736:Horses; D008297:Male; D011379:Prognosis; D012486:Salmonella typhimurium / Q000302:isolation & purification