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Animal Health Trust |
Interim Report – June 2011 #4 (10.06.11)
ITALY
Dourine (Trypanosoma equiperdum)
On 27th May 2011 the Department for Veterinary Public Health, Nutrition and Food Safety, Ministry of Health, Rome, Italy, reported to the OIE two outbreaks of Dourine in the area of Scordia, Catania, Sicilie, Italy. In both outbreaks single horses were affected with 5 and 27 in contact horses present on the premises, respectively. Infection with Trypanosoma equiperdum was confirmed by complement fixation test (CFT) performed by the Experimental Zooprophylactic Institute (IZS), Teramo (National laboratory). Disease control measures are in place.
Map courtesy of Defra International Animal Disease Monitoring
Situation Assessment provided by DEFRA
Dourine is a venereal disease of equidae caused by the protozoan, Trypanosoma equiperdum which can result in an acute or chronic form. Clinical signs include paralysis, swelling of the genitalia, cutaneous plaques, emaciation, and neurological signs and there is a high mortality rate. During acute periods, parasites can be recovered from genital secretions, but in the chronic phase parasites disappear and the animals are non-infectious. Drug treatment with Cymelarsan may be effective in curing both the acute and chronic forms of the disease but certain treatment regimes may lead to horses becoming unapparent carriers and is therefore discouraged. Duration and incubation periods are variable, from weeks to possibly years and currently there is no vaccine available. The infective agent is unusual in comparison to other Trypanosomatids(T. cruzi, T. brucei, T. evansi etc), in that it is transmitted almost exclusively during coitus, rather than requiring a vector. It is still debated whether T. equiperdum is a separate species or a subspecies of T.brucei. It is sometimes misidentified as T. evansi, the causative agent of Surra. Cross reactions can occur with other Trypanosomatids using serology, therefore diagnosis is a combination of clinical signs and CFT.
The disease was once widespread but is currently considered endemic only in Africa and parts of Asia, while occasional outbreaks occur in the Middle East. There have been no outbreaks in the EU recently and the last in Europe was in Russia where cases are frequently reported.
Imports from third countries of horses for breeding are covered by 93/197/EC which states that horses must originate from countries where Dourine is notifiable and from a region where there have been no reports of Dourine for 6 months prior to export. For most countries a pre-export test for Dourine taken within 21 days of export must be negative.
Regards
International Collating Centre