Equine grass sickness in Cyprus: a case report

Equine grass sickness in Cyprus: a case report

Grass sickness (EGS) is a fatal disease of the family Equidae, which was first reported in 1909, in Scotland. Since then, the disease has been reported in many places around the world; however, it mostly occurs in Great Britain. This case report describes EGS in a 2-year-old colt thoroughbred racehorse in Cyprus. To the author’s knowledge, this is the fi rst histopathologically confi rmed case of EGS in southern Europe.

___

  • 1. Tocher, J.F., Tocher, J.W., Brown, W., Buxton, J.B.: Grass sickness investigation report. Vet. Rec., 1923; 3: 37-45.
  • 2. Wylie, C.E., Proudman, C.J.: Equine grass sickness epidemiology, diagnosis and global distribution. Vet Clin. N. Am. Equine, 2009; 25: 381-389.
  • 3. Wright, A., Beard, L., Bawa, B., Brass, J.: Dysautonomia in a six-year-old mule in the United States. Equine Vet. J., 2010; 42: 170-173.
  • 4. Owen, R.A.R., Kelly, D.F.: Complete clinical recovery of a pony with histologically confi rms chronic grass sickness. Vet. Rec., 2003; 153: 597-598
  • 5. Scholes, S.E., Vaillant, C., Peacock, P., Edwards, G.B., Kelly, D.E.: Diagnosis of grass sickness by ileal biopsy. Vet. Rec., 1993; 13: 345-350.
  • 6. Lannek, N., Lindberg, F., Persson, E.: A grass disease in stablefed horses with an investigation of the aetiological role of the food. Vet. Rec., 1961; 73: 601-603.
  • 7. McCarthy, H.E, Proudman, C.J, French, N.P: Epidemiology of grass sickness: a literature review (1909-1999). Vet. Rec., 2001; 149: 293-300.
  • 8. Gilmour, J.S., Jolly, G.M.: Some aspects of the epidemiology of equine grass sickness. Vet. Rec., 1974; 95: 77-81.
  • 9. Wood, J.L., Doxey, D.L., Milne, E.M.: A case-control study of grass sickness (equine dysautonomia) in the United Kingdom. Vet. J., 1998; 156: 7-14.