Lawsonia intracellularis: managing the individual case and its herdmates

Introduction

Lawsonia Intracellularis infection, the cause of equine proliferative enteropathy (EPE) within our referral and local patient populations has become more prominent in recent years. Our hospital has treated several individuals with severe disease and managed the herdmates in these instances. Similar to Lavoie et al. [1] we have experienced deaths as a result of this disease and these were the initial cases presented on farms. Thus far we have only experienced disease within the Thoroughbred population. This presentation aims to present the current peerreviewed knowledge on the disease as well as our experiences in treating individuals and dealing with herd health and prevention.

Clinical presentations and diagnosis

The presenting signs of the first cases diagnosed in each outbreak of L. intracellularis in our weanling population has been colic, scour or inappetance. All animals have been weaned and less than a year old. Diagnosis of the disease has been made by a combination of clinical signs, complete blood cell counts, serum albumen levels, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for detection of bacteria in faeces, abdominal ultrasonography and serum immunoperoxidase monolayer assay (IPMA) to detect anti-L. intracellularis antibodies. Herdmates have been screened for subclinical disease with the use of serum IPMA and serum albumen levels as this is the most useful screening test for identifying exposure to the bacteria [2]. Low serum albumen levels are considered the most consistent screening parameter to identify cases of EPE [1] and were used as a screening tool to identify clinical disease and select animals for treatment in the face of an outbreak. […]