Trenér: Dr. Kate Christie
Délka: 10:24 Minut
Botulism in horses is a severe and often fatal neurological disease caused by a toxin produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum, which is found in soil and decaying animal or plant materials. The bacteria can be ingested in contaminated feed (forage poisoning), can occur in an infected wound (wound botulism), or in the case of Shaker Foal Syndrome, spores can germinate and produce toxins in the gut of foals. There are different variants of botulism labeled A through G, however, type B makes up 85 percent of the cases found in horses.
Dr. Kate Christie explains how botulism is contracted; the clinical signs to look out for; how to prevent it; the prognosis for horses diagnosed with botulism; and treatment options. The first clinical signs of botulism are weakness, exercise intolerance, and muscle tremors. The horse will appear clumsy, have trouble keeping their eyes open and drop food from their mouth as their tongue becomes flaccid. Botulism is difficult to diagnose, and in many cases, it can be fatal. The best defense against botulism is prevention by vaccinating with the BotVax B by Neogen.
About the Expert – Equine Botulism
Dr. Kate Christie
Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital | MSc, CVM, DACVIM (LAIM)
Dr. Kate Christie grew up riding horses and watching standardbred racing in the beautiful province of Nova Scotia. Her continued passion for horses led her to pursue a degree in veterinary medicine at North Carolina State University after completing a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario.
From 2014-2015, Dr. Christie was a rotating medicine and surgery intern at Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital in Lexington, KY. This experience sparked a love of internal medicine and led to a large animal internal medicine residency at the University of Georgia (Go Dawgs!). After completing her residency program and becoming board certified in large animal internal medicine in 2018, she remained at UGA as a member of the Field Services department. She cared for horses, large and small ruminants and camelids (also the occasional camel) throughout the Athens, GA area.
Although her love for small ruminants and camelids grew, she was thrilled to accept a position as a member of the internal medicine team at Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital in 2019. She has loved being back working with foals, racehorses, competition horses and beloved companions alike. Her main areas of interest include gastrointestinal disease, metabolic disease and neonatal medicine. She also loves being a part of teaching and mentoring the next generation of equine veterinarians and enjoys working with the amazing interns and residents that help Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital function smoothly. Kate spends as much of her spare time as possible with her husband and two beautiful daughters and returns home to Canada as often as she can.