Piroplasmosis: Texas Outbreak Reaches 409

As of Oct. 8 more than 2,300 horses associated with the Kleberg County, Texas, piroplasmosis outbreak have been tested for the disease, and 409 have turned up positive–only one more since the previous report from the USDA to the World Organization for Animal Health on Aug. 25, 2010. The first case associated with the Kleberg Country outbreak was diagnosed in
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As of Oct. 8 more than 2,300 horses associated with the Kleberg County, Texas, piroplasmosis outbreak have been tested for the disease, and 409 have turned up positive–only one more since the previous report from the USDA to the World Organization for Animal Health on Aug. 25, 2010.

The first case associated with the Kleberg Country outbreak was diagnosed in late 2009. Other horses that tested positive either live or have lived in Kleberg County, Texas, or are considered "dangerous contacts" (e.g., temporarily boarded on or near the initial "index site" (i.e., the site where the first case was identified). Horses associated with the Kleberg County outbreak tested positive in such states as Alabama, Indiana, Louisiana, North Carolina, and Tennessee.

"Investigations of the initial index site under investigation in Texas point to a strong suspicion that much of the disease transmission there was tick-borne rather than via needle transmission," reported Jim Barrett, public affairs specialist for the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. "However, most of the time there is no way to know for sure exactly how a horse becomes positive for the disease."

Despite having been eradicated from the United States in 1988, several cases of piroplasmosis have been reported in the U.S. in addition to the Kleberg County outbreak

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Written by:

Stacey Oke, MSc, DVM, is a practicing veterinarian and freelance medical writer and editor. She is interested in both large and small animals, as well as complementary and alternative medicine. Since 2005, she’s worked as a research consultant for nutritional supplement companies, assisted physicians and veterinarians in publishing research articles and textbooks, and written for a number of educational magazines and websites.

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