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  Discussion on Valley Fever
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Member:
Toad

Posted on Tuesday, Dec 2, 2003 - 6:49 pm:

Does anyone know about Valley Fever in the horse? Would appreciate any feedback.

Thanks, Barbara
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Wednesday, Dec 3, 2003 - 9:00 am:

Hello Barbara,
I do not know of any horse disease that is commonly refered to as "valley fever". There is a exotic disease (exotic to the America's anyway) called Rift Valley Fever. Is this what you are asking about?
DrO
Member:
Penner

Posted on Wednesday, Dec 3, 2003 - 3:52 pm:

Hi Barbara,

Are you talking about: coccidiomycosis, a fungal disease common in Arizona & southern California?

I notice you put this under Respiratory, & this fungus is inhaled, so if it causes an infection at all, its usually in the lungs, in an immunocompetant host. It is commonly called Valley Fever, in the aforementioned regions.

It is more common in humans & dogs, rather than horses, I have heard.

Is this what you are talking about?
Member:
Canderso

Posted on Thursday, Dec 4, 2003 - 7:38 am:

Hi Barbara,
This sounds like a local name for an illness. Maybe if you gave us an idea of where you (or it) is located, it might help.

Cheers,
Cheryl
Member:
Toad

Posted on Thursday, Dec 4, 2003 - 12:06 pm:

Thanks for you responses. My mare had to be put down and a blood test is being sent to UC Davis to deternibe if she had Valley Fever. Our vet said that a Dr. at UC Davis died from contracting the disease from doing an autopsy on a horse that was infected. I should know the results in 2 weeks. I myself had Valley Fever after the 94 earthquake. A lot of people have died from the Disese. It is a fungus that appears in the lungs and comes from spores in the earth. I just never knew a horse could get it. Barbara
Member:
Penner

Posted on Thursday, Dec 4, 2003 - 3:44 pm:

Hi Barbara, sorry to hear about your mare. This is most likely the disease they are speaking about: Coccidioidomycosis (sorry, spelled it incorrectly in my previous post) caused by Coccidioides immitis.


I went to a seminar at:
Valley Fever Center for Excellence
Department of Veterinary Science and Microbiology
University of Arizona,
2 years ago that a human physician had given regarding this disease. Altho he said it is more uncommon in horses, it does occur. Then he showed a picture of a horse he (& others) were currently treating at the center.

With all the construction & earth moving going on in the southwest, cases of this disease are becoming very common, unfortunately.

My dog has had it twice, 1st time in the lungs & was treated for 1 year. 2nd time (6 years later), it started up again, but this time in the skin, bones, & lymph nodes as well. He is now on chronic ketoconazole therapy for life. (but is doing well, knock on wood).

You might want to consider contacting the AZ center's webpage:

https://www.arl.arizona.edu/vfce/vevfce.htm

as they have articles online and an 800 number to call for information, they are very helpful.

Here is also a link to an article from Emerging Infectious Diseases journal from the CDC, altho it is old & written before the population & construction explosion in the late 1990s (1996), the description of the fungus' lifecycle is the same...

https://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/EID/vol2no3/kirkland.htm


Hope this helps.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Friday, Dec 5, 2003 - 9:17 am:

Thanks for the heads up Penner. I have not heard the term Valley Fever and it is not common in the equine literature and appears to used in the SW USA where the disease seems to be much more common. We refer to it as coccidioidomycosis. This is a well reported but rare disease of horses. I have not seen a case. Here are some recent references:

Vet Rec. 2002 Oct 26;151(17):505-8.
Pulmonary coccidioidomycosis in a neonatal foal.
Maleski K, Magdesian KG, LaFranco-Scheuch L, Pappagianis D, Carlson GP.
Large Animal Clinic, Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital, California, Davis, USA.

A 13-day-old foal with profound tachypnoea and respiratory distress was examined. Thoracic radiographs revealed a severe, diffuse miliary pattern, and the foal was markedly hypoxaemic. It failed to improve with empirical treatment, and was euthanased. Lesions associated with Coccidioides immitis infection were identified at postmortem examination, and were limited to the lower respiratory tract.


J Vet Intern Med. 1992 Nov-Dec;6(6):333-4.
Treatment of coccidioidomycosis osteomyelitis with itraconazole in a horse. A brief report.
Foley JP, Legendre AM.
Southwest Equine Hospital, Scottsdale, Arizona.

Itraconazole, a tricyclic azole effective against a number of deep mycotic diseases, was used to treat a Quarter Horse filly with coccidioidomycosis. The horse was almost normal after 90 days of treatment. Five months after discontinuing itraconazole treatment, the filly had severe neck pain and neurologic signs from recurrence of coccidioidomycosis and was treated with itraconazole for an additional 6 months. Her clinical condition improved to almost normal and the filly has remained normal for 2 years. There was no evidence of drug toxicity.


J Am Vet Med Assoc. 1992 Sep 15;201(6):910-6.
Coccidioidomycosis in horses: 15 cases (1975-1984).
Ziemer EL, Pappagianis D, Madigan JE, Mansmann RA, Hoffman KD.
Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital, University of California, Davis 95616.

Fifteen confirmed cases of equine coccidioidomycosis that originated in California and Arizona were studied retrospectively. Age, breed, and sex varied among affected horses. The most common historical problems were chronic weight loss (53% of cases) and persistent cough (33% of cases). The most frequent physical examination abnormalities were related to the respiratory tract (60% of cases). In 27% of cases, horses had signs of musculoskeletal pain. Horses consistently had hyperproteinemia, hyperfibrinogenemia, leukocytosis, and neutrophilia. An antemortem etiologic diagnosis was made for 11 (73%) horses, all of which had positive serologic tests for coccidioidomycosis. Of the seropositive horses, 5 (46%) also had positive cultures for Coccidioides immitis. One horse died naturally. The other 14 were euthanatized. Prolonged treatment with specific antifungal agents was attempted in 4 horses without apparent benefit. Postmortem abnormalities included pulmonary parenchymal lesions (64% of cases), thoracic lymphadenopathy (57% of cases), hepatic parenchymal involvement (43% of cases), and osteomyelitis (29% of cases). The lesions were granulomatous or pyogranulomatous and C immitis was observed microscopically in 83% of cases.
DrO
Member:
Penner

Posted on Monday, Dec 8, 2003 - 10:53 pm:

Thank you Dr O for your more recent veterinary references!
Member:
Toad

Posted on Thursday, Dec 11, 2003 - 11:32 pm:

Thanks so much Penner and Dr. O. I am referring to the references and they have been helpful however, I am still waiting for the results of the blood test from the UC Davis in California.
I will post the results when I get them for your information.

Thanks again, Barbara
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