Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Horse with skin ulcer in Portugal - what is leishmaniosis?
By Gama, Adelina et al.·Published in Veterinary parasitology·2014·Department of Veterinary Sciences·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Cutaneous leishmaniosis in a horse from northern Portugal.
- Species:
- horse
Plain-English summary
A horse in northern Portugal was found to have cutaneous leishmaniosis, which is an infection caused by a parasite. The horse had a 1.5 cm ulcerated lump on its left face. The lump was surgically removed, and tests confirmed the presence of the parasite. Blood tests taken over a year apart showed a significant increase in antibodies against the parasite, and genetic testing matched it closely to a known strain of Leishmania infantum. After the surgery, there were no signs of the infection coming back, so the treatment was successful.
Abstract
The first case of cutaneous leishmaniosis in a horse from the north of Portugal, with a 1.5 cm in diameter ulcerated nodular lesion on the left face, is reported. The skin nodule was surgically excised and assessed by histopathology, including an immunohistochemistry method applied for the first time to equine tissues which clearly demonstrated leishmanial amastigote forms. Two serological determinations with the direct agglutination test performed 13 months apart showed seroconversion specific for Leishmania from a <25 to a 200 antibody titre. Polymerase chain reaction followed by kinetoplast DNA sequencing provided a 116-bp sequence with 98% identity to Leishmania infantum closest sequence deposited in GenBank. No recurrence was observed after complete surgical excision. Leishmaniosis should be included in the differential diagnosis of cutaneous nodular or papular lesions in the equine species in Portugal.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24388338/