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VETERINARY VIEWS
Itching problems in horses can be related to insect hypersensitivity and high number of insects.
Shampoo products aimed specifically at equine itching skin diseases, including fungal infections, are very effective to treat the problem.
systemic anti-inflammatory medications may be necessary for control of horse comfort.
Other itching equine skin diseases include fungal infections (dermatophytosis) such as organisms that cause ringworm. While tamed iodine shampoo is an effective treatment strategy, chlorhexidine shampoo products may be even more effective. Lice are notorious for creating an intense itching response along the neck and topline and tend to occur more often in colder weather.
A yeast, Malassezia sp., causes rubbing
of the tail and abdomen in mares infected between the mammary glands. Geldings with collections of smegma and debris inside their sheaths often rub their tailheads and the perineum around the anus.
One bacterial infection of great concern due to implications in public human health is Staphylococcus species. A greater prevalence of methicillin-resistant Staph aureus (MRSA) poses a potential threat to humans that have close contact with infected horses. MRSA can colonize “normal” horses and humans yet can
be devastating if clinical infection occurs. Some people carry MRSA in their nasal cavity and so can transmit it to horse wounds. And, similarly, horses can transmit this disease to humans.
The great concern is that this Staph species is extremely resistant to antibiotics.
Other bacterial infections occur in horse skin that do not pose as significant human health implications. Skin with a variable scaling and non-scaling pattern is likely to be caused by a bacterial infection. Typical paintbrush-appearing lesions of bacterial rain scald (Dermatophilus) occur primarily in humid climates. Environmental moisture coupled with skin trauma makes wounds susceptible to infection from bacterial-contaminated crusts that exfoliate from an infected carrier horse.
NODULAR LESIONS
Allergic responses abound in equine skin. One example is atopy that causes chronic recurrent urticaria (hives) related to allergens from food, environmental, or respiratory contaminants. Intradermal allergy testing
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The bacterial infection Staph aureus, or MRSA, poses a threat to humans who have close contact with infected horses. MRSA can be transmitted both ways, with humans infecting horses as well. MRSA is extremely antibiotic resistant.