Re: uveitis in horses

[Guest guest]

" Researchers have believed that recurrent uveitis was an immune-

mediated reaction and a sequella to a Leptospira pomona infection which

occurred months or years previously (4 [a paper from the 1970s]). "

So... a serological relationship, or maybe a relationship to history of

overt leptospirosis, or whatever, must have been noted decades ago.

[Guest guest]

> None of the stuff I've examined so far distinguishes between the

> infection causing the disease, and the infection being secondary. So

> who knows, it could be totally secondary.

There is also a third relationship, incidental persistence. Acute

infection --> chronic immunopathic disease, with nearly-inactive

organisms persisting, but lacking any relevance to the chronic disease

(ie, remove them all and disease continues). A red herring.

[Guest guest]

Lepto in horses is pretty serious. And if abx are given at the WRONG

time the bacteria die in the eye and the horse goes blind..OR the

disease causes blindness because of the severe inflammation.

There is a vaccine for Lepto for horses, but immunity isn't all that

long.

I personally know of 3 horses put down for blindness due to Lepto.

All the vet's I know treat with abx when human DOcs would never think

of it under the SAME curcumstances.

Case in point: My heighbors old horse was found one morning to have a

hind leg swollen from the hoof to the curve of the butt. The vet came

and put a pic line lin the neck- and antibiotic (genamycin I think)

is being given IV every day for 10 days. The leg is almost normal-

by up in the cheek is a swollen hard area (hematoma? infection? who

knows).

I have asked my neighbor to ask the vet what he suspects and why the

abx IV - so far she hasn't asked (bunner- I'm curious as there's no

breach in this horses skin anywhere to have bacteria enter and infect

in the conventional manner).

And as you all remember- I supposedly had autoimmune Uveitis for over

10 years that turned out to be Ocular Lyme. And My Opthal was so

floored it was REALLY lyme and that my eyes cleared 100% free of

inflammation after treatment that he waited 4 years *after* my eye

cleared before he changed the dx- cuz he said if it was autoimmune

it'd recurr within that time frame- if SOMEHOW the placebo effect was

in effect.... Ho Hum- Oh come Onnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn..

They just can't get off that AutoI train.

Barb

-- In infections , " "

<usenethod@...> wrote:

>

>

> " The aetiology of equine recurrent uveitis (ERU) is reported on one

> hand to be an autoimmune disease and on the other hand an

intraocular

> leptospiral infection. [...] ERU is not an " autoimmune disease " ,

but

> a persisting intraocular leptospiral infection, which causes

> infection-associated autoimmune phenomena, until the intraocular

> leptospirosis is eliminated by vitrectomy. "

>

> This controversy seems to be ongoing.

>

> Apparently it is not usually possible to observe classical

leptospire

> morphs in the material - positivity ranges at least as low as 10%.

> But many groups report up to 100% PCR positivity, and comparable

but

> lower culture positivity (the organism is assessed as culture-

> fastidious in general, by at least one paper).

>

> Since this disease has been considered autoimmune, it almost

> certainly must be poorly responsive to abx in the short term.

>

> This also sounds familiar from human reactive arthritides, etc:

>

> " The leptospires were detected freely in the vitreous and also

> incorporated by a phagocyte. "

>

> " Clinical signs will often disappear followed by recurrence. "

>

> None of the stuff I've examined so far distinguishes between the

> infection causing the disease, and the infection being secondary.

So

> who knows, it could be totally secondary.

>

> refs (papers):

> http://www.cababstractsplus.org/google/abstract.asp?AcNo=20043122226

> PMID: 17523963

> PMID: 17147152

>

> refs (Ontario govt document):

> http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/livestock/horses/facts/00-

065.htm

>