skin disorders Flashcards
what is papillomavirus?
cutaneous papillomas (warts) are proliferative skim lesions caused by equus caballus papillomavirus type 1, most horses are
clinical signs of papillomavirus
warts on muzzle, lips, occasionally in distal limbs, ears, eyelids and genitalia, cauliflower like appearance, diagnosed by obvious lesions or sometimes cutaneous biopsy to differentiate from verrucous sarcoids
treatment of papillomavirus
resolve spontaneously, difficult to know if any therapy actually helps, may freeze warts, chemical cauterization, surgical excision or immunostimulants
what is dermatophilosis?
rain rot, mud fever, dew poisoning caused by dermatatophilus congolnesis (facultative anaerobic, shares characteristics with bacteria and fungus), unknown natural habitat, crusts from the infected animal can infect the same animal on a different spot and other animals
establishment of dermatophilosis infection
depends on virulence of strain, health of the horse, skin trauma, moisture
zoospores germinate, producing hyphae under favorable conditions, hyphae break down and produce coccoid cells which are released from the crusts and infect new areas
d. congolnesis break keratin and function at a wide pH range, enabling them to survive in inflamed skin
what does d. congolnesis infect?
unable to infect intact skin, insects and ticks cause trauma, making skin susceptible to the infection, rain increases blood sucking flies, creates a moist environment under hairs with low oxygen
clinical signs of dermatophilosis
lesions are exudative, hairs are matted together forming thick crusts. when crusts are removed the underlying skin is eroded, painful and may bleed. New lesions can be purulent, where as old lesions are dry and hairless
location of dermatophilosis
rump, dorsal thorax, face, saddle area, diagnosed by cytology and clinical signs
treatment and prevention of dermatophilosis
keep animal dry, most horses recover after being kept in a dry place for 1 month, use topical benzoyl peroxide shampoos (antibiotic and keratolytic) to break down the crusts, should be left on skin for 15 minutes before rinsing. do not excessively scrub (leads to new lesions), Mtg and other products may be used, parenteral administration of antibiotics (penicillin, SMZ-TMP), don’t share grooming tools, insect repellent, groom horse routinely to air out skin
what is dermatophytosis?
ring worm (round lesions), highly contagious through direct or indirect contact, fungus can survive for 1 year, study showed only 5% of horses that appear to have ringworm actually have it, majority are staph infection of the skin
how do horses get dermatophytosis?
abrasions of skin may lead to lesions (important in heart girth area), stress may predispose (32% of animals in training are clinically infected and 1% of breeding animals are infected), some horses develop a strong immunity against dermatophyte, clear the infection and never develop it again
how is dermatophytosis diagnosed
lesions may present with circular patches of alopecia, surrounded by erythema and scaling, urticaria-like lesions may be observed in early stages, most frequent sites: girth and shoulder
diagnosed with cytology, skin scraping, histology, culture of fungus
treatment of dermatophytosis
most cases resolve spontaneously, topical povidone-iodine, 2% lime sulfur (LymDyp), shampoos (not very effective because of residual effect), all horses that share space with infected horses should be sprayed because they may be silent carriers. bleach (1:40) premises and tack, can be contagious to humans
what is urticaria?
multiple plaque-like eruptions formed by localized edema-often develop and disappear suddenly, may be exogenous or endogenous, exogenous ehives may be produced by toxic irritating products of the stinging nettle, the stings or bites of insects, medications or chemicals
endogenous urticaria
after inhalation or absorption of ingested allergens, may be associated with intestinal parasites, ringworm and pemphigus foliates may present as urticaria early in the disease
