Meningitis, cranial neuritis, and radiculoneuritis associated with Borrelia burgdorferi infection in a horse

Abstract

Nervous system infection with B burgdorferi should be considered in horses with evidence of meningitis and high or equivocal serum anti-B burgdorferi antibody titers. Evaluation of immune function is recommended in adult horses evaluated because of primary bacterial meningitis.

Prevalence of Tick Borne Pathogens in Horses from Italy

“…In practice, PCR testing of blood is usually performed in order to confirm infection in clinically suspect B. burgdorferi s.l. seropositive horses [6,23] or during experimental studies [10]. Nevertheless, limited information is available regarding the diagnostic value of these tests in asymptomatic horses.…”

Lyme borreliosis in the horse: A mini-review

“…Spirochetes can be visualized in affected tissues of the horses with Lyme borreliosis by Steiner silver impregnation and immunohistochemistry, predominantly within the dense collagenous tissue of the dura mater and leptomeninges (Imai et al, 2011). Leptomeningitis, lymphohistiocytic leptomeningeal vasculitis, cranial neuritis, and peripheral radiculoneuritis with Wallerian degeneration are the lesions observed during histopathology, which are consistent with a diagnosis of neuroborreliosis (James et al, 2010;Johnstone et al, 2016).…”

“…Clinical signs in horses attributed to B. burgdorferi include low grade fever and lethargy (Burgess & Mattison 1987b;Magnarelli et al, 1988;Johnstone et al, 2016), weight loss (Johnstone et al, 2016), changes in behavior (Johnstone et al, 2016), dysphagia (Johnstone et al, 2016), lameness (Browning et al, 1993), arthritis (Burgess et al, 1986;Hahn et al, 1996;Passamonti et al, 2015;Johnstone et al, 2016), neck stiffness (Johnstone et al, 2016), episodic respiratory distress (Johnstone et al, 2016), muscle tenderness and fasciculations (Johnstone et al, 2016), anterior uveitis (Burgess et al, 1986;Hahn et al, 1996;Johnstone et al, 2016), cranial nerve deficits (Johnstone et al, 2016), ataxia (Johnstone et al, 2016), meningo-encephalitis (Burgess & Mattison 1987b;James et al, 2010;Imai et al, 2011), abortion (Sorensen et al, 1990), cardiac arrhythmias (Johnstone et al, 2016) and foal mortality (Burgess et al, 1987a). Ataxia was characterized by general proprioceptive deficits and was frequently reported in conjunction with limb paresis.…”

“…However, the horse was found to again develop a stiff neck and rapidly progressive neurologic deficits along with severe ataxia and vestibular deficits after 60 days of treatment. The condition of the horse got deteriorated rapidly despite administering IV oxytetracycline, and it was euthanatized (James et al, 2010).…”

Borrelia burgdorferi and Anaplasma phagocytophilum in ticks and their equine hosts: A prospective clinical and diagnostic study of 47 horses following removal of a feeding tick

“…Whether there is a direct causal relationship between Borrelia infection and clinical disease is, however, still subject to debate. In horses, a broad spectrum of clinical manifestations has been attributed to Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato infections including arthritis (Burgess et al 1986, Hahn et al 1996, lameness (Browning et al 1993), anterior uveitis (Burgess et al 1986, Priest et al 2012, neuroborreliosis (Burgess and Mattison 1987, Imai et al 2011, James et al 2010, low-grade fever and lethargy (Magnarelli et al 1988, Magnarelli et al 1997. However, establishing the cause of disease conclusively is difficult because detection of the agent, either directly by PCR or indirectly using serological tests, does not prove causality (Chang et al 2000b).…”