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Retrospective analysis of the epidemiology and clinical presentation of West Nile virus infection in horses in South Africa, 2016 - 2017

Dissertation (MSc (Veterinary Epidemiology))--University of Pretoria, 2019.

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Other Authors: Thompson, P.N. (Peter N.)
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: University of Pretoria 2024
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access_status_str Open Access
author2 Thompson, P.N. (Peter N.)
author_browse Thompson, P.N. (Peter N.)
author_facet Thompson, P.N. (Peter N.)
collection Thesis
dc_rights_str_mv © 2021 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria.
description Dissertation (MSc (Veterinary Epidemiology))--University of Pretoria, 2019.
format Thesis
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institution University of Pretoria (South Africa)
language English
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:38:03.802Z
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provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository
publishDate 2024
publishDateRange 2024
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spelling oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/97534 Retrospective analysis of the epidemiology and clinical presentation of West Nile virus infection in horses in South Africa, 2016 - 2017 Thompson, P.N. (Peter N.) nahanivet@yahoo.co.za Venter, Marietjie Bertram, Freude-Marié UCTD West Nile virus Neurotropic virus Emerging disease Encephalitis Zoonosis Flavivirus Horse health Equine neurology Veterinary science theses SDG-02 Veterinary science theses SDG-03 Veterinary science theses SDG-13 Veterinary science theses SDG-15 Veterinary science theses SDG-17 Dissertation (MSc (Veterinary Epidemiology))--University of Pretoria, 2019. West Nile virus (WNV) has gained international attention in recent years as a globally emerging disease, particularly after large epidemics occurred in North America in the past 20 years. Although endemic to South Africa, it has only been recognised as a significant cause of neurological disease in either humans or horses since 2008. This retrospective study provides an epidemiological and clinical description of WNV disease in horses in South Africa during 2016–2017, when 54 cases, most of which occurred during 2017, were diagnosed by passive surveillance at the Centre for Viral Zoonoses (CVZ), University of Pretoria. Cases were followed up and then statistically compared to a randomly selected set of 120 WNV-negative controls from the CVZ database of the same time period, which complied with similar case descriptions. Clinical presentation of WNV cases was found to be remarkably similar to international trends, with 89% neuroinvasive disease and 39% case fatality rate, mostly displaying typical, significant neurological signs: ataxia (74%), hindleg paralysis (35%), paresis (30%), total paralysis (28%), tremors / muscle fasciculations (19%), foreleg paralysis (17%) and laminitic stance (9%). Approximately half of the cases exhibited pyrexia. Cases that had only neurological signs were more likely to die while cases with pyrexia, with or without neurological signs, were more likely to recover. Most of the cases were in Thoroughbred, Warmblood or Arabian horses, while local or mixed breed horses were the least represented. Cases occurred mostly in WNVunvaccinated horses less than 5 years old, specifically in the late summer and autumn months after heavy rain in the temperate to warm Eastern parts of South Africa. Cases were located mainly in Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal Midlands and the Northern Cape with fewer cases in the Free State and Western Cape provinces. In the multivariable logistic regression analysis, the odds of WNV infection was associated with season (higher during March-April vs. all other times), altitude (higher at 1293–1466 m vs. other categories), breed (lowest in mixed and local breeds), younger age and failure to vaccinate against WNV. Based on these findings, risk-based recommendations may be made to horse owners; in particular, vaccination against WNV, which is currently the most effective prophylactic measure available to reduce disease, severity of clinical signs and mortality. es2025 Production Animal Studies MSc (Veterinary Epidemiology) Unrestricted Faculty of Veterinary Science SDG-02: Zero hunger SDG-03: Good health and well-being SDG-15: Life on land SDG-17: Partnerships for the goals 2024-08-08T10:50:32Z 2024-08-08T10:50:32Z 2020-04 2019 Dissertation * A2020 http://hdl.handle.net/2263/97534 en © 2021 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria. application/pdf University of Pretoria
spellingShingle UCTD
West Nile virus
Neurotropic virus
Emerging disease
Encephalitis
Zoonosis
Flavivirus
Horse health
Equine neurology
Veterinary science theses SDG-02
Veterinary science theses SDG-03
Veterinary science theses SDG-13
Veterinary science theses SDG-15
Veterinary science theses SDG-17
Retrospective analysis of the epidemiology and clinical presentation of West Nile virus infection in horses in South Africa, 2016 - 2017
title Retrospective analysis of the epidemiology and clinical presentation of West Nile virus infection in horses in South Africa, 2016 - 2017
title_full Retrospective analysis of the epidemiology and clinical presentation of West Nile virus infection in horses in South Africa, 2016 - 2017
title_fullStr Retrospective analysis of the epidemiology and clinical presentation of West Nile virus infection in horses in South Africa, 2016 - 2017
title_full_unstemmed Retrospective analysis of the epidemiology and clinical presentation of West Nile virus infection in horses in South Africa, 2016 - 2017
title_short Retrospective analysis of the epidemiology and clinical presentation of West Nile virus infection in horses in South Africa, 2016 - 2017
title_sort retrospective analysis of the epidemiology and clinical presentation of west nile virus infection in horses in south africa 2016 2017
topic UCTD
West Nile virus
Neurotropic virus
Emerging disease
Encephalitis
Zoonosis
Flavivirus
Horse health
Equine neurology
Veterinary science theses SDG-02
Veterinary science theses SDG-03
Veterinary science theses SDG-13
Veterinary science theses SDG-15
Veterinary science theses SDG-17
url http://hdl.handle.net/2263/97534