Abstract
Reasons for performing studyTo determine whether horses could become infected with cyathostomins when bedded in deep litter straw.ObjectivesThe specific objective of the study was to determine whether cyathostomin eggs could hatch and develop to infective larval stages on straw bedding.Study designExperimental study.MethodsFour horticultural incubators were set up to simulate 3 straw bedding scenarios, and one grass turf control. Faeces were placed on 12 plots, and larval recoveries performed on samples of straw/grass over a 17‐day period. The plots within incubators A, B, and C contained dry straw, watered straw, and deep litter straw, respectively. Plot 1 of each incubator contained a faecal pat of a horse that tested negative for strongyle eggs – these were to serve as negative control plots. Plots 2 and 3 of each incubator contained a faecal pat from horses that had average faecal worm egg counts (FWEC) of 269 epg and 921 epg, respectively. A thermostat within each incubator was set to maintain an environmental temperature of approximately 20°C.ResultsNo L3 larvae were recovered from the control plots of each incubator, and none were recovered from any of the plots within Incubator A. L3 larvae were first detected on plots 2 and 3 of Incubator B on Day 8, and on plot 3 of incubators C and D on Day 10.ConclusionsIt is evident that equine Cyathostominae can develop to infective L3 larvae on straw bedding, but only when the straw is moist. Therefore, it may be speculated that a horse bedded in deep litter straw may become infected by ingesting the infective L3 larvae contaminating the straw.Ethical animal research: Not applicable. Source of funding: E.C. McGirr was supported by a World Horse Welfare Undergraduate Bursary 2014. Competing interests: None declared.
Highlights
Domesticated grazing animals including horses and donkeys are frequently housed using deep litter bedding systems, where it is commonly presumed that there is no risk of infection from the nematodes that are associated with grazing at pasture
We have demonstrated that equine cyathostominae can develop to infective third-stage larvae on straw bedding both in vitro and in vivo, indicating that the transmission of cyathostomine larvae is possible through the ingestion of bedding
We have demonstrated that equine cyathostominae can develop to infective larvae on moist straw bedding
Summary
Domesticated grazing animals including horses and donkeys are frequently housed using deep litter bedding systems, where it is commonly presumed that there is no risk of infection from the nematodes that are associated with grazing at pasture. It has been established that the development and/or survival of the infective larval stages of equine strongyles are affected by temperature and humidity in both laboratory experiments [1,2,3] and field studies [4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13]. These climatic influences on larval development have been extensively reviewed [14]. A substrate study was used to assess the effect of incubator substrate on larval development, a temperature study was used to assess the affect of temperature within the incubator, and a final bedding study was used to check whether larvae can be recovered from straw in vivo
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