Eleanor Lenher, DVM

The day prior, he, along with other horses on the property, was administered his first West Nile vaccine. That day he was noticeably quieter and did not exit his stall as readily as usual. The morning of Aug. 1, his owner noted he had not eaten his grain, his rectal temperature was 104 degrees F, and he was pawing and demonstrating signs of abdominal pain.

His vaccination history was unknown prior to purchase; since purchase he had only received the recent West Nile vaccination. (The horse was purchased in Florida and brought to North Carolina six months prior to examination.)

Based on the physical exam, hospitalization and supportive therapy were recommended. The owner declined due to financial constraints.

Recommendations The owner was instructed to monitor closely the horse's attitude, comfort, rectal temperature, water consumption and appetite. The owner was urged to call immediately for further recommendations if the horse didn't improve or if it deteriorated. Shortly following treatment, the horse appeared to be more comfortable and less obtunded. Mild hypocalcemia, mild hyperglycemia, and evidence of moderate dehydration and anorexia were the only remarkable findings identified on bloodwork.

The owner reported that as the day progressed the horse seemed to deteriorate; he was subsequently admitted to the hospital at 10 p.m. that night for further treatment. More aggressive treatment was initiated and he seemed to improve.

However, the following morning he began to show signs of urinary incontinence and became severely ataxic, developed unilateral facial nerve paresis on his left side, and had intermittent episodes of facial muscle twitching. Although he appeared aware of his surroundings and responded to auditory and visual stimuli, his mentation was obtunded.

Revised treatment More blood work was performed and treatment was initiated to address his changing symptoms. He was offered a bran mash and hay but did not show interest in it. Upon recognition of neurological disease, standard isolation protocol was initiated and serum samples were collected for available diagnostics of suspected etiologies of acute onset neurological diseases.

Table 1

Corporate support Although the WNV vaccine is a killed virus, communication with Fort Dodge was initiated because of the proximity of the WNV vaccination to the onset of clinical signs. Even though the likelihood of vaccine-induced encephalitis was very low and no vaccine reaction similar to this case had been reported, Ft. Dodge offered complete support for diagnosis and treatment of this case. This enabled hospital care to continue beyond the owner's financial limitations.

Clinically the horse deteriorated rapidly over the following 48 hours with progression of bruxism, recumbency and dementia. He continued to demonstrate intermittent pyrexia. Supportive therapy was continued until humane euthanasia was elected, and the corpse was submitted to Rollins State Laboratory for post-mortem examination. The post-mortem examination, conducted that day, revealed a definitive diagnosis of rabies.

Familiar signs This horse's clinical signs could have fit many neurologic diseases including rabies. Horses infected with rabies may present with any combination of clinical signs. Undulating fevers are not uncommon and colic is often the first noticed sign. Ataxia, visual deficits, hyperesthesia, hind limb paresis, lameness, extra ocular muscle spasms, hyperactivity, aggressive, and/or erratic behavior are some of the more common complaints. Hydrophobia is not common in equids.

Diagnosis is made by postmortem examination of the brain. Fluorescent antibody testing is used to identify rabies antigen in the brain tissue. If this test is negative, histopathology is performed and can be used to identify pathopneumonic intracytoplasmic inclusions (Negri bodies).