Persistent Conjunctivitis and Habronema

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Fransurrey

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My old shettie, may his fluffy legs RIP, had persistent conjunctivitis, for which I had the vet out and that vet simply said it was 'one of those things' and couldn't pinpoint a cause.

Wellll, I have just been reading up on habronema, a parasite which is carried in the gut of the horse, then ingested by stable flies (maggots, then the adult fly). It can be eliminated by worming with Ivermectin and Moxidectin, which explains why I thought I was getting on top of it every so often (coinciding with worming), then it would come back.

Makes me a *little* annoyed that a vet wouldn't pick this up (two vets, actually), as it's a common cause of chronic conjunctivitis, so I thought I would make people aware. It can be tested for, but worming probably works out cheaper than the test!

I looked it up after my friend, who works for WSPA, sent me her China Report, as they were recently out there training the vets and owners. Interesting stuff and it means that once again, every day is a school day!
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I have the same problem with my horse. I thought it was maybe the start of Uevitis. I've had the vet out 4 times and each time he diagnosed conjunctivitis but i always thought once treated it didn't return.
 
Same here, I thought it was ERU (Equine Recurrent Uveitis), so little B had the dye stuff put in his eye and the whole eye exam thing, but neither vet who saw him even mentioned it may be a parasite. I put it down to fly saliva irritating the membranes. I suppose in a way, I was right, but the whole thing would have been treatable with anti-helminthics.
 
ah, interesting, i have a 4 yr old filly whose eyes always water. vet has examined, dyed, etc, and found no damage, said it was "just 1 of those things."
so, what do i need to do? double dose worm her with ivermectin and moxidectin? at the same time?
(looks very well in herself in all other ways, zero worm counts.)
thanks!
 
I guess just a normal dose of wormer is ok. I don't know if they do suspensions of the drug - you'd have to ask your vet, as Little B died in April, so I don't have this to deal with, now.

I'm sure Pramox has both ivermectin and moxidectin anyway. I was saying to my OH, this explains why he always seemed better suddenly at different times of year (it would have coincided with him being wormed!).
 
Be very very careful with a recurrent and unresolved conjunctivitis - this is a recognised precursor for superficial keratitis. It's what lost Sunny his 6 month battle to save his eye. Another thing to watch out for is herpes - there is a big question mark hanging over the herpes virus and serious eye problems in horses.
 
I would like to correct some statemenst about Habronema and the treatment of this parasite.
Its not quite as simple as to try to diminish the filies, or the larvae expelled in the horses feces. Once infected, the horse unfortunately, develops what may be compared to an allergy, or oversensitivity to the parasite, which means that it easily becomes infected in the same location as previously treated and recovered. For example, the eyes.

Its a nasty parasite, and there are veterinary theories on how to treat it most effectively, due to this oversensitivity that once an exposed horse, often develops.

simply deworming the horse, is rarely very effective, due to how the larvae is spread. The parasite may exist on location, but only one in ten horses may react to it, thats the tricky part. and because that very one horse is the only one reacting, the parasite may be present in an area and not only tied to one horse, as it has the regular flie as its middle-host....

there are ongoing studies about what treatment may be most effective, and there are some that now argue that its best treated locally, on affected horses, rather than by deworming. also profylax treatment is part of this theory.
 
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