EPM

EPM This report is designed to address the history, transmission, symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment of the debilitative equine disease Equine Protozoal Myeloencephalitis. The symptoms, transmission, and diagnosis will be the main focus of this report so that our facility may make an informed decision whether to treat the horse for this disease or to research an alternative disease he may have. A number of different methods of diagnosis and treatment will be discussed which will accommodate our search for the best manner in which to diagnose and possibly treat the horse. HISTORY In the 1960’s, Dr. Jim Rooney first described the pathologic lesions of E.P.M., but failed to identify the causative organism. Almost a decade later in 1974, several independent groups including Drs. Beech and Dodd, Cusick and associates, and Dubey and associates, identified E.P.M. to be caused by protozoa. They assumed the guilty organism to be Toxplasma gondii, since it was this agent that caused protozoal myeloencephalitis in other animals as well as humans. Later, Dr. Dubey showed that it was not Taxoplasma gondii, but instead a parasite called Sarcocystis neurona. Further testing through an in vitro culture of Sarcocystis neurona allowed the development of diagnoses epm, symptoms, disease, protozoal, horse, equine, signs, horses, treatment, test, though, diagnosis, clinical, western, organism, neurona, horse’s, blood, system, frequently, blot, veterinarian, through, since, should, neurological, include, fenger, dr, case, been, asked, two, treat, transmission