The American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP) has published on its website comprehensive guidelines to assist practitioners with identification, diagnosis and control of Equine Protozoal Myeloencephalitis (EPM), a progressively debilitating disease of the central nervous system that affects horses that reside or once spent time in North or South America.
Horse in his stall
Equine protozoal myeloencephalitis is a neurological disease that is difficult to diagnose and can cause distress in both the horse and the horse owner.
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“EPM is widely considered the most important infectious neurologic disease of horses in North America,” said guidelines author Amy Johnson, DVM, DACVIM. “The variable clinical signs and widespread seroprevalence pose challenges to diagnosis.
These guidelines aim to summarize essential information regarding this disease process, as well as highlight the three criteria for highest diagnostic accuracy in potentially affected horses.”
Some equine diseases show clear clinical signs and are easy to identify. But others can be subtle and are not immediately recognizable. One such disease is equine protozoal myeloencephalitis (EPM), a neurological disease that can cause distress in both the horse and the horse owner.
The EPM Guidelines, available as a PDF file, were reviewed and approved by the AAEP’s Infectious Disease Committee and board of directors. View the EPM Guidelines or save them to your mobile device for future reference at https://aaep.org/sites/default/files/Guidelines/EPM_Disease_Guidelines_2021.pdf.
Besides EPM, AAEP guidelines for 20 other equine infectious diseases are available at https://aaep.org/guidelines/infectious-disease-control/using-guidelines. In addition, two foreign animal disease guidelines—for African horse sickness and Glanders—can be found at https://aaep.org/infectious-disease-control/foreign-animal-disease-guidelines.
About AAEP
The American Association of Equine Practitioners, headquartered in Lexington, Ky., was founded in 1954 as a non-profit organization dedicated to the health and welfare of the horse. Currently, AAEP reaches more than 5 million horse owners through its over 9,000 members worldwide and is actively involved in ethics issues, practice management, research and continuing education in the equine veterinary profession and horse industry.
Press release by AAEP