Reducing the severity of respiratory disease
An Animal Health Trust (AHT) review has found that immune-modulators can reduce the severity of some respiratory diseases in horses.
The review, which has been published in Veterinary Immunology and Immunopathology, was conducted by Romain Paillot, who works at AHT.
His work involved examining scientific literature and reports on the use of immune-modulators in equine medicine, in particular, for the prevention or treatment of respiratory disease.
The two immune-modulators studied were Parapoxvirus ovis (iPPVO) and Propionbacterium acnes (P.acnes), which are both used to improve immune defences and prevent or treat infectious diseases in horses.
Dr Paillot found that young horses treated with iPPVO and co-mingled with experimentally infected EHV-1 horses showed a reduction in disease severity by 40 per cent.
Meanwhile, those treated with iPPVO and co-mingled with horses experimentally infected with EHV-4 showed a 61 per cent reduction in disease severity.
For horses treated with P.acnes, Dr Paillot found that the frequency of recovery for horses that had shown clinical signs of respiratory disease were "significantly increased".
He said: "Non-specific immune-modulators such as iPPVO or P.acnes may not provide protection against direct infection or transmission of respiratory pathogens, but they seem to contribute to the reduction of the disease severity.
"This subsequently reduces the frequency of complications and improves the rate of recovery."
Click here to read the review.
The BSAVA has opened submissions for the BSAVA Clinical Research Abstracts 2026.
