What do you give a horse with EPM?

What do you give a horse with EPM?

High quality, highly palatable forage should be fed as many horses with EPM suffer weight loss. High fat and soluble fiber rations should be utilized when feeding horses that are recovering from EPM. Excellent quality protein and amino acids are required to help rebuild damaged nerve and muscle tissue.

Is EPM contagious to humans?

Yes. People can get sarcocystosis. They acquire the disease by ingesting (oral) the protozoan, most common- ly through undercooked meat prod- ucts. Disease in humans can involve either intestinal infection or muscular invasion by the parasite.

Which is the best treatment for EPM in horses?

Three FDA-approved anti-coccidial treatments for EPM are available for horses: Ponazuril (Marquis by Merial) Bioavailability is improved by 15% when vegetable oil is given concurrently with this medication. Diclazuril(Protazil by Merck Animal Health).

What’s the average duration of treatment for EPM?

· Supplementation with vitamin E, an antioxidant, is often recommended to aid healing of nervous tissue. · Average duration of treatment is one month with the proprietary products, although depending on which medication is used can sometimes be longer (up to three to six months with combinations).

Which is the best way to prevent EPM?

Preventive Strategies. First and foremost to EPM prevention is to manage any possible contamination of horse feed or water from the primary reservoir host, the opossum. Skunks, raccoons, sea otters and even cats also can be protozoal sources. Lock away all feed containers in varmint-proof containers and rooms.

Is it worth a pound of cure for EPM?

As with any disease, prevention is worth a pound of cure. With equine protozoal myeloencephalitis (EPM), this would be the best objective since not only is it difficult to identify that a horse has EPM in the early stages, but also because even with aggressive treatment, lingering neurologic deficits can remain.

Can exercise help an EPM horse?

Exercise benefits the recovering EPM horse. “Regardless of the cause,” says OSU’s Reed, “the horse with a central nervous system disease will do better if allowed to exercise. Exercise can strengthen muscles, retrain damaged spinal tracts, and enhance healing of the nervous system.”

Is EPM contagious in horses?

EPM Disease Summary. EPM has is generally described as debilitating, but not painful to the horse. It is not contagious between horses. For the owner it can be elusive, confusing, frustrating, costly, and the cause of many gray hairs.

What is the treatment of EPM in horses?

Other treatments that are used to aid horses with clinical signs of EPM include dexamethazone, flunixin, meglumine (Benamine) and dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO). Some veterinarians also recommend adding natural vitamin E to the horse’s diet because, in some cases, it helps reduce neurological signs.