Essay On Rain Rot

765 Words2 Pages

Rain Rot
Taylor Marie Carlson
Globe University

Rain rot is a severe skin infection in horses, but it is actually a normal inhabitant of the skin on horses. So why does this disease seem to be so serious? Although it lives naturally in the horses skin, rain rot can get very serious if it gets persistently damaged or wet. This can cause an infection to occur. Rain rot is also called rain scald or dermatophilosis. It is caused by dermatophilus congolensis. Dermatophilus congolensis is a gram-positive bacterium and is the etiologic agent of rain rot. It lives within the skin until the skin is disturbed some how. “The bacteria live in the outer layer of the skin and cause from pinpoint to large, crusty scabs.” (Mendell, 2014, January 29.) It can happen when there is high humidity, wetness for a log period of time, high temperature, or even attacks by biting insects. An increase in the number of biting insects can occur if there is high humidity or warm temperatures so it is best to have a cooling spot for the horses. The biting insects are how this disease can spread from horse to horse. Although there is a natural immunity, some horses are more susceptible to it and can get it year after year. Their must be an infected carrier, or even a fomite like a saddle or a blanket that has the organism in the form of a spore. The spores then have to come in contact with the susceptible animal. Once these spores attach, you can start to see the disease take over the horses body.
Diagnosing the horses with rain rot is pretty easy. You can normally diagnose the horse with just visually looking at him and seeing the skin lesions alone. You can confirm rain rot by doing a skin scrape though and looking under the microscope f...

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...environments. These will be the best ways to prevent rain rot from happening to your horses. This infection can also spread to other horses so it is important if your horse has rain rot to isolate them from the rest of the herd. This will help reduce the risk of spreading the infection to other horses. Using separate sets of grooming tools will greatly help with spread of the infection. Disinfecting the items between each use is also important in preventing it from spreading.

References
1. Mendell, C. (2014, January 29). Understanding Rain Rot. http://www.thehorse.com/articles/21190/understanding-rain-rot
2. Horsetalk. (2012, October 22.) Rain Rot: Solving the Scald Problem. http://horsetalk.co.nz/2012/10/22/rain-rot-solving-scald-problem/#axzz32mH3O1Fl
3. EQUUS magazines. (2003, June 9.) All About Rain Rot. http://www.equisearch.com/article/skin060903-8235

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