Equine Serum Hepatitis

Also known as:

Theiller's disease

• reported in horses given serum of equine origin
  • tetanus
  • pregnant mare serum
• uknown aetiology
  • suggested it may be of infectious cause, perhaps a virus
• disease manifests itself between one to two months post injection

Clinical

• jaundice
• neurological signs
• death follows quickly

Gross

• jaundice
• ascites
• haemorrhages on and in many organs
• liver is greeenish with reddish and pale blotches
• fibrin strands on the liver surface

Microscopically

• liver cells very fatty (large single vacuoles), some degenerated and a few leukocytes
• moderate portal fibrosis
• heavily bile stained