While relatively uncommon, brain worms can occur. And when they do, their infections are usually fatal. | Photo: iStock
When a horse shows neurologic deficits, your veterinarian might check for the common causes—spinal cord compression, trauma, infectious disease, or plant toxicity. But if those differential diagnoses don’t pan out, there’s another possibility worth considering: parasitic worms in the brain.

While relatively uncommon, brain worms can occur. And when they do, their infections are usually fatal.

Barbara Iulini, a veterinarian in the Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale del Piemonte, Liguria e Valle d’Aosta, in Turin, Italy, and her colleagues recently investigated such a case in a Dutch Warmblood stallion on a breeding farm in Piedmont where all other horses were healthy.

The 13-year-old stallion had had a fever and kept his head tilted to the right. He alternated between acting depressed and overexcited, said Iulini. One or both eyes tended to stray, and he frequently spent time circling

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