Heat Waves, Pollen Could Worsen Equine Asthma Signs

“Asthmatic horses already experiencing mild to moderate clinical signs show a rapid worsening of clinical signs during heat waves when temperature and humidity increases suddenly,” explained Michela Bullone, DMV, a PhD student under the direction of Jean-Pierre Lavoie, DMV, Dipl. ACVIM, a professor and the director of the Equine Asthma Research Laboratory at the University of Montreal, in Canada.
Researchers have not yet studied the effect of acclimatization to heat and humidity. However, the team believes the threshold of temperature and humidity that triggers an equine asthma attack depends on the history of temperature and humidity the horse has previously been exposed to.
The study also revealed that an increase in airborne pollen concentration on hot days could play a role, Bullone said. There is no evidence that pollen alone prompts an attack, but it might act in concert with other triggers as nonspecific irritants for the airways of asthmatic horses, she said, adding that “further studies will need to clarify this
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