Tick-Borne Diseases and Gastric Ulcer in the Donkey

Clinical research on donkeys needs to be in continual development because they require specific diagnostic and therapeutic approaches. Unfortunately, donkeys are still considered to be small horses. Some update about donkey diseases is here provided on the basis of current knowledge, personal publications, and experiences. Several chronic diseases are not currently enough clear about the consequences they can have in donkeys. Epidemiology and clinical presentation of piroplasmosis and other tick-borne diseases (TBDs) show some differences between horses and donkeys. Nonspecific clinical presentation of Babesia caballi and Theileria equi infection seems to be common in donkeys, and clinical pathology alterations persist after natural infection. Nevertheless, donkeys seem to be less sensitive to Borrelia burgdorferi infection. Clinical monitoring for TBDs should be recommended because donkeys represent a risk both for transmission to other animals (as unapparent carriers) and for their own health and performances. A high prevalence of equine gastric ulcer syndrome (EGUS) in donkeys with no clinical signs of this disease has also been found. This suggests that subclinical forms of EGUS may be more common in donkeys than was previously thought, but it is routinely overlooked. The results indicate that this syndrome could be present in apparently healthy donkeys. Several peculiarities of donkey are present in respect to horses. Disease presentation can be very different, and also epidemiology of infectious and noninfectious disease needs to be specifically studied for donkeys, to identify control plans to decrease incidence and consequences, especially for the discussed subclinical diseases.