The Domestic Livestock Resources of Turkey: Occurrence and Control of Diseases of Horses, Donkeys and Mules

Horses, donkeys, and mules have been important in Turkey for agriculture, transport, and the military for hundreds of years. Equids number more than 0.5 million in Turkey. Most horses are local types but emphasis is now on Thoroughbreds and Arabians for racing and competitions. New roles have not materialized for donkeys and mules that continue to perform their traditional activities. Disease control is assured mainly by public services acting within laws governing diseases and welfare. African horse sickness, glanders, dourine, equine infectious anemia, vesicular stomatitis, equine encephalomyelitis, anthrax, and rabies are notifiable diseases but none of the mainly equine diseases has been reported in Turkey for many years. Several zoonoses, including toxoplasmosis, brucellosis, listeriosis, and Rhodococcus infections, have been identified by serodiagnosis over wide areas, but animals carrying antibodies rarely exhibit clinical symptoms. Among other diseases in Turkish Equidae are piroplasmosis, respiratory infections, contagious equine metritis and equine influenza. Other viral and bacterial pathogens have been identified in isolated investigations. Internal and external parasites are a major cause of economic loss. Much research on equine diseases has been undertaken in the last decade of the 20th and first decade of the 21st centuries, perhaps because of Turkey's possible accession to the European Union and the goal to harmonize identification and control procedures and also because of the country's increasing participation in international equine events. This paper reviews animal health services and provides a bibliography of more than 100 references covering horse, donkey, and mule diseases in Turkey.