Sciensano is recognised as the Belgian National Reference Laboratory (NRL) for dourine.
Dourine
Dourine
Dourine is an infectious disease caused by a parasite, Trypanosoma equiperdum. It is specific to equines (horses, donkeys) and is not transmissible to humans. Its mortality rate is very high.
What is dourine?
Dourine is a trypanosomiasis, i.e., an infection caused by a blood parasite. The pathogen responsible for the infection is a protozoan, Trypanosoma equiperdum.
Dourine and animals
The transmission of dourine is exclusively sexual during mating, from the stallion to the mare or vice versa.
The infection takes the form of genital edema, paraphimosis, pathognomonic oedematous skin plaques (silver dollar plaques) and terminal neurological signs, with a mortality rate of 50%.
Dourine and humans
Dourine only affects horses, donkeys and mules. This disease is not transmissible to humans.
Information for health professionals
Dourine is a notifiable disease.