Nineteen species of gastro-intestinal nematodes were recovered from 10 Burchell's zebra. These include: Cyathostomum alveatum, C. montgomeryi and C. tetracanthum; Cylicocyclus auriculatus, C. gyalocephaloides, C. insigne and C. triramosus; Cylicodontophorus schürmanni and Cylicodontophorus n.sp., Cylicostephanus bidentatus, C. calicatus and C. minutus; Poteriostomum ratzii, Craterostomum acuticaudatum, Triodontophorus minor, Habronema majus, H. muscae, H. zebrae, and Draschia megastoma, as well as Cylindropharynx spp. The highest burdens encountered were those of Cylicocyclus triramosus (159 491), Cylindropharynx (19 875), Cylicocyclus auriculatus (15 792), Cylicostephanus calicatus (16 658) and Cyathostomum tetracanthum (13 723). The nematodes consistently present in all zebras were: Cylicostephanus calicatus, Cylindropharynx spp. and Draschia megastoma.

The objective of this study was to identify and partially characterize 3 equid herpesviruses that were isolated postmortem from zebras in Ontario, Canada in 1989, 2002, and 2007. These 3 virus isolates were characterized by plaque morphology, restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) of their genomic deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay, and sequence analyses of the full length of the glycoprotein G (gG) gene (ORF70) and a portion of the DNA polymerase gene (ORF30). The isolates were also compared to 3 reference strains of equid herpesvirus 1 (EHV-1). Using rabbit kidney cells, the plaques for the isolates from the zebras were found to be much larger in size than the EHV-1 reference strains. The RFLP patterns of the zebra viruses differed among each other and from those of the EHV-1 reference strains. Real-time PCR and sequence analysis of a portion of the DNA polymerase gene determined that the herpesvirus isolates from the zebras contained a G at nucleotide 2254 and a corresponding N at amino acid position 752, which suggested that they could be neuropathogenic EHV-1 strains. However, subsequent phylogenetic analysis of the gG gene suggested that they were EHV-9 and not EHV-1.

Strangles is an extremely contagious bacterial infection specific to
equine species( horses, mules and zebras). A nationwide screening of S. equi was conducted among horses following an isolation of Streptococcus equi subsp. equi (S. equi) from a horse. All horses were monitored for the presence of respiratory signs, nasal discharge and submandibular swelling. This paper reports the isolation of S. equi from horses during a nationwide survey from August 2010 to December 2010. From August 2010 to December 2010 our laboratory received 2,825 nasal swabs, 9 guttural pouch flushes, 1 submandibular swab and 1 submandibular abscess. The samples were subjected to conventional bacterial isolation and identification.
Streptococcus equi-positive samples were also confirmed by detecting the M-gene (SeM) of the bacteria by using PCR. Two nasal swabs from two horses and one submandibular abscess from a horse were positive for S. equi by culture and subsequently by PCR. Surveillance for S. equi should be continued for the control of the strangles. PCR can be carried out in parallel to bacterial culture to increase the
detection rate of carriers and shedders.