Papillomaviral skin diseases of humans, dogs, cats and horses: A comparative review. Part 1: Papillomavirus biology and hyperplastic lesions.
Authors: Munday John S, Knight Cameron G, Luff Jennifer A
Journal: Veterinary journal (London, England : 1997)
Summary
# Editorial Summary Papillomaviruses affect multiple species—humans, dogs, cats, and horses—through broadly comparable pathogenic mechanisms, yet equine papillomaviral disease remains poorly characterised in veterinary literature despite parallels with well-documented human and small animal presentations. Munday and colleagues conducted a comparative review synthesising current understanding of papillomavirus biology, lifecycle, species-specific classification systems, and the immunological responses that either control or fail to contain infection across all four species. Key findings emphasised that hyperplastic lesions (cutaneous, anogenital, and oral warts) share similar aetiological pathways and developmental patterns regardless of host species, with important distinctions in viral persistence, malignant transformation risk, and immune evasion strategies that vary between papillomavirus types. By aligning equine disease presentation with the substantially more extensive human and small animal research base, the authors provide a framework for practitioners to make evidence-informed assumptions about diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment of less common equine papillomaviral conditions. This comparative approach is clinically valuable for farriers, veterinarians, and physiotherapists managing warts and hyperplastic lesions, particularly regarding lesion classification, infection control during treatment, and realistic expectations for spontaneous resolution versus intervention.
Read the full abstract on PubMed
Practical Takeaways
- •Understanding human PV disease pathology can inform diagnosis and management of similar conditions in equine patients
- •Recognition of PV-induced warts in different anatomical locations (cutaneous, anogenital, oral) is important for accurate diagnosis in horses
- •Cross-species comparison may reveal treatment insights for less common equine PV diseases that are better studied in human medicine
Key Findings
- •Papillomavirus-induced diseases show similar pathogenesis, presentation, and treatment approaches across humans, dogs, cats, and horses
- •Review covers papillomavirus lifecycle, classification, and immune response mechanisms across four species
- •Hyperplastic lesions including cutaneous, anogenital, and oral warts are discussed comparatively across species