Equine Disease Quarterly | EQUINE
The Right Horse Initiative, brought years of experience
in finding homes for shelter dogs and cats to the horse
industry.
The horse industry will never completely eliminate
unwanted horses. Horses will always age, sustain career-
ending injuries, or not meet their owner’s expectations.
However, I’m optimistic that the future is brighter for
these horses, because the horse industry has turned
its attention to the issue and continues to develop
strategies to both reduce the number of unwanted
horses on the front end through responsible care
and breeding as well as the rear end through rescue/
retirement programs, retraining for alternative careers,
and low-cost euthanasia options.
CONTACT:
Tom Lenz DVM, MS, DACT
[email protected]
Louisburg, KS
Second Quarter 2019
The International Collating Centre, Newmarket, United
Kingdom, and other sources reported the following
equine disease outbreaks.
African horse sickness was reported in Cameroon,
Chad, Eswatini, and the Republic of South Africa (RSA).
Significant losses were recorded in Chad with a case-
fatality rate of 85%. An increased incidence was seen in
the endemic areas in RSA, with outbreaks confirmed in
eight of the nine provinces. No cases were documented
in the Western Cape Province, either in the historically
affected area or in the AHS controlled zone.
Outbreaks of equine influenza were confirmed by France
(19), Germany (11), Ireland (19), Italy (three), Senegal
(one), the UK (97), and the USA (three). The majority of
outbreaks involved unvaccinated horses or horses with
incomplete vaccination histories.
Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, and the USA recorded
outbreaks of strangles. The number of outbreaks ranged
from one (Belgium and Ireland) to 20 (France) with three
in Germany and 14 in the USA. Strangles is considered
endemic by many countries.
Equine herpesvirus 1 (EHV-1) related diseases were
reported by Belgium, France, Germany, the UK, and
the USA. Respiratory disease was confirmed in Belgium
(four outbreaks), France (two outbreaks), Germany (five
outbreaks), the UK (one outbreak), and the USA (one
outbreak; the disease likely occurred in many states).
Outbreaks of EHV-1 abortion were recorded by a number
of countries, most involving a single case of the disease.
The number of outbreaks ranged from one (Australia
and the USA), two (Canada and Germany), three (France
and Japan), and 11 (Belgium). Two reported cases had
co-infections with Leptospira interrogans and one with
L. interrogans and S. zooepidemicus. Abortions were
confirmed in vaccinated and unvaccinated mares. EHV-
1 neurologic disease was recorded in Canada (one case),
Germany (two cases), the UK (one case), and the USA
(11 outbreaks, the majority involving single cases of the
disease, six of which had recently attended an equine
event). Equine herpesvirus 4 (EHV-4) respiratory disease
was reported by France (12 outbreaks), Germany (several
outbreaks), Sweden (three horses in one outbreak),
and the UK (eight outbreaks involving one to multiple
horses). France recorded a single case of EHV-4 abortion.
Rhodococcus equi infection was confirmed by France
(one case), Ireland (two cases), and the USA (at least 42
cases).
The UK reported asymptomatic equine arteritis virus
infection in three non-Thoroughbred stallions on one
premises and an additional case in a non-Thoroughbred
stallion on a separate premises epidemiologically linked
to the first.
• Volume 21 Issue 4 | December 2019 •
21