EQUINE | Equine Disease Quarterly
even discern the blocks back to the Foundation Stock.
Unfortunately, such a tool does not yet exist for horses,
but a similar commercial application is used by people
to identify the origin of their ancestors. We anticipate
horse breeders may seek to use such a tool one day.
Today we can apply genomics to assess one of the
concerns of horse breeders, namely inbreeding. As
noted above, the establishment of breeds relies on
the identification and use of Foundation Stock. An
unintended consequence of this is inbreeding and
the attendant risk of inbreeding depression and
the appearance of deleterious hereditary diseases.
The article in this issue, “Genomics and Inbreeding,”
describes the concern and identifies ways in which
genomics can be used to monitor inbreeding and assist
breed registries to anticipate problems.
CONTACT:
Ernest Bailey
[email protected]
Maxwell H. Gluck Equine Research Center
University of Kentucky
Lexington, Kentucky
Third Quarter 2019
The International Collating Centre, Newmarket, United
Kingdom, and other sources reported the following
equine disease outbreaks.
Cases of African horse sickness decreased substantially
in the Republic of South Africa (RSA) during the period
under review. Fewer than five cases occurred in the
Eastern Cape Province, Mpumalanga and KwaZulu Natal;
no cases were reported in the Western Cape Province.
Kuwait confirmed three subclinical cases of glanders on
pre-export testing.
28
Equine influenza was recorded in Belgium, Denmark,
France, Germany, Sudan, the UK, and the USA. The
number of outbreaks/cases varied with fewer than five
cases reported by Belgium, Denmark, and Germany, to
six outbreaks in France, four of which involved multiple
cases. Sudan reported 700 cases with 107 deaths; cases
spread from south Darfur to east Darfur. The UK recorded
59 outbreaks. The disease was reported as endemic in
the USA with outbreaks confirmed in six states.
France, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, the
UK, and the USA reported outbreaks of strangles. The
number of confirmed outbreaks ranged from two in
Switzerland, three in Germany, 15 in the Netherlands,
and 27 in France. The UK and the USA reported the
disease as endemic, with the USA recording strangles in
14 states.
Equine herpesvirus 1 (EHV-1) related diseases were
recorded by Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany,
Ireland, Switzerland, the Netherlands, the UK, and the
USA. Respiratory disease was diagnosed in Belgium
(two outbreaks), Denmark (one outbreak), France (four
outbreaks), Germany (one outbreak), Ireland (two
outbreaks), the Netherlands (one outbreak) and the
USA (numerous outbreaks). Denmark reported one
outbreak involving four cases of EHV-1 abortion. EHV-1
myeloencephalopathy was confirmed by France (three
outbreaks, one involving five cases of the disease),
Switzerland and the Netherlands (one outbreak apiece),
and the USA (three outbreaks each involving single
cases).
Equine herpesvirus 4 respiratory disease was reported
by Belgium, Germany, and the Netherlands (three
outbreaks apiece); France (11 outbreaks); Ireland, Japan,
and Switzerland (one outbreak apiece); the UK (six
outbreaks); and the USA (numerous outbreaks).
France, Poland, and the UK recorded cases of equine
• Equine Health Update •