-Caveat Lector-
Foals, Fetuses Mysteriously Dying
By Steve Bailey
Associated Press Writer
Wednesday, May 9, 2001; 3:50 p.m. EDT
LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Scientists are trying to figure out why pregnant
Kentucky mares are losing foals at a staggering rate this spring in
a mystery that has sent fear through the state's $1.2 billion
thoroughbred horse industry.
"It's got a lot of people spooked, no doubt about it," said Steve
Johnson, president of the Kentucky Thoroughbred Farm Managers Club.
"I've talked to a lot of farm owners who aren't going to sleep very
much until they find out what is going on with their mares."
So far, most tests for toxins or viruses have come back negative.
Kentucky's famous bluegrass may even be a factor, and some horse
owners are sending their mares out of the state until the mystery is
solved.
The number of unexplained stillborn foals and spontaneously aborted
pregnancies is nearly seven times normal in central Kentucky this
spring.
Between April 28 through Monday, the University of Kentucky
Livestock Disease Diagnostic Center received 318 miscarried fetuses
or stillborn foals for testing. It received just 46 during the same
period last year.
Some farms have not reported any unusual stillborns or miscarriages,
while others have reported miscarriage rates of 10 percent to 75
percent.
"There's a lot of rumors going around, and no one is really sure
what to believe at this point," said Three Chimneys Farm manager Dan
Rosenberg. "I think the thing that frightens people the most is that
we really don't know why this is happening."
Claiborne Farm manager Gus Koch said one of his mares gave had a
stillborn foal last week. Over the weekend, he discovered that 10
more mares, which were early in their pregnancies, had aborted their
fetuses.
"I've never seen anything like this. Statewide and industry-wide, it
could be devastating," he said.
Kentucky leads the world in thoroughbred breeding, with more than
20,000 mares bred last year alone. Breeding season normally fills
horse owners with optimism, evoking images of foals frolicking over
lush green pastures and colts thundering down the stretch in the
Kentucky Derby.
A team of more than two dozen scientists, veterinarians and farm
managers has concluded that the deaths are probably related.
"So many farms having problems over such a narrow period of time
indicates that there is a common source," said David Powell, a
disease researcher with the University of Kentucky's Gluck Equine
Research Center.
But Powell said the problem is not believed to be spread from one
horse to another, unlike the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in
Europe.
One theory is that Kentucky's warm, dry spring followed by several
hard freezes allowed a fungus or toxin to develop in grasses eaten
by horses. Powell and others are telling farms to mow frequently and
limit horses' time in pastures.
Other possible theories involve bacteria or chemicals.
The research team has sent out a detailed questionnaire to gauge the
extent of the problem and determine common factors. Blood, tissue,
grass and soil samples are being examined.
"You won't find anywhere else in the world with as many equine
experts equipped to study this sort of problem," Rosenberg said.
"I'm confident that we'll know fairly soon what's causing this and
what can be done to prevent it. Until then, all we can do is hold
our breath and hope for the best."
---
On the Net:
University of Kentucky College of Agriculture: http://www.ca.uky.edu
American Association of Equine Practitioners: http://www.aaep.org
National Thoroughbred Racing Association: http://www.ntraracing.com
© Copyright 2001 The Associated Press
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