OBJECTIVE To determine the incidence of equine herpesvirus-1 (EHV-1) infection among Thoroughbreds residing on a farm on which the virus was known to be endemic. DESIGN Prospective cohort study. ANIMALS 10 nonpregnant mares, 8 stallions, 16 weanlings, 11 racehorses, and 30 pregnant mares and their foals born during the 2006 foaling season. PROCEDURES Blood and nasopharygeal swab samples w...

This study aimed to determine the effectiveness of a pregnant mare immunization of a Rhodococcus equi (R. equi) vaccine candidate containing a water-based nanoparticle mineral oil adjuvanted (Montanide IMS 3012) inactive bacterin and virulence-associated protein A (VapA), as well as the administration of anti-R. equi hyperimmune (HI) plasma against R. equi challenge in the mares' foals. The eff...

Treatment of pregnant mares to prevent abortions due to equine piroplasmosis is a novel idea practised empirically at some Thoroughbred studs in South Africa. This paper presents the results of an investigation to ascertain whether imidocarb dipropionate crosses the equine placenta. Three pregnant mares were injected intramuscularly with imidocarb and their foetuses were mechanically aborted at...

BACKGROUND Validation of a method for the minimally-invasive measurement of physiological stress will help understanding of risk factors that may contribute to stress-associated events including recrudescence of Equid herpesvirus (EHV), which is anecdotally associated with sales consignment of pregnant Thoroughbred mares. In this study we compared two similar groups of late-gestation Thoroughbr...

OBJECTIVE An experiment was conducted to study the association between the single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in 5'-untranslated regions (5'-UTR) of equine chorionic gonadotropin (eCG) genes and the serum eCG levels. METHODS SNPs in 5'-UTR of eCG genes were screened across 10 horse breeds, including 7 Chinese indigenous breeds and 3 imported breeds using iPLEX chemistry, and the associati...

The aim of this study was to determine the influence of time interval between semen collection and artificial insemination (AI) and the number of spermatozoa in AI doses, on the AI success rate in Tunisian Arabian mares. A total of 79 AI with fresh semen was used on 56 mares (age 4-9 years, n = 34; age 10-20 years, n = 22). The AI success rate was defined as the number of pregnant mares divided...

A new abortigenic disease, now known as mare reproductive loss syndrome (MRLS), significantly affected the horse industry in the Ohio River Valley of the United States in late April and early May of 2001 and 2002. In 2001, approximately 25% of all pregnant mares aborted within several weeks (over 3,000 mares lost pregnancies), and abortion rates exceeded 60% on some farms. Mare reproductive los...

third-degree perineal lacerations in 7 mares were repaired surgically by a one-stage method (goetz technique). primary healing occurred in all of them without any complication. the conception rate obtained after surgery was 70.1%. five horses out of seven got pregnant after surgery and no further injury was seen at subsequent foaling. three mares have produced several healthy foals without any ...

Bacterial reproductive tract infections are associated with significant time and monetary loss in the equine breeding industry, with an estimated at 25 to 60% of barren mares. Treatment and resolution of mare urogenital infection involves consideration of the systemic health of the mare, correction of urogenital anatomic defects, and enhancement of uterine clearance in non-pregnant mares, ident...

Five lighthorse mares were actively immunized against gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH) conjugated to bovine serum albumin (BSA) to study the involvement of GnRH in luteinizing hormone (LH) and follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) secretion following ovariectomy (OVX) and after administration of testosterone propionate (TP). Five mares immunized against BSA served as controls. Immunizations w...