Equine scientists at the University of Kentucky are working with farm managers and horse industry leaders to rapidly diagnose and control a serious problem affecting the equine industry. An unusually high number of late-term abortions and early fetal deaths have been submitted recently to the UK Livestock Disease Diagnostic Center in Lexington.

“Investigation is underway, and we are pulling more and more people in, not just from our own equine research faculty but also from other UK departments and from the horse industry itself,” said David Powell, disease researcher with UK’s Maxwell Gluck Equine Research Center.

Horse owners are reporting two problems. One problem is a significant number of late-term abortions and a number of foals being born weak and surviving only a few days. Symptoms in mares include non-production of milk, difficulty giving birth, and stillborn fetuses. The cause is unknown.

Another problem relates to an increased number of mares determined to be pregnant at about 40 days, but then experiencing early fetal loss. Affected mares seem normal during manual pregnancy examinations, but during ultrasound tests an abnormal fluid is seen around the fetus. UK researchers and veterinarians believe this problem may be related to the first, however the cause is also unknown