Researchers around the world are always working to better understand a bevy of horse health problems. And while moving forward is the ultimate goal, sometimes it pays to look back at what previous research has revealed.

During his recent PhD defense seminar at the University of Kentucky, Allen Page, DVM, presented a review of Lawsonia intracellularis, described his research on the bacterium, described its seroprevalence in a horse population, and characterized factors that could contribute to equine proliferative enteropathy (EPE) infection development.

Background

L. intracellularis is an obligate intracellular bacterium that causes proliferative enteropathies (a spreading disease of the intestines) in a variety of species—including horses. In horses, EPE typically affects weanlings aged 4 to 7 months