There are hundreds of cases of pigeon fever each year in California, said Nathan Slovis, DVM, Dipl. ACVIM, from his experience working at the University of California, Davis. Slovis, who currently is an internal medicine specialist at the Haygard-Davidson-McGee medicine clinic in Lexington, Ky., presented a lecture at the Gluck Equine Research Center on Jan. 27 that covered several topics, including pigeon fever.

Pigeon fever is caused by the bacteria Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis, which can exist in the environment for weeks or months, said Slovis. The term pigeon fever arises from the fact that the majority of the abscesses arise underneath the pectoral musculature. When the lymph node becomes enlarged and an abscess forms, the pectorals become enlarged and can look like a “pigeon breast.” He said that the disease is “here to stay” in Kentucky, and that veterinarians and horse owners need to become educated and aware of the symptoms in order to get immediate and appropriate treatment for horses