Allegations that the West Nile virus vaccine might have caused abortions and deformed foals were made in a May 30 Denver Post article. Mare owners calling themselves the “Lost Foals Group” claim the vaccine has caused up to 1,200 abortions and nearly 300 deformed or dummy foals. However, top veterinarians dispute those allegations based on their experiences.

Tom Riddle, DVM, of Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital in Lexington, Ky., said, “I can tell you that my practice has vaccinated thousands of mares with the West Nile virus (WNV) vaccine and we have seen no relationship between the vaccine and abortions. My suspicion with the problem that is reported in the Denver paper is that the vaccine is incidental to the abortions and not related to it

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