Over the past decade, Lawsonia intracellularis, the bacterium responsible for proliferative enteropathy (a spreading disease of the intestines), has been diagnosed with increasing frequency in horses and is now a significant problem in the industry.

L. intracellularis infections cause diarrhea, depression, fever, inappetance (anorexia), weight loss, edema (fluid swelling) on the abdomen or lower limbs, a poor hair coat, and intermittent colic due to thickening of mucosal lining in the small and large intestine. While any age of horse can be infected, weanling foals 4 to 7 months old are most susceptible.

According to Jean-Pierre Lavoie, DMV, professor of Equine Internal Medicine at the University of Montreal in Canada, a surge in the number of cases of L. intracellularis has been noted in various geographical locations.

“Equine cases of proliferative enteropathy have been reported in the North America, Great Britain, and Australia,” reported Lavoie. “While most cases are isolated (one or two animals per farm), outbreaks have occurred