Case Study: Newborn Foal Dies Due to Atypical Myopathy

The foal’s dam developed atypical myopathy in the sixth month of gestation. The foal, born at full term, was eventually euthanized due to atypical myopathy complications.
Share
Favorite
Close

No account yet? Register

ADVERTISEMENT

foal dies due to atypical myopathy
Hypoglycin A, the toxic amino acid that causes atypical myopathy, is found in certain sycamore and box elder tree seeds. | Photo: Franz Xaver/Wikimedia Commons

Think atypical myopathy—an often-deadly muscle disease of British and European horses caused by a toxin found in sycamore seeds—only affects grazing horses that eat the seeds by mistake? Think again. Researchers recently published a study describing what they believe to be the first reported case of a newborn foal in the Czech Republic dying due to atypical myopathy complications.

“It was surprising for the owner as well as for the veterinarian, but atypical myopathy was confirmed by elevated creatinine kinase (CK) activity,” said Petr Jahn, PhD, of the University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences Faculty of Veterinary Medicine’s Equine Clinic, in Brno, Czech Republic.

The Haflinger foal was born in spring to a mare that had fallen ill the previous autumn after consuming sycamore tree (Acer pseudoplatanus) seeds containing the causative toxin, hypoglycin A. The mare was six months pregnant at the time and made a full recovery, Jahn said. Around 75% of affected horses die from the disease

Create a free account with TheHorse.com to view this content.

TheHorse.com is home to thousands of free articles about horse health care. In order to access some of our exclusive free content, you must be signed into TheHorse.com.

Start your free account today!

Already have an account?
and continue reading.

Share

Written by:

Passionate about horses and science from the time she was riding her first Shetland Pony in Texas, Christa Lesté-Lasserre writes about scientific research that contributes to a better understanding of all equids. After undergrad studies in science, journalism, and literature, she received a master’s degree in creative writing. Now based in France, she aims to present the most fascinating aspect of equine science: the story it creates. Follow Lesté-Lasserre on Twitter @christalestelas.

Related Articles

Stay on top of the most recent Horse Health news with

FREE weekly newsletters from TheHorse.com

Sponsored Content

Weekly Poll

sponsored by:

Where do you primarily feed your horse?
301 votes · 301 answers

Readers’ Most Popular

Sign In

Don’t have an account? Register for a FREE account here.

Need to update your account?

You need to be logged in to fill out this form

Create a free account with TheHorse.com!