Zoonotic diseases are those that can be passed from animals to humans, and, noted Scott Weese, DVM, DVSc, Dipl. ACVIM, of the Department of Clinical Studies at the University of Guelph, they are an ever-present threat to veterinarians. “A number of zoonotic agents may be encountered in veterinary practice and the severity of human disease can range from mild to fatal,” he said. “Prompt

The American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP) is the leading provider of continuing education for veterinarians who deal with horses. The association is also committed to educating horse owners, and that commitment is growing as evidenced by the development of an Owner Education Committee and plans for assisting veterinarians in educating their clients through electronic and print

Vitex agnus castus extract (Chaste Berry) has been reputed to have therapeutic efficacy in the treatment of Equine Cushing’s syndrome. However, results of a study at the University of Pennsylvania’s New Bolton Center repudiated these claims.  Jill Beech, VMD, professor of medicine in the School of Veterinary Medicine and chief of the section of large animal medicine at the New Bolton

Pneumonia caused by the bacteria Rhodococcus equi is an often-fatal disease that can be difficult to eradicate from affected farms. “The impact of this disease can be large because prevalence and case-fatality rates are often high; treatment is prolonged, expensive, associated with adverse effects, and not uniformly successful; the disease may diminish future performance; and farms

The American Horse Council Convention and Congressional Conference for 2003 will focus on education and how it can lead to advocacy.

The convention, set for April 5-8 in Washington, D.C., will feature state horse council meetings, panel discussions on a variety of topics, an awards luncheon, and a Congressional dinner. It will end with a Congressional breakfast that will give participants a

Despite the high incidence of murmurs in racehorses, they are very hard to diagnose. Heart murmurs are usually low-frequency sounds at the lower limit of human hearing which are difficult for the human voice to reproduce accurately.

Scott McClure, DVM, PhD, of Iowa State, reported on the effects of extracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT) on suspensory ligament desmitis. He noted that ESWT is being used for the treatment of equine musculoskeletal diseases.

From Kentucky up through New York, the recent winter storm’s ice and snow has caused major problems for horse owners and those in the horse business. In Kentucky, an inch or more of ice coated every surface starting Feb. 16, causing power lines to sag onto roads and fields, trees to split and drop limbs, and streets to become impassible. There was flooding in other parts of the state.

According to an Associated Press story on bloodhorse.com, The University of Kentucky (UK) will receive $11.36 million in funding in the current federal budget, U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell said Monday. Some of the funds will be spent on research into animal health and diseases, such as mare reproductive loss syndrome (MRLS).

Of the

Horses moving faster than a walk could be at greater risk of developing gastric ulcers. Alfred Merritt, DVM, MS, and Mireia Lorenzo-Figueras, DVM, recently discovered that changes in gastric tension during intense exercise can push acidic stomach contents up into the vulnerable, squamous-cell-lined portion of the stomach–a circumstance that hints at why ulcers often develop or worsen when

Robert Maxwell, owner of Sallee Van company in Lexington, said generators are keeping the phones, lights, and a little heat on in the office, but downed trees are keeping larger trucks in the parking lot.

“We can’t get the big trucks off the lot because of trees down everywhere around the office, said Maxwell, but we have some of the smaller vans out. We’re parking them at the Ryder

Despite the disaster of ice, snow, and cold weather, all three of the major veterinary clinics in Central Kentucky are up and running, although Hagyard-Davidson-McGee is on emergency power. Dr. Doug Byars, head of the medicine clinic at Hagyard-Davidson-McGee in Lexington, said generators are keeping services going for the horses, but surgery is on an emergency basis for the moment.

“Diseases like flu and herpesvirus are always going to be problems for horse owners, and they are not going away,” said Tom Chambers, PhD, of the University of Kentucky’s Gluck Equine Research Center. “The secret to effective vaccines for flu is effective surveillance.” This surveillance allows researchers and vaccine manufacturers to stay abreast of which strains are causing

The number of mares bred in Kentucky in 2002–the year after mare reproductive loss syndrome first hit–fell by 3.4% from 2001, but the state’s broodmare population remains 33% higher than it was a decade earlier, according to figures released by The Jockey Club and contained in its annual “Fact Book” available online at jockeyclub.com

Mare reproductive loss syndrome reduced the 2001

U.S. Representative John Sweeney (R-NY), chairman of the Congressional Horse Caucus, and U.S.Representative John Spratt (D-SC) reintroduced the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act on Thursday. The bill would ban the trade in horsemeat and live horses for human consumption.An identical version of this bill will soon be introduced in the Senate.

This is a developing story, pleas