Ask Marianela Lopez, DVM, PhD, how long she has been studying Rhodococcus bacteria and she says, laughing, “Since I was born? Well, truthfully, since I began my PhD at Washington State University in 1996–it does seem a lifetime ago.”

Lopez is a member of a new team studying Rhodococcus equi infection of foals, supported by an award from the Heather Ryan and L. David Dubé Veterinary Health Research Fund at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine (WCVM). Led by Hugh Townsend, BSc, DVM, MSc, the team is plumbing the mysteries of the newborn foal’s immune response to develop ways to protect neonates from infection.

A problem in eastern Canada, the United States, and internationally, R. equi is a soil bacterium that causes severe pneumonia in foals. “Currently, the key to managing this disease is early diagnosis, but this is time consuming and expensive,” said Townsend, a professor in WCVM’s Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences.

“The problem is that foals don’t tend to show signs of the disease until it has advanced to the point where it’s difficult, or sometimes impossible, to treat,” Lopez added. “Catching foals at an early stage of the disease requires repeated examination along with ultrasound, radiographs and laboratory tests