The USDA’s National Animal Health Monitoring System (NAHMS) has announced the availability of four information sheets based on its Equine ’98 study. These sheets represent the final products of the study.

Equine ’98 was a national study designed to provide educational and research information on America’s equine population to both study participants and those affiliated with the equine industry.

A summary of the four new information sheets follows:

1. National Economic Cost of Equine Lameness, Colic, and Equine Protozoal Myeloencephalitis (EPM) in the United States: Compares the cost of three priority health issues in the equine industry–lameness, colic, and EPM. Interestingly, death loss was the major expense associated with colic, while “days of lost use” represented the greatest cost associated with lameness.
   
2. Incidence of Colic in U.S. Horses: Summarizes the national incidence of colic among U.S. horses and its associated fatality rate. This is the first time the impact of colic on America’s horse industry has been estimated at a national level.
   
3. Infectious Upper Respiratory Disease (IURD) in U.S. Horses: Disease Frequency; and IURD in U.S. Horses: Lab Results for Influenza Serology and Nasal Swab Culture for Streptococcus Isolation: Two information sheets summarizing results of data collected related to Infectious Upper Respiratory Disease (IURD). The occurrence of IURD in U.S. horses was estimated quarterly and reported by several categories, including age of horses. There are also summaries regarding the frequency of nasal shedding of the Streptococcus SP. bacteria in the general horse population, and the frequency of low and high titers to equine influenza virus.

These information sheets, as well as previous reports and information sheets, are available online at https://www.aphis.usda.gov/vs/ceah/cahm (click on the equine text line