Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation’s board of directors has approved funding of $748,116 for a slate of 19 research projects for 2003, increasing the organization’s total for equine research since 1983 to more than $10 million.

The research funded in 2003 will take place at 11 universities in the United States and Canada and includes the launch of 10 new projects and the

The equine breeding industry is among the recipients of funds from the Kentucky Agricultural Development Board, which allocated more than $4.3 million for 2003 projects.

The Kentucky Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders received $190,000 to continue research into mare reproductive loss syndrome (MRLS), which struck Central Kentucky in the spring of 2001. The exact cause of MRLS still

Toots Banner, DVM, an equine veterinary dentist, was recently hired by the University of Florida’s Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital to provide service to clients on-site and in the field.
 
Banner said, “Unlike the farrier, whose work is out in front for everyone to see, the work of anyone who is doing equine dentistry is literally out of sight,” said Dr. Toots Banner, a

The Associated Press reported in the New York Times that a package containing West Nile virus exploded on Tuesday night (March 18) at a Federal Express building in Columbus, Ohio. Fifty workers were evacuated.

“Fire officials said dry ice used to preserve tissue samples with live virus might have caused the shoebox-size package to burst at the FedEx office near Port

Equine herpesvirus type 1 (EHV-1) has been confirmed as the cause of illness in three Thoroughbreds that were stabled in a training barn at Turfway Park in Florence, Ky. Tuesday’s announcement follows treatment of several EHV-1 outbreaks in Ohio and Pennsylvania since January.

The EHV-1 organism can cause three different forms of disease, including rhinopneumonitis (a respiratory

Animal health officials today explained that the announcement about the equine herpesvirus type 1 (EHV-1) cases at Turfway Park in Florence, Ky., was not made sooner was because the virus wasn’t considered to be actively circulating in the environment until a third horse exhibited clinical signs and tested positive for the virus.

A gelding and a filly with neurologic signs were

Three horses stabled at Turfway Park have been diagnosed with neurologic equine herpesvirus type 1 (EHV-1). Verification of the virus was completed over the weekend at the northern Kentucky track by researchers at the Maxwell H. Gluck Equine Research Center at the University of Kentucky in Lexington.

All three horses have responded favorably to treatment. Two of the horses were

More than 1,000 American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA) members attended the 63rd annual convention, where the organization’s board voted to retain Rule 227(c), which limits the amount of white on horses eligible for registration in the organization.

The vote on the white rule leaves Rule 227(c) unchanged and will continue to be read and upheld as it is written in the 2003 Official

For the third consecutive year, ReRun, Inc. and New Vocations Racehorse Adoption programs will co-host the All-Thoroughbred Charity Horse Show to be held on Sat., May 31 at Turfway Park. The Keeneland Association and Turfway Park have signed on as headline sponsors, with Churchill Downs again participating and GEAR for Sports coming aboard as a sponsor of this charity event.

In

“Identifying and Solving Semen Quality Problems in Stallions” is just one of the many talks to be given at Alltech’s 19th International Feed Industry Symposium in Lexington, Kentucky, May 11-14. This issue will be addressed in the Equine Symposium hosted for equine veterinarians, feed company nutritionists, horse farm managers and horse owners.

The ability of stallions to cover a ful

With no additional positive tests for Equine herpesvirus type 1 (EHV-1) since Feb. 26, Penn National Race Course was prepared to lift the quarantine of horses stabled in Barn U on March 19, according to track general manager Richard Schnaars.

Of the original 36 horses stabled in Barn U, five tested positive for EHV-1. Two of the horses had to be euthanized, while three are

In a 416-9 vote, the U.S. House of Representatives has passed a bill that would authorize $100 million in grants for communities to develop mosquito-control programs, according to an Associated Press news release. 

Lawmakers hope the bill, which also passed the House last year, will slow the spread of the West Nile virus, which ran rampant across the

Officials said the classification of erythropoeitin — the blood-doping agent commonly known as EPO — as a prohibited practice has curbed its use in some jurisdictions but a definitive test for the substance is a must if any regulation is to have teeth.

Medication was just one of the topics discussed during the initial sessions of the joint meeting of the Thoroughbred Racing Association,

Kentucky has kept extensive statistics on West Nile virus (WNV) cases in the state. At the March 7 West Nile Virus Workshop at the University of Kentucky’s Gluck Equine Research Center, Rusty Ford, Kentucky Equine Programs Manager, reviewed equine WNV statistics from past years. He also described how the state planned to make reporting cases easier in 2003.

West Nile virus was first

“This is the largest arboviral (disease) epidemic ever documented in the Western Hemisphere,” said Sue Billings, DVM, MSPH, Kentucky Department for Public Health Medical Epidemiologist. Billings has been working with the public health side of West Nile virus (WNV) surveillance since the virus first appeared in mosquitoes, birds, and horses in Kentucky in 2001. Billings attended a recent WNV

There is no significant difference between rates of wound healing with povidone iodine ointment and two formulations of silver sulfadiazine versus untreated controls, according to a recent study completed at the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine (VMRCVM). Additionally, all bandaged wounds regardless of treatment, produced exuberant granulation tissue, or proud