Search Results
You are looking at 1 - 5 of 5 items for
- Author or Editor: Vincent J. Carey x
- Refine by Access: All Content x
Abstract
Objective—To characterize the temporality of dates of breeding and abortion classified as mare reproductive loss syndrome (MRLS) among mares with abortions during early gestation.
Animals—2,314 mares confirmed pregnant at approximately 28 days after breeding from 36 farms in central Kentucky, including 515 mares that had earlyterm abortions.
Procedure—Farm veterinarians and managers were interviewed to obtain data for each mare that was known to be pregnant to determine pregnancy status, breeding date, last date known to be pregnant, and date of abortion.
Results—Mares bred prior to April 1, 2001, appeared to be at greatest risk of early-term abortion, both among and within individual farms. Mares bred in mid-February appeared to be at greatest risk of abortion, with an estimated weekly incidence rate of abortion of 66% (95% CI, 52% to 80%).
Conclusions and Clinical Relevance—Mares in central Kentucky bred between mid-February and early March were observed to be at greatest risk of early-term abortion, and risk gradually decreased to a background incidence of abortion of approximately 11%. Mares bred after April 1, 2001, appeared to be at markedly less risk, indicating that exposure to the cause of MRLS likely occurred prior to this date. (Am J Vet Res 2005;66:1792–1797)
Objective
To estimate the relative risk of injury among horses deemed to be at increased risk of injury on the basis of prerace physical inspection findings and to examine the association of injury during races with race-related characteristics.
Design
Cohort study.
Animals
2,187 Thoroughbred horses that started 3,227 races in Kentucky.
Procedure
All race starts for which a horse was deemed to be at increased risk of injury on the basis of prerace physical inspection findings and a random sample of race starts for which horses were not deemed at increased risk of injury were included in the study. Findings of prerace physical inspection, racerelated characteristics, and outcome of the race (race results and whether the horse incurred an injury) were recorded for each race start. Race starts in which a horse incurred an injury during a race were compared with race starts in which injuries were not incurred to identify factors associated with injury during races.
Results
Abnormality of the suspensory ligament of the forelimbs detected during prerace physical inspection, racetrack, class of race (claiming race ≤ $25,000 vs other classes), and distance of race (< 7 furlongs vs other distances) were significantly associated with increased risk of injury.
Conclusions and Clinical Relevance
Prerace physical inspection findings, particularly abnormalities of the suspensory ligament, may be used to identify horses at increased risk of injury during races. Rate of injury differed among racetracks, and horses in certain types of races (lower-priced claiming races and races of shorter distance) may be at increased risk of injury during races. (J Am Vet Med Assoc 1999;215:654–661)
Abstract
Objective—To identify factors significantly associated with an epidemic of fibrinous pericarditis during spring 2001 among horses in central Kentucky.
Design—Case-control study.
Animals—38 horses with fibrinous pericarditis and 30 control horses examined for other reasons.
Procedure—A questionnaire was developed to solicit information regarding a wide range of management practices and environmental exposures from farm owners or managers.
Results—The following factors were found in bivariate analyses to be significantly associated with an increased risk of pericarditis: being from a farm with mares and foals affected by mare reproductive loss syndrome, exposure to Eastern tent caterpillars in or around horse pastures, younger age, shorter duration of residence in Kentucky and at the farm of current residence, being fed hay grown outside Kentucky, a lack of access to pond water, access to orchard grass for grazing, and a lack of direct contact with cattle. In multivariate logistic regression analyses, only variables related to caterpillar exposure and age were significantly associated with fibrinous pericarditis.
Conclusions and Clinical Relevance—Results suggest that fibrinous pericarditis in horses may be associated with mare reproductive loss syndrome. Exposure to Eastern tent caterpillars was the greatest risk factor for development of fibrinous pericarditis. The distribution of times of diagnosis of fibrinous pericarditis was consistent with a point-source epidemic. (J Am Vet Med Assoc 2003;223:832–838)
Abstract
Objective—To identify factors associated with abortions of mares during late gestation attributed to mare reproductive loss syndrome (MRLS).
Design—Case-control study.
Animals—282 broodmares from 62 farms in central Kentucky, including 137 mares that had late-term abortions (LTAs) associated with MRLS, 98 mares from the same farms that did not abort, and 48 mares that aborted from causes other than MRLS.
Procedure—Farm managers were interviewed to obtain data on a wide range of management practices and environmental exposures for the mares. Data for case and control horses were compared to identify risk factors for a mare having a MRLS-associated LTA (MRLS-LTA).
Results—Several factors increased the risk of mares having MRLS-LTAs, including increased amount of time at pasture, less time in a stall, feeding concentrate on the ground, higher proportion of diet derived from grazing pasture, being fed in pasture exclusively during the 4-week period prior to abortion, access to pasture after midnight during the 4-week period prior to abortion, and drinking from a water trough or not having access to water buckets or automatic waterers.
Conclusions and Clinical Relevance—Analysis indicates that exposure to pasture predisposed mares to having MRLS-LTAs and stillborn foals. Methods for limiting exposure to pasture (keeping mares in stalls longer) during environmental conditions similar to those seen in 2001 should reduce the risk of mares having MRLS-LTAs. (J Am Vet Med Assoc 2003;222:199–209)
Abstract
Objective—To identify factors associated with abortions during early gestation classified as mare reproductive loss syndrome (MRLS).
Design—Case-control study.
Animals—324 broodmares from 43 farms in central Kentucky, including 121 mares from 25 farms that had early-term abortions (ETAs) associated with MRLS (case horses), 120 mares from the same farms but that did not abort, and 83 mares from 18 farms that were not severely impacted by MRLS.
Procedure—Farm managers were interviewed to obtain data on various management practices and environmental exposures for the mares. Data for case and control horses were compared to identify risk factors for mares having MRLS-associated ETAs.
Results—Several factors increased the risk of MRLS-associated ETAs, including feeding hay in pasture, greater than usual amounts of white clover in pastures, more eastern tent caterpillars in pastures, abortion during a previous pregnancy, and sighting deer or elk on the premises.
Conclusions and Clinical Relevance—Analysis indicates that certain characteristics of pastures predisposed mares to MRLS-associated ETAs. Methods for limiting exposure to pasture (keeping mares in stalls longer) during environmental conditions similar to those of 2001 (ie, sudden freezing in mid-April following warmer-than-usual springtime temperatures and larger-than-usual numbers of eastern tent caterpillars in and around pastures) should reduce the risk of mares having MRLS-associated ETAs. It was not possible to determine whether exposure to white clover or caterpillars were causal factors for MRLS or were merely indicators of unusual environmental conditions that resulted in exposure of mares to a toxic or infectious agent. (J Am Vet Med Assoc 2003;222:210–217)
