Page 31 - August/September 2008 The Game

Canada’s Thoroughbred Racing Newspaper
The Game, August/September 2008 31
LAWSONIA INFECTION GETS PERSONAL
You could be excused for not having a nasty little bug called Lawsonia on your radar. As equine diseases go, Lawsonia infections are pretty rare – but that’s beginning to change. And the bad news is On- tario is turning out to be something of a hotbed for the bacteria, which has somehow leapt from targeting swine, hamsters, mice, rats, foxes, and white-tailed deer (among other species) to horses.
the run in a few tense days, though the horse Linda picked up from OVC was a far cry from the slick animal she’d taken to the Royal a couple of weeks earlier. He’d dropped about 75 lbs, she said, had a dull hair coat and looked like he’d been to hell and back, but
Foals four to seven months of age are its usual victims, with freshly weaned animals particularly vulnerable. But Linda relates that the U of Guelph has diagnosed at least two other yearlings with Lawsonia as well as a four-year- old.
problem in this province. “Ontario has seen a surge in the
tions.”
Equine Health
By Karen Briggs
Dave Landry Photo
I was just beginning to read up on “proliferative enteropathy”,
the all-purpose description
for the intestinal infec-
Ordinarily, Lawsonia intracellularis targets younger horses than Riley.
Continued Page 32
tion caused by Lawsonia intracellularis, when I got an e-mail from a friend of mine in Ingersoll, Ontario. She breeds sport horses, and described how an 18-month old Trakehner/ Thoroughbred colt of hers had just been shipped to the University of Guelph’s large animal hospital with
a mysterious infection. Riley had recently returned from having been shown on the line at Toronto’s Royal Winter Fair, and
had suddenly developed “huge edema under his jaw, neck, chin, and swollen lips on the side
of his face”, according to Linda. She’d had him on a course of penicillin on the advice of her veterinarian, but when the prescribed doses were nished the swelling returned, prompt- ing her vet to draw blood. “I took him to OVC yes- terday with extremely low protein in his system,” Linda said. “The vets there were expecting a horse coming to them on his knees, based on the results of the two blood tests sent to them by my vet. His levels were so low, he wasn’t expected to make it to Monday without a plasma infusion.”
On arrival at OVC, Riley was fortunately not on his knees, but he was quickly whisked away into an isola- tion unit and given uids and an ultrasound of his entire abdominal cavity, which revealed a slight enlargement of his intestine and some uid accumula- tion around other organs. A transfusion and some very powerful IV antibiotics
his attitude and appetite had improved and, with continued treatment with oral antibiotics, should be able to regain condition soon.
Henry Staemp i, VetMB, Dipl. ACVIM, professor of Large Animal Medicine at OVC, was quoted this past spring in the American horse-health magazine, The Horse, saying that L. intracellularis seems to be an emerging
number of cases,” said Staemp i. “While L. intracellularis rarely causes death, it is a costly disease to treat and can often go unrecognized for weeks in individual cases, causing weight loss and very low blood protein concentra-
APreciousGem
is awaiting you in this year’s Spring Farm Consignment
Spring Farm, Agent’s Select Sale Consignment:
Hip # 5 Bay Filly by North Light (IRE) - Megan’s Appeal, by Gold Case.
Hip # 17 Chestnut filly by Southern Image - Nine Trumpets, by Forty Niner. Hip # 53 Chestnut Colt by Trust N Luck - Ripples n’ Rays, by Bucksplasher. Hip # 67 Chestnut Colt by Pure Prize - Seduction, by Vice Regent.
Hip # 70 Chestnut Colt by Tejano Run - Shahra, by Shahrastani.
Hip # 73 Bay Colt by Langfuhr - Show Special, by Smarten.
Hip # 74 Chestnut Colt by Langfuhr - Signs of Glory, by Southern Halo. Hip # 124 Chestnut Colt by Rahy - Aerial Ballet, by Kingmambo.
Hip # 133 Bay Filly by Langfuhr - Awesome Lass, by Awesome Again.
Hip # 201 Chestnut Filly by Mutakddim - Golden Path, by Slew o’ Gold.
Hip # 203 Dk Bay/Br. Filly by Where’s the Ring - Harvest Road, by Briartic.
Spring Farm, Agent’s Preferred Sale Consignment:
Hip # 253 Gray/Roan Colt by Najran - Nursery Song, by Beau Genius
Hip # 317 Chestnut Filly by Elajjud - Sweetest Momma, by Full Pocket
Hip # 354 Chestnut Filly by Wando - Attraction Fatale, by Dauphin Fabuleux Hip # 408 Bay Colt by Tejano Run - Explo Royale, by Explodent
Hip # 461 Bay Filly by Trust N Luck - Langling, by Langfuhr
Spring Farm
Dr. & Mrs. J.P. Brown Tel: 519-225-2845 • Fax: 519-225-2158 RR#3 Granton, ON N0M 1V0
had the infection and the accompanying edema on
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7/29/08 4:07:53 AM