Mortality in horses refers to the incidence and causes of death within equine populations. Understanding mortality is important for assessing health risks, improving management practices, and guiding veterinary care. Various factors contribute to mortality in horses, including age, breed, health status, and environmental conditions. Common causes of death in horses include colic, injury, infectious diseases, and age-related conditions. Mortality rates and patterns can vary significantly depending on the population and geographic location. This page compiles peer-reviewed research studies and scholarly articles that investigate the epidemiology, causes, and trends of mortality in horses, providing insights into preventive measures and management strategies to reduce mortality rates.
is one of the most pathogenic nematodes affecting equids. Larval migration through the cranial mesenteric artery (CMA) with attendant arteritis and thromboembolism can result in fatal non-strangulating intestinal infarction. Once considered a historical disease, recent studies have described the reemergence of this pathogen in several European countries; however, little is known of the current prevalence of in the Canadian horse population. Unassigned: To determine the prevalence of active cranial mesenteric arteritis in horses submitted for postmortem examination to the Diagnostic Services...
Aguirre Siliezar K, Datu C, Proia K, Rotstein D, Nemser SM, Tyson GH, Ragsdale JM, Wilkes RP, Baker RE, Carossino M, Del Piero F, Sasaki E, Yant P....A multi-state outbreak of equine botulism occurred between December 2022 and March 2023 in the United States. Follow-up and testing were performed on 42 horses, including 24 that died or were euthanized in the outbreak that affected ~98 horses. Affected horses had all been exposed to the same commercial feed. Clinical signs included progressive muscle weakness and tremors, recumbency, and colic. No significant gross or microscopic abnormalities were observed on autopsy. Feces and gastrointestinal content were tested for various infectious agents, including botulinum toxin; fecal samples from 2...
K-Jánosi K, Sztojka A, Kis IE, Biksi I, Bakos Z, Kaszab E, Mag T, Albert E.In 2024, a highly fatal outbreak of equine salmonellosis occurred in a Hungarian equine referral hospital, resulting in the death or euthanasia of four out of five affected horses. () subsp. serovar Typhimurium was identified as the primary causative agent from equine faecal, reflux, and post-mortem intestinal content samples, while one case involved Coeln. Extensive environmental sampling during the outbreak also yielded multiple serovars. Whole-genome sequencing revealed a high degree of genetic relatedness among the Typhimurium isolates, confirming nosocomial transmission. The source ...
Hakeem A, Kumar H, Anwer M, Khan AV, Kumar D, Sridhar R, Kumar A, Kumar A.Farm-related head injuries are a significant cause of death and disability in rural households. Traumatic brain injury can result in long-term disability. The use of modern farming equipment has increased in the Indian agricultural sector over the last few decades. Machines such as threshers and winnowing devices can cause open skull fractures or scalp avulsions, while the fall of heavy tools may lead to severe head trauma. Farm animals such as bullocks and horses can also inflict traumatic brain injuries with their pointed horns, through trampling, kicking, or rarely biting. We present a case...
Jochumsen S, Kk Vishram-Nielsen J, Pump BB, Seibæk MB, Bruun NE.Infective endocarditis (IE) is a dreaded disease with a high mortality rate. In Denmark, IE is most often caused by or species. We present a rare case of a 50-year-old woman with a history of a dual-chamber pacemaker due to third-degree atrioventricular block and a mechanical mitral valve inserted due to mitral stenosis. The patient was admitted to the hospital after she was found lying on the floor in her home. The patient was diagnosed with subspecies () prosthetic heart valve IE, which was complicated with meningitis, myocardial infarction, and an increasing vegetation load despite antib...
Hallsten M, Fogle C, Shippy S, Hobbs KJ, Blikslager AT, Elane GL.To describe the sensitivity, specificity, predictive values, and accuracy of abdominal palpation per rectum in horses treated surgically for colic. Unassigned: Medical records were gathered over 5 years (2019 to 2024). Findings of abdominal palpation per rectum were collected and compared to surgical diagnosis, and cases were categorized as true or false positive and negative. Signalment, physical examination parameters, hematologic values, and years of examiner experience were recorded. Unassigned: Records of 453 horses were included. Overall sensitivity and positive predictive value were 86%...
Navas de Solis C, Durando M, Nath L, Durward-Akhurst S.Exercise associated sudden death (EASD), defined as a fatal collapse in a closely monitored and previously presumed clinically healthy horse that occurs during exercise or within approximately 1 h after exercise, is disproportionately more common in equine than in human athletes. Objective: To describe ECGs from EASD cases in Thoroughbred racehorses. Methods: Retrospective case series. Methods: An international call for potential cases was made through direct contact with relevant racing authorities requesting that trainers of horses which had experienced EASD consent to researchers gaining ac...
Dirikolu L, Liu CC, Schaeffer DJ.The objectives of the study were to report the incidence of race-related injuries and equine fatalities in racehorses at the Louisiana racetracks from 2014 to 2022 for both Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse racehorses. Additionally, this study evaluated several factors that may be related to the occurrence of race-related injuries in racehorses in Louisiana. The average rates of equine fatal injuries (euthanized on or off track within 72 h of the race) were 1.70 ± 0.76 and 1.94 ± 0.89 per 1000 starts in Thoroughbred and Quarter racehorses, respectively. The average rates of non-fatal injur...
Romanucci M, Baghini S, Canonici F, Canonici P, Di Luzio Paparatti F, Marruchella G.Neck masses may represent a diagnostic challenge for equine veterinarians, since they may involve different structures with a similar clinical appearance. Whereas neck masses in foals mostly result from non-neoplastic conditions, including various congenital abnormalities, neoplastic cervical masses have been rarely documented. This report describes the unusual case of a rapidly growing neck cancer in a four-month-old colt, resulting in a fatal outcome. Gross and immunohistological findings were most consistent with a poorly differentiated thymic carcinoma with sarcomatoid features and multifo...
