The University of Kentucky Livestock Disease Diagnostic Center (LDDC) reported today (May 13) that two fetal necropsy cases had findings consistent with mare reproductive loss syndrome (MRLS), the disease that in 2001-2002 in Kentucky caused an estimated $336 in cumulative losses in all breeds of horses.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Eastern tent caterpillars have begun hatching in Central Kentucky, and their population numbers are trending up, the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture has reported.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Experts have reported that eastern tent caterpillars are now wandering and population levels are among the highest they've seen since the 2001, when Mare Reproductive Loss Syndrome hit Central Kentucky particularly hard.
Thursday, May 08, 2008
Experts have reported that Eastern tent caterpillars are developing normally this spring and have just completed the egg hatch stage. Controlling the caterpillars is vital to area horse farms, as University of Kentucky research has strongly linked them with outbreaks of mare reproductive loss syndrome, which can cause late-term foal losses, early-term fetal losses, and weak foals.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Though there aren't indications of widespread high populations of the Eastern tent caterpillar, University of Kentucky officials said its an optimal time for horse farms to assess caterpillar activity and implement control strategies while the larvae are small and most susceptible.
Friday, April 06, 2007
A working group in Central Kentucky has begun an epidemiological study in the wake of 40 cases of equine leptospirosis, a bacterial disease that has resulted in foal loss in some mares.
Wednesday, March 07, 2007
A farm in northern New Jersey experienced high abortion rates in early June in fields where there were Eastern tent caterpillars.
Friday, June 30, 2006
University of Kentucky researchers studying Mare Reproductive Loss Syndrome are concerned that the results of a study by Oregon State University linking vesiviruses, which can affect a wide variety of mammals, to MRLS can be misconstrued.
Monday, June 26, 2006
A $13.5-million appropriation for an expansion of the Livestock Disease Diagnostic Center in Lexington is among the budget line items vetoed by Kentucky Gov. Ernie Fletcher.
Tuesday, April 25, 2006
Central Kentucky horse farms interested in assistance in evaluating their pastures now have access to the Horse Pasture Evaluation Program offered by the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture Department of Plant and Soil Sciences.
Friday, April 14, 2006
More than $15 million for horse industry-related projects and financial relief is included in the 2006-07 budget approved April 11 by the Kentucky General Assembly. The spending plan now goes to Republican Gov. Ernie Fletcher for consideration.
Wednesday, April 12, 2006
An Arabian mare in Marion County, Florida, aborted a 310-day gestation (the foal was born dead) on March 13 that was confirmed as having mare reproductive loss syndrome (MRLS), according to Dr. Dana Zimmel, of the University of Florida's College of Veterinary Medicine.
Monday, April 03, 2006
A second foal has been confirmed as having died from mare reproductive loss syndrome (MRLS) in Florida, according to Dr. Dana Zimmel of the University of Florida's College of Veterinary Medicine.
Saturday, April 01, 2006
One confirmed case and two suspect cases of mare reproductive loss syndrome have been diagnosed in Alachua County, Fla., according to Dr. Dana Zimmel of the University of Florida's College of Veterinary Medicine.
Wednesday, March 29, 2006
Reporter Janet Patton has won the 2005 Media Eclipse Award for writing in the feature or enterprise category for her series of articles in the Lexington
Herald-Leader on racetrack workers and compensation. This is the second Eclipse Award for Patton, an equine and agricultural business writer for the
Herald-Leader since 1998.
Friday, January 06, 2006
A record 15,850 foals were nominated to the Breeders' Cup program in 2004, Breeders' Cup officials said Jan. 13.
Thursday, January 13, 2005
At an open meeting at Keeneland on Tuesday, two entomologists shared their best recommendations for monitoring and reducing the ETC population.
Tuesday, March 30, 2004
From the evolutionary development of the placental layers to Mare Reproductive Loss Syndrome, no topic was left untouched when leading reproductive researchers and practitioners from around the world convened at the Gluck Equine Research Center in Lexington, Ky.
Monday, December 08, 2003
Eastern tent caterpillars, plus bacteria and a means to infect placental fluids with the bacteria, equals mare reproductive loss syndrome. It might be as simple as that.
Monday, September 15, 2003
Eastern tent caterpillars (ETC) caused fetal loss in domestic pigs based on a recent study, according to a press release issued Friday by the University of Kentucky.
Friday, September 05, 2003
Thoroughbred breeders told Kentucky legislators Aug. 21 the state must step up and offer assistance if its signature industry is to stabilize and grow in years to come.
Friday, August 22, 2003
The Jockey Club is projecting a 2004 North American registered Thoroughbred foal crop of 37,200, a marginal increase over 2003 and an indication that the foal crop size has stabilized following the decline in 2002 due to Mare Reproductive Loss Syndrome (MRLS).
Saturday, August 16, 2003
The equine abortion rate in Kentucky fell 48% in 2003 from the previous year based on statistics compiled by the University of Kentucky's Livestock Disease Diagnostic Center.
Thursday, July 10, 2003
Kentucky's equine industry will be the focus June 18 when the recently formed Subcomittee on Horse Farming of the Interim Joint Committee on Agriculture and Natural Resources holds its first meeting.
Sunday, June 15, 2003
Recent research conducted by the University of Kentucky indicates that there is something in or on the exoskeleton (skin and associated structures) of the Eastern tent caterpillar that causes horses to abort.
Wednesday, June 11, 2003
The equine abortion rate in Kentucky is down 48% from a year ago, based on the latest figures released Monday by the University of Kentucky's Livestock Disease Diagnostic Center (LDDC).
Monday, June 09, 2003
Identifying mare reproductive loss syndrome as the culprit, Fasig-Tipton officials said the company would catalogue significantly fewer yearlings this year for its Kentucky select sale. However, the number for the Saratoga select auction will be about the same as in 2002.
Friday, May 30, 2003
The downward trend of equine abortions in Kentucky continued during the third week of May, based on figures released Monday by the University of Kentucky's Livestock Disease Diagnostic Center (LDDC) in Lexington.
Tuesday, May 27, 2003
The Kentucky Agricultural Experiment Station has published the scientific papers from the August 2002 workshop on Mare Reproductive Loss Syndrome, convened at the University of Kentucky's Gluck Equine Research Center.
Tuesday, May 27, 2003
The equine abortion rate in Kentucky continued its downward trend, based on figures released Monday by the University of Kentucky's Livestock Disease Diagnostic Center (LDDC) in Lexington.
Monday, May 12, 2003
In a mock trial held May 2 as part of the National Equine Law Conference in Lexington, a large majority of "jurors" ruled in favor of plaintiffs who filed civil action lawsuits against a farm for damages related to mare reproductive loss syndrome.
Friday, May 02, 2003
The Grayson-Jockey Club Foundation issued an advisory concerning control methods for Eastern Tent Caterpillars, which have been linked to mare reproductive loss syndrome in 2001 and 2002.
Friday, April 04, 2003
Central Kentucky veterinarians Richard Holder and Jim Morehead discussed MRLS and fall fetal loss syndrome at Tuesday's joint meeting of the Kentucky Thoroughbred Farm Managers' Club and the Kentucky Equine Practitioners Association.
Wednesday, April 02, 2003
The number of reported equine abortions in Kentucky declined for the fourth week in a row, based on figures released by the University of Kentucky's Livestock Disease Diagnostic Center (LDDC) on Monday. The latest decrease caused the total for the year to fall below 2002's pace, reversing an upward trend seen earlier in 2003.
Monday, March 10, 2003
Reported equine abortions in Central Kentucky are down for the third week in a row and overall abortions for 2003 are drawing even with the 2002 numbers.
Tuesday, March 04, 2003
For the second week in a row, equine abortions were down in Kentucky, but the cumulative total remained ahead of last year's pace, based on information released by the University of Kentucky's Livestock Disease Diagnostic Center on Feb. 24.
Thursday, February 27, 2003
Through the first seven weeks of the year, the number of equine abortions remained up in Kentucky when compared to 2002.
Friday, February 21, 2003
The number of equine abortions in Central Kentucky remains ahead of last year's pace based on the most recent report issued by the University of Kentucky's Livestock Disease Diagnostic Center on Tuesday.
Tuesday, February 11, 2003
The number of mares bred in Kentucky in 2002 -- the year after mare reproductive loss syndrome first hit -- fell by 3.4% from 2001, but the state's broodmare population remains 33% higher than it was a decade earlier, according to figures released by The Jockey Club.
Monday, February 10, 2003
The results of a survey conducted by the Gluck Equine Research Center showed that a small number of Central Kentucky farms experienced an unusual increase in what is being termed fall fetal loss syndrome (FFLS) during the latter part of 2002.
Sunday, February 09, 2003
Kentucky's horse industry is proceeding with a plan to develop a computerized equine reproductive health monitoring system at the University of Kentucky's Livestock Disease Diagnostic Center (LDDC) after hearing and approving a proposal Monday from a Virginia-based epidemiologist.
Tuesday, February 04, 2003
Equine abortions were down in Kentucky for the first time this year based on the latest weekly report from the University of Kentucky's Livestock Disease Diagnostic Center (LDDC).
Tuesday, February 04, 2003
Because of the proposed link of the Eastern tent caterpillar and Mare Reproductive Loss Syndrome, the Grayson/Jockey Club Research Foundation and the University of Kentucky held an informational session Friday to discuss controlling and eradicating caterpillars.
Saturday, February 01, 2003
The abortion rate in Central Kentucky is up significantly from a year ago. But scientists aren't sure why there has been an increase.
Friday, January 31, 2003
The Kentucky Thoroughbred Association (KTA) is working in conjunction with the University of Kentucky, horsemen, and veterinarians to develop a computer program that would help the equine industry detect health problems like mare reproductive loss syndrome more rapidly.
Friday, January 31, 2003
A discussion of work being performed to help eradicate Eastern tent caterpillars will be held at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky sales pavillion in Lexington, Ky. at 9 a.m. (ET) on Friday, Jan. 31.
Thursday, January 30, 2003
Three days after rival Keeneland announced a one-year hiatus for its select yearling sale in July due to the effects of mare reproductive loss syndrome on the pool of early maturing foals of 2002, Fasig-Tipton Company said it was sticking to its traditional sale dates for Lexington in July and Saratoga Springs, N.Y., in August.
Friday, January 17, 2003
A University of Kentucky entomologist is hoping to soon discover the safest and most effective way to destroy the eastern tent caterpillars believed responsible for the outbreaks of mare reproductive loss syndrome experienced in Kentucky and neighboring states over the last two years.
Thursday, January 16, 2003
The University of Kentucky's Livestock Disease Diagnostic Center reports a slight rise in the number of equine abortions compared to 2002 figures. The report comes less than a week after veterinarians and scientists met for a "Think Tank" meeting on mare reproductive loss syndrome (MRLS).
Wednesday, January 15, 2003
Kentucky's leadership role in breeding excellence may be slipping and too many of the state's legislators fail to understand the importance of the state's Thoroughbred industry, how it works, and who it represents.
Tuesday, January 14, 2003
