Central Kentucky equine abortion accessions so far in 2005 do not indicate mare reproductive loss syndrome (MRLS). The University of Kentucky’s Livestock Disease Diagnostic Center (LDDC) is posting the number of abortion accessions of all breeds weekly along with comparisons to totals from 2004. MRLS struck horses in several states (including Kentucky) and Canada in 2001 and 2002. The problems associated with the syndrome were late gestation foal loss, birth of weak foals, early fetal loss, pericarditis (heart problems), and uveitis (eye problems).

Neil Williams, DVM, PhD, Dipl. ACVP, associate professor at the University of Kentucky, a boarded veterinary pathologist who works at the LDDC, said, “We have seen no abnormal increase or clusters of abortions. The lesions seen in fetuses this season and the bacteria isolated from these fetuses bear no resemblance to MRLS