A friend of mine bought 6 mares 3 years ago from someone. Those that were bred, either lost their foals or aborted. She rebred them the next year to her stallion. Again, the mares aborted or foals died shortly after birth. This past spring she again lost the only 2 foals she was to have. One mare was taken to Iowa State Equine facility to foal out. The foal died 1 hour after birth. After many blood, tissue samples and dollars, the vets determined they had herpes. The mares passed it to the foals and also to her stallion. All mares and stallion had to be on antibiotics and flushed out. Next spring she will rebreed and everything should be fine. Has anyone else had this problem or even heard about it? dionne
Herpes
- Thread starter pinck43
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White Socks Miniature
Well-Known Member
I am guessing this is EHV-1 since your friends mares aborted.
It would be a good idea to give the mares pneumabort k+ vaccines at 5,7, and 9 months of gestation to help prevent this also. If your friend shows alot or there is alot of movement of horses at her barn some vets will reccomend a 3 mo. vaccine as well, but that is something to discuss with your vet. EHV is very contagious. I am very sorry your friend had to go through this and that it was not found out earlier.
Herpes virus, like with humans, is with the animal for life. It lies dormant until a period of stress (like pregnancy) and then becomes active. So doing a uterine lavage/will not get rid of the herpes. was there another infection going on?
Also watch the mares for any neuro issues.
Cheers
Masako
It would be a good idea to give the mares pneumabort k+ vaccines at 5,7, and 9 months of gestation to help prevent this also. If your friend shows alot or there is alot of movement of horses at her barn some vets will reccomend a 3 mo. vaccine as well, but that is something to discuss with your vet. EHV is very contagious. I am very sorry your friend had to go through this and that it was not found out earlier.
Herpes virus, like with humans, is with the animal for life. It lies dormant until a period of stress (like pregnancy) and then becomes active. So doing a uterine lavage/will not get rid of the herpes. was there another infection going on?
Also watch the mares for any neuro issues.
Cheers
Masako
Minimor
Well-Known Member
Normally--at least this is what I've always been told, and according to everything I have read in vet books & elsewhere--the rhino virus is shed with the placenta and the foal, making the mare okay to breed back for the next year.
The way rhino works--at least I'm assuming that the herpes you are referring to is rhinopneumonitis--the mare gets infected with it earlier in the pregnancy. Mare may or may not show signs of illness, but the virus then settles in the fetus/placenta, and the mare either aborts late term or delivers a dying foal at full term. By the time the foal is delivered, the mare is no longer infected with the rhino, the virus is only in the placenta and the foal. So, the mare is safe to breed back for the next year.
I know people that have had an abortion storm due to rhino; I don't know anyone that has had foal losses year after year due to rhino. Mind you, many people, after they have a rhino abortion storm with 50-80% losses one year, begin giving the pneumabort-K vaccines at 5, 7 and 9 months, just to make sure that it doesn't ever happen again.
I would have to point out that if antibiotics cleared up your friend's problem, there was something other than herpes going on....herpes is a virus, and antibiotics do not have any effect on a virus.
The way rhino works--at least I'm assuming that the herpes you are referring to is rhinopneumonitis--the mare gets infected with it earlier in the pregnancy. Mare may or may not show signs of illness, but the virus then settles in the fetus/placenta, and the mare either aborts late term or delivers a dying foal at full term. By the time the foal is delivered, the mare is no longer infected with the rhino, the virus is only in the placenta and the foal. So, the mare is safe to breed back for the next year.
I know people that have had an abortion storm due to rhino; I don't know anyone that has had foal losses year after year due to rhino. Mind you, many people, after they have a rhino abortion storm with 50-80% losses one year, begin giving the pneumabort-K vaccines at 5, 7 and 9 months, just to make sure that it doesn't ever happen again.
I would have to point out that if antibiotics cleared up your friend's problem, there was something other than herpes going on....herpes is a virus, and antibiotics do not have any effect on a virus.
Nathan Luszcz
Well-Known Member
This is not what most people think of when they say "herpes". Herpes is a whole class of diseases, ranging from a flu-like bug to the sexually transmitted version. Human STD herpes mirrors the equine STD herpies, and is incurable and with them for life. The same symptoms are present, weaping sores on the genitals. This is, if I remember correctly, EHV-3. EHV-1 is the respiratory version, transmitted through the respiratory route, and as mentioned causes late term abortions. It is beatable by the horse's immune system with no negative effects to the adult, but can kill youngsters and of course aborted fetuses. A stallion does not get it from breeding, unless he gets it through sniffing noses. It is VERY VERY important to vaccinate mares at 5, 7, 9, and sometimes 3 months of pregnancy!! If the mare catches rhino at any time during her pregnancy she can abort late in term. If she gets it in month 6 she will hold it until month 9, and loose her foal. So many people think the vaccine is useless and bad for the horses, but it will save foals. I have given thousands of doses of Pnumabort-K to full sized mares and never had an abortion due to the vaccine.
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