The following was released by Craig N. Carter, DVM, MS PhD, DACVPM, Director & Professor, Epidemiology, Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, University of Kentucky:
Inasmuch as we are having a rash of Nocardioform placentitis (NP) cases in Kentucky horses, Dr. Jackie Smith, our epidemiologist, has added some new monitoring on our web site—please see the equine abortion gauges on our home page and our near-real time NP distribution map and graph for the 2019-2020 reproductive season.
See that information here.
We have also been receiving requests for a historical picture of NP going back to 2010. Please follow the link below to see a summary map of all the equine bacterial placentitis cases going back to 2010 followed by a map of our positive PCR Amycolatopsis and/or Crossiela cases. In cases where the foal has been treated with antibiotics, we feel that we are not always detecting these agents.
See that information here.
As you can see, equine placentitis is a fairly common diagnosis each year. However, Anycolatopsis/Crossiela identifications are usually background noise with surges like we are seeing now every five years or so, often associated with drought periods.
We are meeting to discuss a funded initiative to increase our surveillance for NP in the Bluegrass region—we will keep you informed!
