Frequency and causes of death in thoroughbred horses in the racetrack “La Rinconada” Caracas, Venezuela
Abstract
The objective of this study was to describe the frequency and causes of sudden death or euthanasia of racing Thoroughbred horses from the Racetrack “La Rinconada” in Caracas, Venezuela in the year 2009. Cases were investigated by performing haematological and biochemical blood tests, necropsy and bacteriological and histopathological analysis. The number of cases was 129 cases including 69 horses and 60 mares, which represented a 7% (129/1900) fatality rate with an average of 11 fatalities per month. Among the causes of death, 40% (51/129) were the result of limb fractures, 39% (50/129) from acute abdominal crisis, 13% (17/129) associated to infections, 5% (6/129) from hypersensitivity reactions following the administration of pharmaceuticals and 4% (5/129) from exercise-induced lung hemorrhage. Limb fractures occurred more frequently in the left forelimb (40%), followed by the right forelimb (29%), left hind limb (4%) and right hind limb (4%) and 23% of fractures occurred affected the skull. Bacteria isolated from the 17 infectious case fatalities included Escherichia coli (12/17), Proteus mirabilis (2/17), Klebsiella (1/17), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (1/17) and Streptococcus equi subspecies zooepidemicus (1/17).Downloads
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