With the coming of spring, comes foaling. One tragic sidebar to all the activity of new life is the sudden and unexpected death of a newborn foal.
The causes are many, as life is fragile in the first days after birth. One cause identified by researchers is an organism called clostridium perfringens, which produces a deadly toxin usually fatal in neonatals.
The c. perfringens toxin typically attacks the gastrointestinal system of a foal. Symptoms include abdominal pain, often bloody diarrhea, toxemia, shock and death. Although the condition is sporadic, its effects can be devastating. Mortality is high, with most foals perishing within 24 hours of clinical signs.
According to the University of Kentucky Livestock Disease Diagnostic Center, which receives and treats stricken foals, the incident of death from c. perfringens toxin is rising. In 1999, the center had three cases. There were eight in 2000 and six in 2001. Except in one case, where the foal was seven weeks old, the fatal cases ranged from ages 1 day to two weeks old. The average age was 3.2 days. The center said the foals were either found dead or died after a short period of time. Depression, toxemia and diarrhea were the common symptoms.
A necropsy revealed the same findings: dehydration, blanching or congestion of the intestinal tract, bleeding and bloody intestinal content. Under a microscope, researchers saw dead cells of the intestinal lining, both in the small and large intestines.
The problem of dealing with c. perfringens toxin death is that c. perfringens is part of the normal flora of a horse's intestines. It's also found everywhere in a horse's environment. But, for some reason, an overgrowth of c. perfringens occurs in the young foals' gastrointestinal tracts, which releases lethal amounts of toxins. Another theory is that some foals are unable to purge their systems of c. perfringens toxins or that the foal may be hypersensitive to c. perfringens toxins.
Whatever the case, the above mentioned symptoms in a new foal are serious and require the immediate attention of a veterinarian.
