Equine

National Report - Investigators tracing a wide-ranging outbreak of contagious equine metritis (CEM) made important discoveries and took steps to halt the infectious reproductive disease, but after nearly two months the origin remains elusive and quarantines and testings continue.

Washington - It took three veterinarians and a dozen other workers two hours to free a 10-year-old horse at the start of the inauguration parade Jan. 20.

Bismarck, N.D. -- The nation's last three horse slaughterhouses closed in 2007, but a new one could be built in North Dakota, depending on the outcome of a feasibility study requested by two state legislators.

Fort Collins, Colo. -- A blood test that can show whether a horse has minor bone damage long before it develops into more serious problems shows a high success rate in tests and should be coming to the market soon.

Baton Rouge, La. -- A barn at the New Orleans Fair Grounds Race Course was placed under quarantine Dec. 26 after two horses tested positive for the equine herpes virus (EHV-1).

Columbus, Ohio -- For more than 12 years, Dr. James Belknap has lead the way in laminitis research. His work is being rewarded with more work in the form of an $82,000 grant to continue his research on laminitis.

National report -- Four confirmed cases of contagious equine metritis (CEM) in Kentucky last month triggered an investigation that so far involves all but 12 states, according to the USDA's Animal and Plant Health inspection Service (APHIS).

College Station, Texas - Veterinary medicine is changing, and Texas A&M University's College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences' new dean Dr. Eleanor M. Green, is ready to address that change.

Millsboro, Del. - Intervet/Schering-Plough Animal Health and the American Association of Equine Practitioners are launching a nonprofit program that will provide vaccines to qualified equine rescue and retirement facilities nationwide.

Davis, Calif. - A faculty organization at the University of California-Davis has come up with a proposal for dealing with unwanted horses and intends to create a template that communities anywhere in the country could follow.

Reno, Nev. - Thousands of unadoptable wild horses in U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) holding facilities could be saved from possible euthanasia or slaughter if the agency decides to accept an offer for a sanctuary.

You want to believe. You really do. And there are many well-known horsemen, doctors, physicists and PhD's telling you that you should.

There are tens of thousands of them across the nation. And their numbers are growing at an alarming rate.

Lexington, Ky. -- State officials are asking the U.S. Department of Agriculture to declare a state of emergency in Kentucky following the discovery of three cases of contagious equine metritis (CEM), a venereal disease that causes infertility in mares.

What can be done about the growing problem of unwanted and abandoned horses in America?

The modes of transportation for equine veterinarians are changing. Take a look through the decades.

Lexington, Ky. - A retrospective study of 57 horses treated for proliferative enteropathy aims to help equine practitioners make a timely diagnosis.

Thousands of horses in U.S. Bureau of Land Management holding facilities could be saved if the agency decides to accept an offer from Madeleine Pickens, wife of Texas billionaire T. Boone Pickens.

Pocatello, Idaho -- A recent televsion news series about Idaho's toughest jobs from KPVI-TV -- an NBC affiliate here -- featured mixed-animal veterinarian Dave Stanley.

A spate of natural diasters - hurricanes, tornadoes, flood, wildfires and earthquakes - have impacted veterinary practices in many parts of the country this year.

Leesburg, Va. -- The Marion duPont Scott Equine Medical Center's new laboratory at Virginia Tech opened earlier this fall and researchers already are working on tendon and ligament regeneration that would help patients heal more quickly and bring back ligament and tendon elasticity.

Austin, Texas -- Creating a bank of stem cells genetically matched to individual horses is the goal of a newly announced partnership between Austin-based Viagen Inc. and the Monash Institute of Melbourne, Australia.

Reno, Nev. -- Thousands of unadoptable wild horses in U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) holding facilities could be saved from possible euthanasia or slaughter if the agency decides to accept an offer from Madeleine Pickens, wife of Texas billionaire T. Boone Pickens, to create a preserve where the horses could live out their lives.

Tallahassee, Fla. -- No horses that tested positive for piroplasmosis during a nearly two-month investigation remain on Florida premises, the state's Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services announced, although six properties remain under quarantine.

Brussels -- The European Union's (EU) Veterinary Week 2008 kicks off today.

New York - New York is the latest state to adopt a tougher stance on steroid use in racehorses.

Lexington, Ky. - Another key organization within the horse-racing industry is joining a growing movement toward reform.

New York - A Congressional panel earlier this year questioned whether the nation's horse racing industry had the will and ability to regulate itself or whether government intervention would be necessary.