Research may hold clues about Alzheimer’s Disease - Horses, as mammals, share common ground with humans when it comes to suffering similar conditions. They can get allergies, cancer, blood disorders, cystitis, heart disease, skin tumours, and a variety of other ailments.

Adults with asthma struggle to breathe when they are exposed to dust and allergens. They can exhale without too much difficulty, but their inflamed lungs with narrowed airways make it hard to inhale enough oxygen, and the mucus in their airways leads to coughing.

As horse owners, we are entirely responsible for maintaining the health, safety, and well-being of our animals. This includes protecting our horses against the diseases that have the potential to cause them pain, suffering, or even death. One of the most effective ways that an owner can guard their horse against such a fate is by ensuring an appropriate vaccination program. In the words of Benjamin Franklin, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”

Researchers at the University of Guelph have made an equine breakthrough that can change the health of newborn foals. Led by John Prescott, pathobiology researcher and former professor, the research team identified an uncommon, but deadly bacterium that causes necrotizing enteritis disease in very young foals, and has already created a vaccine for further research. For years, an unknown strain of this intestinal bacterium has been killing foals within the first week of life. Prescott and his team have worked for several years to understand the cause of necrotizing enteritis in foals and recently identified the bacterial agent and its deadly toxin, which they have called NetF.