[Incidence and mortality of common neonatal diseases in the foal during the first 10 days post natum in a veterinary hospital].

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study was to present the incidence and lethality of diseases in foals during the first 10 days following birth by analyzing patient data.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

Over a period of 6 years, patient data from 393 foals, that had been presented within the first 10 days after birth in a hospital, were evaluated. The number of diseases, the sex of the affected foals and the lethality were documented.

RESULTS

A total of 28 diseases were diagnosed, with systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS), meconium impaction and bronchopneumonia being the most frequent diagnoses. The mortality rate for SIRS was 41.8%, for meconium impaction 29.7% and for bronchopneumonia 37.9%. The mean time of death for patients with SIRS was 4.2   ±   2.9 days, for patients with meconium impaction 4.6 ± 3.2 days and for foals suffering from bronchopneumonia 5.2    ±   3.5 days post partum.

CONCLUSION AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE

Based on the data collection, the frequency and thus the importance of individual disease patterns can be deduced. The information on lethality helps to make predictions for the prognosis of the most common neonatal foal diseases based on first diagnosis.