Epidemiological observations on sarcoids in a population of donkeys (Equus asinus).

An epidemiological study of equine sarcoid in a population of 4126 donkeys showed that the peak incidence of the disease was 15.2 cases per 100 animal-years and occurred in animals in their fourth year of life. The crude incidence of the disease was 0.6 cases per 100 animal-years. The disease occurred most frequently in younger, male animals during their first five years in the population. The lesions were observed most commonly in the paragenital region. Pre-entry quarantine procedures did not appear to play a significant role in the spread of the disease but there was an indication that close in-contact animals were more likely to have sarcoids than animals in the general population. This suggested that a transmissible agent might have been involved in the aetiopathogenesis or that the animals had encountered some event that had predisposed them to the disease.