Rodococcus Pneumonia

griff · Postby **griff** » Fri Apr 24, 2009 9:48 pm

There are three foals at the farm where my mare and foal are. Two have Rodococcus penumonia and mine, who was given a bag of Hyperimmune plasma at day four, does not.

The Horse.com has an interesting article on foal pneumonia which says that the Rodococcis equi bacteria is every where and while the hyperimmune plasma is expensive it appeards, in my case, to be very cost effective.. I am giving him a second dose at week four[now].

In addition, I suspect you have a better chance of raising a race horse if you keep the lung infections in new borns at a minimum..

griff

majxmom · Postby **majxmom** » Fri Apr 24, 2009 11:16 pm

I had a foal at a farm last year, and it is their policy to give two plasma treatments to every youngster, at a total cost of $600. I really wasn't that happy with it, but since they have so many foals there, I could understand it. Then I went to go pick up my filly, and she was sick with a snotty nose. It wasn't R.pneumonia, but it was a terrible crud. It took me months of SMZ to get rid of it. I sure wish that stuff had worked a little better for $600.

Laurierace · Postby **Laurierace** » Sat Apr 25, 2009 4:00 am

Isn't there a series of vaccines you can give the mare to help prevent this or am I thinking of something else that starts with an R?

madelyn · Postby **madelyn** » Sat Apr 25, 2009 4:15 am

There is a series of Rhino vaccinations you give mares, but that is to prevent abortion, not to immunize the foal.

lindsay_aggie · Postby **lindsay_aggie** » Sat Apr 25, 2009 9:01 am

There is a Rotavirus vaccine series that you give the mare at months 8, 9, and 10. I use the Fort Dodge brand and started just because I worked at a clininc and was afraid that I might take something home with me and rotavirus is terrible. There is no vaccine that I am aware of that you give directly to the foal though, just plasma.

Lindsay

Laurierace · Postby **Laurierace** » Sat Apr 25, 2009 9:47 am

lindsay_aggie wrote:There is a Rotavirus vaccine series that you give the mare at months 8, 9, and 10. I use the Fort Dodge brand and started just because I worked at a clininc and was afraid that I might take something home with me and rotavirus is terrible. There is no vaccine that I am aware of that you give directly to the foal though, just plasma.

Lindsay

That is what I was thinking of, thanks. I had to give this to my mare when she was stabled at Regal Heir years ago.

Crystal · Postby **Crystal** » Sat Apr 25, 2009 11:45 am

Azithromycin/Rifampin paste is the best compound for treating. Having your vet ultrasound their lungs for lesions at about 3 weeks old. 2 Plasmas is also recommended.

griff · Postby **griff** » Sat Apr 25, 2009 3:16 pm

Our vet recommends rifampin & erothomycin.

It'[s a long expensive treatment but you are suppose to still have a race horses when you are through..

I still believe that two $300 doses of plasma at week one and week 3or 4 is the way to go.

griff

Crystal · Postby **Crystal** » Sat Apr 25, 2009 3:30 pm

Roda lives in the ground. It doesn't go away. Once a farm has it, it will get it each spring. Plasma will help, but it' not a cure or a preventitive.

griff · Postby **griff** » Sat Apr 25, 2009 3:43 pm

plasma is not a guarantee your foal will not get Rodococcus but if it does it will be a milder case.. And we have four foals this far, the two that received plasma durning week one do not have Rodococcus and the two that did not get plasma have Rodococcus..

I agree this is not a valid data sample but it's good enough for me and all my foals are going to get ywo doses of plasma. one at week one and the second at week 3 or 4

griff

tinners way · Postby **tinners way** » Sun Apr 26, 2009 9:29 am

You are correct, it does live in the ground, and once a farm has it, you need to be very careful with foaling there. The plasma is the expensive way to go.

We used to go through the plasma treatments, however, for the past 4 years we have had no problem. We made two changes. We no longer foal our mares at the farm we used to, and we reintroduced organic iodine in the diet of the mares. Not one case of pnuemonia in this time. You will not get a vet to endorse this, but at the same time they will not tell you that it will not work. Many old time vets swear by it. For some odd reason it was removed from feed as a common ingredient. Saves a lot of money, and no foals with scarred lungs

griff · Postby **griff** » Sun Apr 26, 2009 3:33 pm

I can understand how moving to a differient farm would do the trick. However, I do not see how iodine given to the dam would build a resistance to the Rodococcus bacteria.

The plasma is expensive [$300 per dose] but it's not as expensive as the treatment and the fact a lot of treated foals survive but never race.

griff

foothillsequine · Postby **foothillsequine** » Sun Apr 26, 2009 7:15 pm

Due to the organism being in the ground/soil, is it possible to sterilize the ground somehow? Just wondering. Apparently it is difficult to get rid of once it occurs?

tinners way · Postby **tinners way** » Sun Apr 26, 2009 8:26 pm

The quote below is from a site called "Letstalkhealth". Iodine is essential for both humans and animals. It was taken out of feeds several years ago, and no one really has a good answer for it. You do have to be careful that you do not cause a build up. We keep it in the feed from January 1 through 90 days of foaling.

"At one time (50 years ago when I was studying for my degree) iodine was literally a magic medicine. It was always used for infections, for pneumonia and bronchitis,"

griff · Postby **griff** » Mon Apr 27, 2009 2:48 am

what kind of iodine dosage do you feed.?/

griff