Interesting case report in this month's (August) EQUUS magazine.
 
A six-year old Thoroughbred stallion started losing weight.  Despite being 
fed a high-calorie diet, and being dewormed, vaccinated, having his teeth 
floated, he still dropped weight.  Then he developed muscle tremors and had 
difficulty walking.
 
He was taken to Purdue, where one vet first suspected EPM, or wobbler's 
syndrome.  Another thought it might be EMND.  They put the stallion through a 
battery of neurological tests, did a spinal tap, and requested blood testing 
for insecticide poisoning.
 
Another young horse on the same farm was showing signs of weight loss and  
incoordination.  While the first horse was being tested, his condition 
worsened enough that he, too, was brought into the hospital.  The vets had 
two weak, trembling, emaciated horses on her hands, and no answers to the 
problem.  Clean spinal fluid, no exposure to pesticides, nothing.
 
Anybody want to guess what the culprit turned out to be?
 
Lead poisoning!  The vets were fooled because horses are fussy eaters and 
don't have a problem anywhere near as bad as cows, where lead poisoning is 
common.  And the horses weren't presenting with all the symptoms the vets 
expected, such as difficulty swallowing.
 
Turns out that only 40 percent of affected horses show "typical" symptoms. 
 The other 60 percent show signs as varied as laminitis or colic, 
or even die suddenly and mysteriously.
 
The two affected horses were confirmed cribbers and wood chewers, and had 
been turned out in a back pasture for years which had a windbreak fashioned 
from a pair of old barn doors.  The paint on the doors was cracked and 
peeling, and tests revealed that it contained almost twice the amount of lead 
that current regulations allow.
 
The horses were treated promptly, but even after a year, have not gained a 
full recovery.  Both still have tremors when they are excited, and neither is 
up to full weight.  They have not been able to return to training, and have 
been given early retirement in a lead-free pasture. 
 One of the vets is quoted as saying "We don't know what the long-
term effects will be."
 
--- Opus-CBCS 1.73a
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