I have a friend who is devastated with the early diagnosis from a good equine vet that this dreaded disease is what is causing wobbles in her beloved and valuable 6.5 month pregnant mare. They are waiting for the blood work to confirm what he strongly suspects. Anyone have had this happen? The mare leans on the stall walls so she can sleep, seems afraid to lie down. Symptoms began to appear 10 days ago and progressed to where the mare is Very unsteady. Lame or uncoorinated to a 3 out of 5 if 5 is down and cannot move at all according to the vets analysis.
Gayle, she may want to have her vet contact Dr. Ellison at Pathogenes in FL. They have developed a new treatment for EPM that is currently undergoing challenge trials. It is not FDA approved yet and I do not know if it is safe for pregnant mares, but Dr. Ellison can provide details. There is more info at the Pathogenes web site - www.pathogenes.com.
Good luck, it does sound frighteningly like EPM if the mare is leaning on the walls.
Why on earth would you jump to an unproven treatment that may or may not do anything when the tried and true treatment hasn’t been tried yet? This is life and death, you play around with alternatives when the real treatment fails in my opinion. Get her started on Marquis immediately.
I agree with Laurierace. I would only go with a trial treatment after the available treatments fail, especially because the mare is pregnant.
The mare may quite likely lose this pregnancy.
Jingles.
Well, I can answer your question since it happened to me (or my mare). I do not have any good news for you.
Back in 1999, when EPM was just being researched and you still had to get the treatment from Canada my 4 year old Hanoverian was diagnosed. As a matter of fact, the vet told me later that she was a 4 out of 5 on a ‘bad’ scale and she didn’t think the mare would survive. She was so bad that the week she was at the clinic, no one was allowed to hand-walk her unless the vet was there, in case she went down, or worse.
As I said, this was when the treatments had just come out, were not approved in the US but the vet could call a vet in Canada and get a treatment. So, we got the treatment, 28 days and again, at that time 28 days was the treatment, I would have done it for longer, had I known you could (as some people do now).
The mare was also in foal and aborted at 7 months, I can’t remember if that was during the treatment time or after.
I never rode her after the treatment, even though she wasn’t wobbly or falling down or anything. She was a big mare, by the time she was 5 she probably weighed 1500 pounds. I didn’t want to be on her if she did fall down.
She was a good broodmare for me, I didn’t breed her every year, every other year, but I imagine she would have produced yearly if I bred her every year. She didn’t have any problems foaling. She did have a bit of a problem lying down, her back legs would shake a lot, but it wasn’t extreme.
I put her down a couple of years ago as it seemed that the EPM started taking its’ toll on her, she started getting where she was unsteady on her feet, the summers really were hard for her, so I put her down before one summer started. I think she was about 16 or so, so she did have a long life after the EPM.
I wish your friend a lot of luck, I don’t hold out much hope that the mare will not abort. I would have the vet call that place in FL mentioned above and discuss that treatment also.
SWMorse EPM is always bad news
Well, my friend will NOT try an experimental treatment. The big question is does the faol have the disease so the mare aborts or does the mare abort from the treatment…So, far it looks like one must treat if one can afford it to save the mare for the future.
Do you recall what drug you used? Apparently, the drug of choice now is Marquis and no supplemental Folic acid if they are pregnant in order to avoid birth defects.
I don’t have any experience with this thank God. I wish your friend the best with her mare and foal. Jingling for a good outcome.
Mistake!!!
My friend will NOT try a unproven treament since the research shows that Marquis is not so bad. Its all bad with this disease…sorry, just left an all important word out here.
I experienced an almost identical situation. Broodmare, 7 months pregnant, showed classic, rapid-onset signs of EPM. We started on Marquis which was effective in stemming the progression and helped the mare significantly.
She foaled a healthy, fullterm colt easily. I don’t believe EPM crosses the placental barrier, if memory serves; I’m sure a vet will chime in on that. (I used a therio vet to get through this situation so we were in educated hands.)
Vet was concerned about post-birth complications. Birth is a stressor on bodies, and certain stress can on occasion jumpstart EPM.
Very sadly, my sweet mare’s EPM returned with a vengeance after foaling, and we were unable to save her. Sorry not to be able to offer a happy anecdote, but perhaps my experience can help your friend in some way. 
Ooooh…
I am so sorry to hear about your mare but so glad you got the foal…But, thank you for taking the time to let know.
Please tell me the name of the attending vet. Also, what immune system support therapy you did or not? Some are saying Immunall is good for just about anything. But, yes, foals is a super stressful and always is. How long ago was this? More is known all the time but still it is not a lot and no studies have been done on PG mares so all that is known is clinical data from sources like you.
We have had sudden onset of severe symptoms in mare due in 6 weeks…Our vet has cautioned about the marquis and also temporary use of steriods /dex on her pregnancy. (She had very severe symptoms so we went ahead with all of it.) Any thoughts about the latter?
I will talk more w vet about supplements next week but right now we are just trying to get through the next week without putting mare down. Kinda in shock as she had no ealier symptoms.
TIA
Well I can report one positive out come.
Mare I had sold…diagnosed with EPM about two years later.sudden onset…it was about 12 years ago.
The owner treated her with Marquis; I believe the treatment was fairly new at the time.
The owner did two treatments with no gap in between, it may even been three. Mare couldn’t walk she just leaned on the stall wall, looked dreadful and the attending Vet did not think the mare would live.
Mare got better, foaled out a full term healthy colt. Several years later I bought the mare back open from someone else as her Vet at the time said the mare would not have healthy foals!!
The mare went on to have 4 lovely foals for me, all healthy, full term, with high IG’s.
Martha
Great!!
[QUOTE=pinto power;6200852]
Well I can report one positive out come.
Mare I had sold…diagnosed with EPM about two years later.sudden onset…it was about 12 years ago.
The owner treated her with Marquis; I believe the treatment was fairly new at the time.
The owner did two treatments with no gap in between, it may even been three. Mare couldn’t walk she just leaned on the stall wall, looked dreadful and the attending Vet did not think the mare would live.
Mare got better, foaled out a full term healthy colt. Several years later I bought the mare back open from someone else as her Vet at the time said the mare would not have healthy foals!!
The mare went on to have 4 lovely foals for me, all healthy, full term, with high IG’s.
Martha[/QUOTE]
I love hearing this. Our mare had 3 months of Maquis and she has gone from leaning on the walls to now trotting, cantering and a little bucking for joy! She is 7 years old.
All the reports I have are that Marquis will not harm the foal, but the mare falling while carrying could…also falling after the birth of course or not being able to stand OR afraid to lie down to deliver. I would get her on Marquis pronto. Our mare showed improvement within 48 hours of recieving the treatment and she is steadily improving after 3 months on it. She is off meds now continues to improve in coordination and due to foal in 30 days.
Good luck whatever you decide to do but I would sure get a second opinion. It is a dreadful and dreaded disease.
That is encouraging–she was started on the marquis on Friday night based on a field diagnoses–the blood drawn wont ship out until Monday.
From what I have read, it sounds like the steriod/dex is the most dangerous thing for the pregnancy–but as she had trouble standing friday night I am not sure there was much choice using it on her. I thought we were going to have to euthansize her. She has seemed to improve and at least moves slowly around wo falling–we have had to keep her in a small paddock because she was dangerous to herself and us when she went down in the stall. Secondary concerns is building a make-shift open shelter for her near her girlfriends.
Thanks again.
While I’ve not researched EPM at length, I know that it is somewhat common in my area. A well respected vet always puts them on Tucoprim (sulfa based abx) & a high dose of Evelvate E (natural Vit E) while waiting for confirmation of the dx & Marquis administration. I’ve seen a horses symptoms dramatically improve with this treatment, prior to any Marquis administration. Not saying it will always work, but witnessing the results first hand, I would seriously consider it. I know that no dex was given to this horse, but banamine was administered.
Not sure if that helps, but I hope it does. Good luck.
recovery
Prescirition Vit E and Immunal were also part of the routine for our miraculously recovering mare. She spent most of her time in a 12x20 covered, steel paneled ‘stall’. So, this stall has panels on 2 sides so she can get her head and neck out…in effect making it bigger. We put 36 inches of plywood around the bottom in case she fell down so she would not get caught in the panels. Then she got hand walked to grass and eventually turned out on a grass paddock for 8 hours a day.
An important part of recovery is for the horse to try to move its limbs which stimulates new nerve pathways. My 3 vet team believes that it is just as likely they make new pathways as that the damaged nerves actually repair. But, the high doses of Vit E are to stimulate and support nerve regeneration. Immunal is to help her immune system build itself up to fight the protazoa.
Our mare has imrpoved 1.5 to 2 grades in lameness on the 1-5 scale in 3.5 months. She is still improving. I will keep you all posted. This is a terrible thing to have happen and it is very hard to decide what to do when the fetus is at risk, too. The bad news is it is possible, though not likely the fetus could be infected too. So, I look at as treating both the mare and the fetus…and then pray a lot.
My 1998 mare was also diagnosed with EPM when she was about 6 months pregnant at age 4. She was Grade 2 on most of the neuro tests and Grade 3 on a couple. She was given a grim prognosis for a full recovery and since Marquis was brand new and not labeled for pregnant mares her future was uncertain. Long story, short, we treated with Marquis for 28 days at the normal dose, she relapsed towards the end of the month (die off??) and then we treated at 1.5x dose and added 8,000 I.U. Vitamin E, immune boosting supplements, and a cup of oil to increase the absorption of the Marquis. She foaled a normal filly who did not have EPM.
Her immune system needed to be carefully managed and she could never be paste dewormed and never be vaccinated with combo vaccines–she had skin issues and a low WBC count. She didn’t launch a normal titer or immune response but I was able to take care of her well at my own farm for many years. My mare successfully competed at PSG/I-1 and learned all of the Grand Prix movements. After I was hurt in a serious car accident, she permitted “re-training” to become my para-equestrian/Fourth Level mount. She was always weaker and slower in the left hind leg but no one would have guessed that she had ever had EPM.
Sadly, this past summer, she succumbed to cascading veterinary complications that on the face of things were not related to EPM, but deep in my heart, I know her always-compromised immune system at the end could not fight off the assault her body was under like a normal horse might have. EPM really stinks and I don’t think the protozoan ever truly leaves their system but there is a lot you can do to keep the disease at bay with low stress and immune boosting practices.
I sincerely wish your friend the very best with her mare. Treatment has come a long way and at least it is now known that Marquis IS safe for pregnant mares.
EPM mare update
Interesting that the mare is now 10 months in foal and was turned out in the sand arena for some exersize last week and she cantered (galloped) on both leads for the first time since her symptoms started. She was excited and quite energetic (had not been out in a few days) which probably helped but I swear if you did not know she was ‘off’ you would not have thought she was ‘off’! That day it looked like her average 3 grade lameness had fallen back to a .5 grade or less!!! She is so heavy in foal now and regularly exersized free in the arena she does not volunteer to frisk around that much, or at all. Just prefers to walk and play splash in the puddles. But, it looks like now the lamenes is limited to one hind leg going short in the walk and that is about all that is perceptable. As I said, this heavy in foal we will not ‘run’ her any more than she volunteers so will probably have to wait to see after she foals now due April 30. We are much more hopeful.
[QUOTE=Gayle in Oregon;6237983]
Interesting that the mare is now 10 months in foal and was turned out in the sand arena for some exersize last week and she cantered (galloped) on both leads for the first time since her symptoms started. She was excited and quite energetic (had not been out in a few days) which probably helped but I swear if you did not know she was ‘off’ you would not have thought she was ‘off’! That day it looked like her average 3 grade lameness had fallen back to a .5 grade or less!!! She is so heavy in foal now and regularly exersized free in the arena she does not volunteer to frisk around that much, or at all. Just prefers to walk and play splash in the puddles. But, it looks like now the lamenes is limited to one hind leg going short in the walk and that is about all that is perceptable. As I said, this heavy in foal we will not ‘run’ her any more than she volunteers so will probably have to wait to see after she foals now due April 30. We are much more hopeful.[/QUOTE]
Best of luck to you. I have had good results using Duralactin in addition to Immunall and of course the meds.
http://probioticsmart.com/pets/duralactin-equine-joint-plus.html
It does really seem to help reduce the inflammation caused by the protozoa. I am sure your vet has noted this, but I would definitely treat her through or immediately following foaling. I have found that when it comes back stress induced it can be with a vengeance and I would treat her through that time to be safe – better to keep it at bay rather than play catch up. Good luck for a healthy happy mare and foal.
