Foot infections are curious things. A reader sent this in and I thought I'd share it because it seemed unusual to me. Perhaps different parts of the world have different types of foot infections; this horse lives in a very wet climate.I know that we have only just begun to learn about immune system disorders in horses and how they may affect the feet. There's new information coming...but there is also much to be gleaned by going back and reading the old books.
It is always said of infections like canker that it affects one horse in 100 and then there is always the story that makes you scratch your head.
The city of Cleveland is said to have had an outbreak of canker in the winter of 1894 that practically shut down public transportation because so many streetcar horses were lame; they blamed it on the salt mixture that was used to melt the snow and ice off the tracks. The city switched to sand the next year and never had a mass lameness problem again.
Hoofcare & Lameness #77 had a special section on foot infections--deep sulcus thrush, canker, pemphigus, insect bites, pastern dermatitis, vasculitis, lymphedema and fungal-type infections of the hoof wall. We're now working with Dr. Knottenbelt at the University of Liverpool on an update of his work on some immune disorders that affect the foot and pastern and hope to have some of his brilliant work to share with you soon.
But in the meantime, please tell me--and other blog readers--more about this foot.
© Fran Jurga and Hoofcare Publishing. No use without permission. You only need to ask. Fran Jurga's Hoof Blog is a between-issues news service for subscribers to Hoofcare and Lameness Journal. This blog may be read online at the blog page, checked via RSS feed, or received via a digest-type email (requires signup in box at top right of blog page). To subscribe to Hoofcare and Lameness (the journal), please visit the main site, www.hoofcare.com, where many educational products and media related to equine lameness and hoof science can be found. Questions or problems with this blog? Send email to blog@hoofcare.com.
