The incidence of mortality in newborns is somewhere between 4% and 15% with well over half of those occurring in the first three days. The most common cause of death after birth is infection, usually of the blood and called septicemia. Experience suggests that many of these are preventable through prefoaling and post foaling care. Once ill chances of recovery are only fair and treatment is exhausting and expensive. Prevention is the key. This article discusses symptoms, diagnosis, treatment and prevention of this problem.

It has been long thought that the primary portal of the infection was the navel and the reason for frequent dipping it with antiseptics. Recently this notion has come under question and some feel that the infection gains access to the foal’s blood through the digestive system. Some of the factors which predispose to the development of foal septicemia are:

• Poor mare care (feeding, deworming, vaccination), particularly the last trimester.
• Moving the mare in the last 60 days of gestation.
• Allowing the mare to graze fescue pastures the last 30 days of gestation.
• Poor hygiene in the foaling area, dusty conditions, or a dirty mare.
• Delayed nursing by the foal.
• No post foaling exam of mare and foal.
• No IgG testing done on the foals blood.
• Past foaling problems with infection.

Avoiding this conditions will reduce the incidence of infection in the foal, for more information see:

• Pregnant Mare Care
• New Concepts in Preventing Foal Sepsis
• Post Foaling Care of the Dam and Foal

A high proportion of septicemic foals are infected with Gram-negative bacteria, including:

• E. coli in about 50% of the cases
• Actinobacillus suis-like sp
• Klebsiella pneumoniae
• Actinobacillus equuli
• Enterobacter sp,
• Citrobacter sp,
• Salmonella sp.

50% of septicemic foals have mixed infections with more than one Gram-negative species or with a Gram-negative bacterium along with a Gram-positive species, usually Streptococcus zooepidemicus, Enterococcus sp, or Staphylococcus. Anaerobic bacteria are rarely involved in neonatal septicemia, except secondary to enterocolitis caused by Clostridium perfringens.