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Author Message
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Wednesday, Apr 12, 2006 - 11:05 am:

One of the long standing native breeds of England, the Fell Pony is noted for its hardiness, courage, adaptability, and good looks. Resembling a very small Friesian, he is docile and popular for riding and well suited for driving. He has been used for jumping and has the ability to trot for long distances at a steady speed. Unfortunately he suffers from a inherited disease is a small number of the population. A brief summary of what is known about Fell Pony SynDrOme is presented here.
DrO
Member:
Warwick

Posted on Wednesday, Apr 12, 2006 - 12:18 pm:

Thanks for the summary, Dr O. Sounds like an awful disease - and no treatment. Yikes.

I remember Fell ponies from when I was a kid living in England. They are super ponies and very attractive. Like all the native British pony breeds, they are incredibly tough and easy to maintain.

I never heard about the Fell Pony SynDrOme when I lived there - do you know if is it something that has developed fairly recently or has it always been there?
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Thursday, Apr 13, 2006 - 6:43 am:

I am uncertain when the disease was first reported Sue. Neither could I find an estimate of the incidence of the disease. The first report in the literature in 1998. It suggests a small incidence but the fact it occurs on a wide spread basis indicates it has been there awhile. However certain breeding patterns may completely blow these thoughts out of the water.
DrO
Member:
Warwick

Posted on Thursday, Apr 13, 2006 - 11:40 am:

Thanks for the update, Dr O. What a bizarre disease.
New Member:
dalespny

Posted on Thursday, Jun 11, 2009 - 5:59 pm:

Hi Dr. Oglesby,

Do you have any additional information on this disease? Unfortunately, there was a case of Foal Immunio Deficiency Disease in a Dales foal in the UK last year (hence the name change). The Dales and the Fell are quite closely related (the Fells developed on the Western side of the Pennines and the Dales on the Eastern side) so we thought it was likely to be found in the Dales but we were hoping to be proved wrong.

If you have any updated information , specifically on what is happening in the US, I would like to hear about it. Thank you.

Kelly
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Friday, Jun 12, 2009 - 7:12 am:

Hello Kelly,
I do not have much additional information on the disease itself. I did find an interesting diagnostic aspect of the disease that I have included in the article though this is not a difficult diagnosis.

As to cases in the US, Cornell reported one several years ago but details are scant and other than that I do not see reports from here.
DrO

PS, I have found this report from a German publication:

Tijdschr Diergeneeskd. 2006 Feb 15;131(4):114-8.
The Fell pony immunodeficiency synDrOme also occurs in the Netherlands: a review and six cases.

Butler CM, Westermann CM, Koeman JP, Sloet van Oldruitenborgh-Oosterbaan MM.

Department of Equine Sciences, Internal Medicine Section, Utrecht University Yalelaan 12, 3584 CM Utrecht, The Netherlands.

Over the last ten years a fatal synDrOme associated with immunodeficiency and severe anaemia has been reported in young Fell pony foals in the UK. Affected foals are usually normal at birth but from the age of 2-4 weeks they progressively lose condition and become severely anaemic. Signs of immunodeficiency become apparent at around 3-4 weeks of age. Morbidity is low but mortality is 100% despite intensive treatment. Affected foals die or are euthanized usually before they reach the age of 3 months. A single autosomal recessive gene is suggested to be on the basis of the synDrOme. Recently, affected Fell pony foals have been identified in the Netherlands and between June 2003 and August 2005, six affected Fell pony foals were referred to the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine for investigation.
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