EPIDEMIOLOGY OF EQUINE MOTOR-NEURON DISEASE

Equine motor neuron disease (EMND) is a newly recognized neurodegenera tive disorder of bulbospinal motor neurons in the horse. We conducted a case-control study to identify intrinsic factors associated with the risk of this disorder. Seventy-four cases and 160 controls were assem bled. Controls included horses diagnosed with equine protozoal myeliti s, equine degenerative myeloencephalopathy, and cervical stenotic myel opathy during the same time period as the cases. Logistic regression a nalysis was used to evaluate the association of each hypothesized fact or while simultaneously controlling for the effect of other factors. F actors found to be significantly associated with the risk of the disea se were breed and age of the horse. Quarterhorses are at a higher risk in comparison to other breeds of horse.