A COMPARISON OF THE ECONOMIC COSTS OF EQUINE LAMENESS, COLIC, AND EQUINE PROTOZOAL MYELOENCEPHALITIS (EPM)

_Analysis of data from the NAHMS Equine ’98 survey has lead to estimates of the percent of the US horse population which is affected annually with lameness, colic, and EPM. In the case of lameness and EPM, these estimates as well as the cost data described below were obtained by asking questions related to the last cases of lameness and EPM which occurred on the operation being surveyed. Asking participants for detailed information on the last case which had occurred on the operation was expected to yield higher quality data than expecting recall of multiple events. For colic, the estimates are based on data recorded on every colic case observed on the operation over the course of a one year period at the time the colic occurred. _ _The value of death loss was calculated as the affected population of horses greater than six months of age times the weighted average number of events which ended in death times the average sales value of a horse in the US during 1998 (Figure 1).