Researchers unearth county colic risk

A particular gastrointestinal disorder, which causes colic, or abdominal pain, in horses, is more prevalent in Lancashire compared with other nearby counties, according to researchers at Lancaster University and the University of Liverpool. They have also found that Idiopathic Focal Eosinophilic Enteritis (IFEE), lesions causing an obstruction in a horse's small intestine, is actually seasonal and occurs more often in younger horses. The findings emerged from a collaborative study between Lancaster University statisticians Dr Deborah Costain and Dr Chris Sherlock and equine specialist Professor Debra Archer from the University of Liverpool and have recently been published in the journal Plos ONE. The study used data from horses and ponies admitted over a ten-year period to the University of Liverpool's Philip Leverhulme Equine Hospital for exploratory examinations to investigate the cause of colic. Of these, 85 were IFEE cases and, for the study, a further 848 subjects were selected at random from those without IFEE. The cause of IFEE is currently unknown and the aim of the study was to examine the effects of age, time of year and geographical location on the risk of the condition. The data analysis used advanced techniques in spatial statistics, a particular specialism of Lancaster University.