LEXINGTON — Farm managers and veterinarians across central Kentucky are reporting fewer foal deaths than during the same period last year, when a mysterious illness caused thousands of losses.

        In a statement released Friday, the Equine Industry Task Force reported that there has been a significant reduction in the number of foals and mares affected by the illness, dubbed Mare Reproductive Loss Syndrome.

        “At this time, losses do not appear to be widespread and are significantly less overall than last year,” said the statement, released by the Kentucky Thoroughbred Association.

        In late April 2001, pregnant mares began delivering weak foals that needed days of medical treatment to survive if they lived at all. In the following weeks, hundreds of foals died and thousands of mares lost early-term pregnancies.

        By the time the deaths subsided, about 3.8 percent of the state's 2001 foal crop and a staggering 15 percent of the foals that would have been born on Kentucky farms this spring were lost.

        There had been few reports of the illness reappearing this year until Wednesday, when the Kentucky Association of Equine Practitioners announced that three sickly foals had been admitted to veterinary hospitals in recent days.

        New statistics released by the University of Kentucky's Livestock Disease Diagnos tic Center show that the center has received four dead foals showing signs consistent with those that died last year.

        “There has been some evidence that the syndrome is out there, although it is nothing like what we saw last year,” said Dr. Lenn Harrison, director of the diagnostic center.

        At a task force meeting Thursday night, Dr. Tom Riddle, an equine practitioner with Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital in Lexington, reported finding only five fetal losses in ultrasound checks of 103 mares with pregnancies 42 days or greater between April 26 and May 2.

        During a similar period last year, Dr. Riddle found nine losses in examinations of 69 mares at the same stage of pregnancy.

        Dr. Stuart Brown of Hagyard-Davidson-McGee Associates said he had seen some evidence of fetal loss when making examinations on farms.

        Dan Rosenberg, manager at Three Chimneys Farm in Midway, reported that 106 mares with pregnancies over 40 days all were rechecked this week and all remain in foal.

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