Naked Foal Syndrome (NFS)
Gene or Region: ST14
Reference Variant: G
Mutant Variant: T
Affected Breeds: Akhal Teke
Research Confidence: Moderate confidence, strong correlation in larger studies
Explanation of Results: nfs/nfs = homozygous for Naked Foal Syndrome, trait likely expressed/likely lethal nfs/n = heterozygous for Naked Foal Syndrome, carrier n/n = no variant detected
General Description for Naked Foal Syndrome
Naked Foal Syndrome (NFS) is a recessive genetic disorder resulting in the birth of foals with little to no hair and a general weakness with death occurring early in life (weeks to months).
References
Bauer, A., Hiemesch, T., Jagannathan, V., Neuditschko, M., Bachmann, I., Rieder, S., Mikko, S., Penedo, M. C., Tarasova, N., Vitková, M., Sirtori, N., Roccabianca, P., Leeb, T., & Welle, M. M. (2017). A Nonsense Variant in the ST14 Gene in Akhal-Teke Horses with Naked Foal Syndrome. G3 (Bethesda), 7(4), 1315-1321. doi: 10.1534/g3.117.039511
More Horse Health
Severe Combined Immunodeficiency
Severe Combined Immunodeficiency Disease (SCID) is a condition in which affected foals are unable to mount an effective immune response after infection and are unable to recover from infections that unaffected foals would easily resist. The disease is universally fatal in horses, usually within 4-6 months of life.
West Nile Virus Symptom Susceptibility / Risk
West Nile Virus (WNV) is a mosquito-borne virus that can infect multiple types of mammals, including horses. Infection can lead to a series of severe symptoms, most commonly encephalitis – acute inflammation of the brain. Severe neurological symptoms develop in ~8% of exposed horses, and once symptoms manifest, the fatality rate ranges from 20-40% and is higher in older horses.