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Why is being born all-white a fatal condition to a Thoroughbred foal?

Question #148479. Asked by gracious1.
Last updated May 24 2021.
Originally posted May 20 2021 3:43 PM.

serpa
Answer has 2 votes
serpa
16 year member
2378 replies

Answer has 2 votes.
The American Paint horse can be born with Lethal White Syndrome. They have white coats and blue eyes but their colons due not work. As the foals usually die within a couple days, they are euthanized.
link https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lethal_white_syndrome

May 20 2021, 4:02 PM
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daver852 star
Answer has 1 vote
daver852 star
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Answer has 1 vote.
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gracious1 star
Answer has 4 votes
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gracious1 star
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89 replies avatar

Answer has 4 votes.

Currently voted the best answer.
Thoroughbreds can be born white, though it is rare. There are two ways it can be fatal to a Thoroughbred. For one, it may be an indication of a particular genetic disorder, called Lethal White Syndrome, which causes a lack of nerve cells in the colon and leads to death by colic in 72 hours if the foal is not euthanized. LWS is more common in American Paint Horses, but it can appear in Thoroughbreds and other breeds of horse. In other cases, if the Thoroughbred embryo has two dominant white alleles (W/W), it will die in utero because of the prevalence of nonsense mutations of the W allele. (Having said that, there have been white Thoroughbreds who had neither condition and survived to adulthood).

link https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominant_white#Lethality
link https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lethal_white_syndrome

May 24 2021, 5:13 PM
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