Fallen stock data: An essential source of information for quantitative knowledge of equine mortality in France.
Authors: Tapprest J, Morignat E, Dornier X, Borey M, Hendrikx P, Ferry B, Calavas D, Sala C
Journal: Equine veterinary journal
Summary
# Fallen Stock Data: An Essential Source of Information for Quantitative Knowledge of Equine Mortality in France Understanding equine mortality patterns at a population level remains surprisingly challenging despite its value for disease surveillance and herd management, yet France has developed a unique opportunity to address this gap through systematic centralisation of rendering plant records. Researchers linked data from the Fallen Stock Data Interchange database (FSDI)—which collects information on all equine carcasses processed through French rendering facilities and managed by the Ministry of Agriculture—with individual horse records held in the SIRE census database (managed by the French horse and riding institute, IFCE), creating the first comprehensive national dataset on equine deaths. This approach enabled detailed epidemiological analysis of mortality patterns across the equine population, revealing causes, age distributions, and geographical variations that would otherwise remain invisible to practitioners and policymakers. For equine professionals, this methodology demonstrates how existing regulatory infrastructure can be repurposed to generate actionable insights into disease prevalence, emerging health threats, and population-level risk factors—supporting everything from targeted preventive medicine strategies to breeding decisions and resource allocation. The findings underscore the critical importance of accurate post-mortem reporting and rendering plant data quality in building robust surveillance systems that ultimately enhance welfare and inform evidence-based practice across the sector.
Read the full abstract on PubMed
Practical Takeaways
- •Mortality surveillance data can inform herd health management decisions and identification of emerging health threats in equine populations
- •Practitioners should be aware that rendering plant records provide valuable epidemiological insights that may not be captured through clinical veterinary records alone
- •Integration of census data with mortality records enables better risk profiling and targeted disease prevention strategies
Key Findings
- •Fallen stock data from rendering plants provides centralised quantitative information on equine mortality in France through the FSDI database
- •Individual equine data are integrated with mortality data through the SIRE census database managed by IFCE
- •Rendering plant data represents an essential and underutilised epidemiological resource for understanding equine mortality patterns