Equine leucocyte antigens in sarcoid‐affected horses

Abstract
The distribution of equine leucocyte antigens (ELA) in horses affected by equine sarcoid tumours was determined and compared with unaffected controls. ELA-haplotype W3,B1 occurred more frequently in affected riding horses of Irish, Swiss and French background. The combined data for the three breeds resulted in a χ2 value of 20.35 (P2= 28.69, P<0.00001 after correction). Thus, the results strongly suggest that the predisposition of horses to sarcoid is associated with or linked to the major histocompatibility complex.