Horsesickness hits
2007-03-29
VETERINARY surgeons are being run off their feet in Drakenstein, attending to calls from anxious horse owners after a death due to African Horse Sickness.
This follows the death of a four-year-old mare on an Arabian stud farm near the Berg River in Simondium on 16 March. She dropped in the paddock, experienced respiratory problems and died within hours.
Laboratory tests on blood, spleen and lung samples last week confirmed the cause as being the dreaded horse sickness.
Exporting of horses was immediately banned and strict measures for transportation of horses, donkeys, mules and zebras were introduced.
The news spread like wildfire and fear for the safety of their horses had owners summoning veterinary surgeons to administer booster injections.
This is the first case of horse sickness reported in the local observation zone since 2004. The results of samples taken from several other horses who had died recently, are being awaited.
State veterinary surgeons have called for cases of suspicious deaths to be reported without fail.
Meanwhile a ban has been placed on all equine movement through or from the magisterial districts of Paarl and Stellenbosch.
Traffic on the N1 is excluded from the ban from 09:00 to 17:00, on condition that horses are not taken on board or off-loaded.
A permit, now necessary for any equine transport, can be obtained from a state veterinary surgeon.
Inoculation is currently compulsory for horses in the high-risk areas of Simondium, Franschhoek and Paarl. All horses who have not been vaccinated during the past 12 months, need to be injected.
According to Dr Pieter Koen, state vet, all local veterinary surgeons have been put on alert and vaccine has been distributed throughout the area.
Foals are now inoculated at four months instead of two months later. In mature horses the stronger of the two doses of vaccine, administered within 21 days of each other, are now administered first to spead up immunity.
“Pro-active measures might just prevent the dreaded two-year ban on the export of horses,” Dr Koen said.
For more information, contact Dr Gary Bührman at 021-808-5026.
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