Equibrit
Well-Known Member
Why are DEFRA announcing that they will have to cull most horses in the UK if this disease arrives, instead of instituting a vaccination protocol ?
African Horse Sickness;
- Thread starter Equibrit
- Start date
spaniel
Well-Known Member
A question a lot of us are asking!
Id love to hear them answer that one.
Id love to hear them answer that one.
vennessa
Well-Known Member
I m going to the seminar and hopefully there will be a questions and answers.
wombat
Well-Known Member
how and why wot is the point.... and that we would only be given £1 compensation , no matter how much the animal is worth????
like to see them take my lot away...
its made me feel sick.. and worried...
like to see them take my lot away...
its made me feel sick.. and worried...
Sprout
Well-Known Member
Is this more media scare mongering or a real threat?
vennessa
Well-Known Member
[ QUOTE ]
Is this more media scare mongering or a real threat?
[/ QUOTE ]
I think this is why we need to know the facts. I am a lecture/seminar bug and organise them myself anyway so will find this interesting. I think we just need to get to know the facts so we know where we stand and how to voice our thoughts should the need arise in a proper manner.
One of our lecturers is a prof and i am sure he is a whizz on this and is often in Africa. I am going to find his number and ask his thoughts. Will let everyone know.
Is this more media scare mongering or a real threat?
[/ QUOTE ]
I think this is why we need to know the facts. I am a lecture/seminar bug and organise them myself anyway so will find this interesting. I think we just need to get to know the facts so we know where we stand and how to voice our thoughts should the need arise in a proper manner.
One of our lecturers is a prof and i am sure he is a whizz on this and is often in Africa. I am going to find his number and ask his thoughts. Will let everyone know.
Laafet
Well-Known Member
Our South African farrier was telling us all about this horrible disease, I think that with the arrival of Blue Tongue they are expecting AHS to arrive next in the UK. Apparently it is horrendous to see, our farrier said that they used marijuarna to calm the symptons and help the horses recover. I don't think that our government would let us do that!
Equibrit
Well-Known Member
A good place to start your research; http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/index.jsp?cfile=htm/bc/52600.htm
vennessa
Well-Known Member
Does anyone else feel like covering their whole horsey area in mosquito netting?
spaniel
Well-Known Member
It may put minds at rest a bit to look at when and where the latest outbreaks have occured and to investigate the general prevailing wind directions from those sites.
IMO this is scaremongering. Exactly the same thing happened with WNV and we are all still waiting.
IMO this is scaremongering. Exactly the same thing happened with WNV and we are all still waiting.
bex1984
Well-Known Member
Weezy put an interesting post in NL about AHS earlier this week...hope this link works: http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/forums/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/2991762/page/0/fpart/1/vc/1
imafluffybunny
Well-Known Member
God that is awful, I work Defra so will try and find out more details.
Although, before everyone panics, remember a few years ago we were all going to die of bird flu..................
Although, before everyone panics, remember a few years ago we were all going to die of bird flu..................
oofadoofa
Well-Known Member
I saw an article about this a month or so a go in a local riding magazine. It was actually an advertorial from a company selling fly repellant. It seemed to me that they were trying to frighten us all into buying their products.
FinkleyAlex
Well-Known Member
surely we don't have the right climate for this yet? Perhaps in a few years but right now I wouldn't say we had a particularly hot, dry climate after heavy rain?
Rona
New User
We used to say we didn't have the right climate for Bluetongue but a couple of years ago the virus suddenly adapted to being carried by the northern type midge and now we have the disease. Thats what will almost certainly happen with AHS and why we should worry. It might take a few years if we are lucky.
Hopefully it will creep in slowly like Bluetongue and give time for the vaccines to be developed and licensed for the UK The vaccines used in other countries are mostly live ones and not suitable for use where the disease isn't yet endemic. Also there are 9 different subtypes of AHS and we would have to make sure we were vaccinating against the one/ones that arrive here so there's probably not a lot of chance of vaccinating before it arrives.
It is only the infected horses that would be culled NOT ones in contact with them. They would have blood tests to prove they were clear. That's another problem with vaccination - it can interfere with tests for the virus so we would have to use a 'marker' vaccine in the UK. The Animal Health Trust and others are working on these vaccines now.
An infected horse can't pass AHS directly on to another one. It has to be 'injected' into the horse by an infected midge. That's why you would get horses seemingly at random affected in a yard, not necessarily the ones next to each other - not like Foot and Mouth which passes fast from one animal to the next (hence the culling of 'in contact' animals)
If I had a yard with an infected horse I would have to accept it would be put down but I would fight like mad to save the others. I would shut its stable door and make sure it was taken asap and then fly spray its stable and all others. I would shut all horses in and hang permethrin soaked mesh over the doors. i would spray the muck heap and get it taken away asap and spray anywhere else that midges lurk, bushes etc and I would go on doing that for three or four weeks.
I think we have to take this seriously, not panic, and realise that there ARE a lot of people out there who know what they are talking about and working hard to make plans to control AHS.
Hopefully it will creep in slowly like Bluetongue and give time for the vaccines to be developed and licensed for the UK The vaccines used in other countries are mostly live ones and not suitable for use where the disease isn't yet endemic. Also there are 9 different subtypes of AHS and we would have to make sure we were vaccinating against the one/ones that arrive here so there's probably not a lot of chance of vaccinating before it arrives.
It is only the infected horses that would be culled NOT ones in contact with them. They would have blood tests to prove they were clear. That's another problem with vaccination - it can interfere with tests for the virus so we would have to use a 'marker' vaccine in the UK. The Animal Health Trust and others are working on these vaccines now.
An infected horse can't pass AHS directly on to another one. It has to be 'injected' into the horse by an infected midge. That's why you would get horses seemingly at random affected in a yard, not necessarily the ones next to each other - not like Foot and Mouth which passes fast from one animal to the next (hence the culling of 'in contact' animals)
If I had a yard with an infected horse I would have to accept it would be put down but I would fight like mad to save the others. I would shut its stable door and make sure it was taken asap and then fly spray its stable and all others. I would shut all horses in and hang permethrin soaked mesh over the doors. i would spray the muck heap and get it taken away asap and spray anywhere else that midges lurk, bushes etc and I would go on doing that for three or four weeks.
I think we have to take this seriously, not panic, and realise that there ARE a lot of people out there who know what they are talking about and working hard to make plans to control AHS.