South African horse owners need a minute of your time--Petition

Cuffey

Cuffey

Well-Known Member
Joined
26 February 2003
Messages
3,151
Location
SW Scotland
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http://www.thepetitionsite.com/739/391/732/african-horse-sickness-crisis/

Social media have collected 600 cases this season of which around half have died of African Horse Sickness, the season will not finish until June
Many are fully vaccinated horses, about half of those died as well
The vaccine is 50 years old
Owners call the vet, frequently vets say they cannot help
Alternative methods are successful for some
The owners are desperate for their Government to pay some attention, get a new efficient vaccine out there and they would love to enjoy summer without the threat that infected midges can kill their horse/s

Please sign and share
Thank you
PS Vaccine development is ongoing in UK but not ready yet
 
This terrible disease is likely to spread to the United Kingdom and I would suggest that an international research fund needs to be set up to develop a vaccine against this disease. I am sure that if every horse owner in the world contributed £10.00 towards a fund that there would be enough funding to kick start the development of a vacine.
 
Tjaaaaa - You might be waiting "a while" for the SA government to sit up and take note... Bit like the Aids virus - "it doesn't exist"... (oops - cynical me raising its head)

Least for now the lil blighters have left AHS at home... God help us when it gets here...

Signed and shared - on FB
 
Thank you Maria13 and yes Crazy Friesian agree with you--things have gone backwards, you would think the Gov would try to look after the rural/working horses with free vaccs--not any more. Read about one extremely fit and healthy working horse, on which the owner was dependent for his living, died very quickly last week on contracting AHS.

More signatures please!
 
Crazy Friesian said:
Tjaaaaa - You might be waiting "a while" for the SA government to sit up and take note... Bit like the Aids virus - "it doesn't exist"... (oops - cynical me raising its head)

Least for now the lil blighters have left AHS at home... God help us when it gets here...

Signed and shared - on FB
Click to expand...

Signed and shared...
I live in one of the affected areas, and I do agree wholeheartedly with Crazy Friesian. As a brief aside, I must take issue on the AIDS pandemic - for all its multiple failings, far too numerous to bear thinking about - the government has confronted the issue of AIDS, and counselling and ARV treatment is available in many, but not all, places. But I fear it has been too little, too late. The horse has bolted.

There are a couple of very good local websites dedicate to AHS. My understanding is that the vaccine has not been updated for approximately 15 years, but responsible owners continue to vaccinate and give the booster every spring.

There are additional strategies which are helpful in keeping horses safe - stabling them from sunset to late in the morning, so they're less exposed to the midges that carry the disease. The use of insect repellants (Tabard, whatever - the kind of stuff Brits would need when coming on safari, to keep the mosquitoes and midges away) and the usual horsey insect repellants - very liberally and several times during the day. Fans in stables also keep the little insects out, apparently, and I've set up fans and watched how the slightest breeze blows them out if they try to enter the stable doors. Unfortunately one of my horses considers the fan a deadly predator so I only have his on during the worst hours.

I do think the media here in South Africa have been responsible for some ludicrous reporting. Make no mistake, this is a VERY serious problem, but some media reports suggest that movement restrictions on horses are a new idea. They've been in place for the "midge season" for the past several years, every year as far as I can recall. A problem may exist in the enforcement of movement restrictions in outlying areas.

I strongly support any move to improve vaccines, and to prevent the spread beyond the infected zones, including preventing the spread overseas. To the best of my knowledge all exported equids are strictly quarantined, with blood tests etc prior to release. I know I have to comply with this if I wish to move my horses into the Western Cape. There is cause for alarm here in South Africa, but hopefully this will be contained; the disease occurs in other sub-Saharan countries as well, with a recent case in Kenya, if I recall correctly.

If anyone wants any links to useful sites here, please feel free to pm me. I'm NOT an expert, but as a horse owner I've been very aware of the AHS issue since I was first taught to inject our horses as a small child. And that was a long time ago!
 
Thanks Ancient Hacker for your input
I have been following on Facebook probably for a year now
I am less aware of websites discussing this topic

http://www.facebook.com/groups/ahsequilinkmembers/
http://www.facebook.com/groups/fightAHS/

You are correct that recent cases have been reported in Harare

In Ethiopia hundreds of working horses have died in the last few years (2011 1076 deaths and 2012 624 deaths)
They also depend on vaccine produced in South Africa

I would love to see more signatures on the Petition please--the first thousand went on very quickly now it is barely moving
 
Cuffey said:
Thanks Ancient Hacker for your input
I have been following on Facebook probably for a year now
I am less aware of websites discussing this topic

http://www.facebook.com/groups/ahsequilinkmembers/
http://www.facebook.com/groups/fightAHS/

You are correct that recent cases have been reported in Harare

In Ethiopia hundreds of working horses have died in the last few years (2011 1076 deaths and 2012 624 deaths)
They also depend on vaccine produced in South Africa

I would love to see more signatures on the Petition please--the first thousand went on very quickly now it is barely moving
Click to expand...
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Hello Cuffey, it's so good to see support for the petition. I'm sure I put it on my FB page but I'm not a facebook afficionado so will check again. I'm also going to email all my horse-loving friends and exhort them to sign the petition

I'll put some links up shortly, so that interested forumites can read up some more!
 
Thank you both

How lovely to see you back Finni
You were missed but how come I didnt notice you were back--too much time on FB instead of here perhaps!
 
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