swamp fever found in the uk

Shysmum

Shysmum

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that didn't take long... this is a very serious risk to all horses in the UK. Here we go. :(

Got the info from the INAG site while looking at the rescue (that shall be nameless) site. sm


xhttp://www.inagforequines.org/SwampFever.htm
 
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Thanks:)

Oh dear quite near me :( was article done awhile ago?:confused: Otherwisewhy has it only just come to light now?:mad:
 
There was much hysteria at the time most of it unfounded. The yard was quarantined and some of the surrounding yards had to have horses tested. It didn't spread to any other horses and the infected yard was given the all clear several months ago.
 
MagsnPaddy said:
There was much hysteria at the time most of it unfounded. The yard was quarantined and some of the surrounding yards had to have horses tested. It didn't spread to any other horses and the infected yard was given the all clear several months ago.
Click to expand...



Not quite several months ago, as the final tests weren't done until the end of April. On my calander that's only 2 months. If there was trading going on before that then it was illegal.

Th hysteria, as you so flippantly put it, was well and truely founded. Horses all across the UK were tested. If Mr Roe decides to bring in more untested Romania horses, say at the height of the biting insect season, we may well be up Sh** Creek!
 
I wasn't being flippant.
Given that the major cause of spread is flies then sorry but I think it did get a bit hysterical given it was December and flies aren't that widespread in winter.
Lots of people were panicking and yes we did wonder if there was cause to -I'm only a few miles from the infected yard and less than 2 miles from a linked yard so if there was cause for panic... I'd have been doing it.
Yes Michael brought over infected horses - he didn't know they were infected and surely it highlights the need for Defra to pull their fingers out regarding testing for this and other infectious diseases in ALL horses travelling to and from the continent?
If you had seen the behaviour of some of the vets going from yard to yard you'd have been far more worried - letting their dogs out in different yards, lack of basic hygiene/hand washing I could go on.
Oh and the several month thing - if it's more than one and I can't remember the precise date to me it's several (and yes that is flippant)
 
MagsnPaddy said:
I wasn't being flippant.
Given that the major cause of spread is flies then sorry but I think it did get a bit hysterical given it was December and flies aren't that widespread in winter.
Lots of people were panicking and yes we did wonder if there was cause to -I'm only a few miles from the infected yard and less than 2 miles from a linked yard so if there was cause for panic... I'd have been doing it.
Yes Michael brought over infected horses - he didn't know they were infected and surely it highlights the need for Defra to pull their fingers out regarding testing for this and other infectious diseases in ALL horses travelling to and from the continent?
If you had seen the behaviour of some of the vets going from yard to yard you'd have been far more worried - letting their dogs out in different yards, lack of basic hygiene/hand washing I could go on.
Oh and the several month thing - if it's more than one and I can't remember the precise date to me it's several (and yes that is flippant)
Click to expand...

It is NOT up to DEFRA to test all animals, it is up to the person importing the animals to have the tests done before they leave the source country, along with quarantine, tests for AHS, Glanders and Dourine, entered onto the TRACEs system and DEFRA pick it up from their arrival in the UK. So Mr Roe should have known these horse were infected. All in all a costly exercise, not one I suppose that Mr Roe is willing to stump up for!

As for being transmitted by flies, again not strictly the case. Despite it being Decemeber, it was mild and there were biting insects in my barn, North East Scotland.
 
And of course he's the only dealer bringing horses in like that??

No he's just the one that got caught out so fundamentally either the SYSTEM needs more rigid enforcement or defra need to take control so that this doesn't happen again. What about the competition horses going backwards and forwards? They're not done everytime either, so again it goes back to more rigid enforcement / better checks in place. At the end of the day Michael has been importing for decades (at least 2 that I can think of) and this is the first time Defra had checked any - that to me is FAR more frightening, especially when you extrapolate that across the whole industry.

I'm not saying that swamp fever isn't a serious issue, I am saying that things need to change at a much higher level. And that's as someone who competes, and whose family business would be devastated by a proper outbreak.
 
I agree with several of your sentiments there.

However, if dealers weren't trying to make a quick buck with "cheap" horses from the continent, we wouldn't be having this conversation.

There in a loophole in the TPA, this is what needs changing.

If we started to concentrate more on UK horses things like this wouldn't happen, nor this.........

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/south_east_wales/10464627.stm
 
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