Warts & Sarcoids

[coreteam1]

I keep my horse in a field with another horse that has a large sarcoid under his belly. A few months ago one of the horses in the same field (there are five altogether) developed a small wart/sarcoid. This was treated byt the vet with some special cream developed by the university that looked at a photo of the wart/sarcoid. It never dissapeared, just reduced in size.

Then another horse in the same field got a small one and a mare in the next field has developed one near her eye! Whats happening !!! I didn't think sarcoids were catching but now I'm told by a vet that a fly can carry the virus if the sarcoid is an open wound and infect another horse!!!???????
Is this true, does anyone know???

 

[CentrestageSHS]

I don't think any of it is proven as regards to spreading, I know it is believed that flies can spread it from one to another but we have had one horse with sarcoids for years and it has never passed onto the others in the same field. I did find though that his breeder had had a few horses with sarcoids with different breeding so it was not genetic. I have read somewhere that it can be caused by grazing horses on the same grass that cows have once grazed, and the breeders yard used to be a dairy farm. So have the horse or your fields been exposed to cows? Just a thought, I really wish there was more known about sarcoids, cos they are horrible things!

 

[debradley]

Oh that's interesting. My horse in the last six months has developed a small sacriod looking growth/lump on the side of her nose and funnily enough it was only about 9 months ago that we moved fields and the one that she has been in was grazed by cattle before that; wonder if there really is a connection??

 

[CentrestageSHS]

When you start asking round and investigating there is quite a lot of horses with sarcoids that have once grazed in a cow field. I think there has to be something connected. This is quite an interesting site made by the man who developed the famous liverpoolcream but again, isn't too informative.

http://pcwww.liv.ac.uk/sarcoid/facts.htm

 

[coreteam1]

Ohh, our fields have never been grazed on by cows or anything other than horses?! So not sure about that either now?

 

[keeperscottage]

Panic! My daughter's 17hh 7yo TB has been treated for a sarcoid very recently (new stuff from Liverpool University??) and he's currently sharing a field with (amongst other nags etc) two rare breed cows! Double panic!

 

[collie]

Sarcoids are similar to the virus that cattle get but it is not the same. No one is really sure what causes sarcoids in horses but it is unlikely they are passed on from horse to horse. There has been some research into something in the ground that causes it and also that it may be flies that are the problem. Sarcoids are basically a form of virus some horses are genetically able to fight of the virus and some are not. If a horse is susceptable to sarcoids it is more than likely that it will have them at varying stages throughout its life. Sarcoids can be managed so all is not doom and gloom.