Owners 'helpless' as horse sickness sweeps Midlands
Valuable animals dyingApril 21, 2005 Edition 1
Farook Khan
Durban: The latest outbreak of African horse sickness in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands has struck at Nottingham Road with such severity that the annual Clifton Hunters Trial scheduled for this weekend has been cancelled.
The first horse fell ill on Monday and by yesterday just about every owner in Nottingham Road had a sick horse.
Vets are rushing around farms treating horses, battling to save expensive "hot-bloods", some costing as much as R50 000, without success.
The sickness is caused by a virus transmitted by midges.
A horse that is bitten by a carrier midge develops a high fever and later pneumonia.
Sally Hurst, of the Natal Equine Physiotherapy Centre in Mooi River, said horses were dying left, right and centre.
"We do not know what to do," she said.
"It costs R8 000 to vaccinate and treat a horse and there is no guarantee that the horse will live.
"In the past two days, I know of eight horses that have died.
"A leading breeder in the area has lost eight horses... work that out at R50 000 each. It is all very scary.
"We have had meetings with the authorities at Onderstepoort and they say that without funding they cannot improve on the vaccine."
Hurst said it should be pointed out to the government that the horse-racing industry was worth around R800 million and that it should invest in protecting the lives of valuable horses.
Most riding schools have cancelled lessons as instructors fear a horse might collapse, which would be traumatic for children to see.
Top government veterinary officials are in Mooi River, Karkloof and Howick trying to help people treat their horses and save their lives.
According to one vet, the first case of horse sickness was in January.
More horses have since been struck down and there have been deaths every day.
There have been no cases at the Shongweni Equine Hospital, however.
An official at the hospital said that the environment was strictly controlled.
"We have no problems with horse sickness here," the official said last night.
Another vet, who asked that his name be withheld for professional reasons, said little could be done to save a horse that had African horse sickness. Internal bleeding caused the animal severe agony.
Dave Mullins, of Mooi River and the immediate past chairman of the South African Equine Practitioners' Association, was out battling to save the life of a horse and could not be reached for comment.
