Swamp fever hits the UK (From Gazette & Herald)

Swamp fever hits the UK

4:51pm Thursday 28th January 2010 in

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HORSE owners are being urged not to panic after equine infectious anaemia has been detected in two horses in Wiltshire.

Defra has confirmed that EIA, otherwise known as swamp fever, was found in two horses imported from the continent. The infected animals, which arrived in a group of 10 originating from Romania and Belgium, have been humanely destroyed.

The horses were not displaying signs of swamp fever, but tested positive for antibodies to EIA during routine post-import testing.

EIA has not been imported into Great Britain since 1976, so the news comes as quite a shock to the horse industry. The disease is fatal in equines but is not transferable to humans. It causes intermittent fever, anaemia, emaciation and death.

If an infected horse does survive, it will remain a carrier of the disease and faces indefinite isolation or compulsory euthanasia.

Defra vets are reassuring horse owners that the biting flies responsible for the spread of EIA are not active during the winter months, and the disease is not spread by midges.

Lee Hackett, head of welfare at the British Horse Society, said: “Obviously any outbreak of an exotic disease is very worrying and this is news that we did not want to hear. “However, there is no reason to panic and every reason to hope that these cases will form an isolated incident and be successfully contained.

“Furthermore, EIA is spread by biting insects rather than horse to horse contact, so the recent weather will have improved the chances of containment.”