Credit WA Horse Alert Brochure
# 7480
Overnight Crof picked up a report from ProMed Mail concerning Australia: Mysterious new horse disease may have been passed to humans with details provided by The Australian (full story behind a wall).
While still unidentified, the good news is that Hendra – a bat borne virus that occasionally infects horses (see Australia: Hendra Vaccine Hurdles) and has killed at least 4 people over the years – has been ruled out.
A quick look at Western Australia’s State Health Department website turned up nothing, but I was able to find the following statement (dated July 8th) on the WA Department of Agriculture & Food website.
Updated horse health information
The Department of Agriculture and Food is continuing to test samples to identify the cause of mouth papules (small, solid rounded lumps) in horses on three properties in the South-West. There have been horse or equipment movements identified as potential links between the affected properties.
The papules were reported by a private veterinarian attending to the horses. Testing has already ruled out the main virus of concern, vesicular stomatitis. Preliminary testing suggests the lumps might be a response to a viral infection. The department is continuing to work with the veterinary clinic involved to finalise a diagnosis.
The horses reported have mild signs and it is likely people examining normal healthy horses’ mouths may see small lumps that are not necessarily of concern. The black tongue reported on Facebook may be due to staining from treatment or feed and is not related to the condition.
The Department of Agriculture and Food reminds horse owners to contact their local veterinarian if they notice unusual signs in their horses.
There are no restrictions on horse movement in WA or on events. The department’s standard horse biosecurity recommendations are that only healthy horses should attend events and they should not share feed, water, or tack and equipment with other horses.
There have also been reports that some humans who have had contact with affected horses have developed similar lesions in their mouths, although they remain generally well. The Department of Health has been assisting with the investigation of these cases. At this stage, it is not clear if there is a relationship between the lesions reported in horses and people, and testing has not revealed a cause for the lesions in either horses or people.
The Department of Health advises that people handling affected horses should take general precautions, such as wearing disposable gloves and a face mask, and washing their hands well after contact with affected horses. If they are concerned about their health they should consult a general practitioner.
For more information about horse biosecurity, visit agric.wa.gov.au and search ‘horse alert’.
The earliest report I’ve been able to find on this outbreak was from June 26th, in the RWWA website.
Department of Agriculture and Food Horse Health Information
The Department of Agriculture and Food has taken samples to identify the cause of mouth papules (small solid rounded bumps) in horses on one property in the South West after being contacted by a private veterinarian attending to the horses.
Testing has already ruled out the main virus of concern, vesicular stomatitis, and further testing is underway to determine the cause of the papules.
The department reminds horse owners if they do notice unusual signs in their horses to contact their local veterinarian.
There are no restrictions on horse movement in WA. As generally recommended, horse owners should be mindful of horse biosecurity. Only take healthy horses to events and do not share feed, water, or tack and equipment with other horses.
While this may sound like a minor health concern (and it may very well turn out to be), Australia’s equine community is still reeling from a major outbreak of Equine Influenza in 2007, which infected 10,000 properties, and more than 76,000 horses.
Monetary loses were calculated at AUD$363 million ($100 million in direct response costs and $263 million in government ssistance to the horse industry) – Cite HORSE ALERT
For more on horse biosecurity concerns, you may be interested in the following 74 page brochure produced by various agencies of the Australian government.
And in a slightly related story, back in 2010 I posted a fascinating article by Morens and Taubenberger: A New Look At The Panzootic of 1872 where they looked back at a wave of (presumably) equine influenza that swept across North American, infecting much of the horse population from Canada to Mexico – and killing up to 10%.
While the symptoms of this equine disease appear to be relatively mild in both horses and humans – over the past 30 years an estimated 70% of all emerging infectious diseases have originated from other animal species (see Woolhouse and Gowtage-Sequeria EID Journal 2005).
Which is why anytime what is perceived to be an animal disease jumps to humans, we tend to pay close attention.
