We need to test for deadly swamp fever (From Worcester News)

We need to test for deadly swamp fever

11:43am Monday 1st February 2010 in

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THE Countryside Alliance is calling for the Government to test horses for infectious diseases before they are imported to the UK. This follows an outbreak of the potentially fatal swamp fever in Wiltshire.

But horse owners in Worcestershire and Herefordshire have been told not to panic after the Department for the Environment and Rural Affairs (Defra) confirmed that equine infectious anaemia (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 from Romania and Belgium – have been humanely destroyed.

EIA has not been imported into Britain for more than 30 years so the news has come as something of a shock. However,Chris Rea, senior partner at the Three Counties Equine Hospital at Ripple, near Upton-upon-Severn, said: “It is most unlikely that these two horses could give rise to an outbreak of EIA in the UK, especially after such a cold snap.

The spread of the disease usually requires biting flies to transmit the virus and these are only in the larval form at this time of year. Active adult flies are only present in the UK from May to August.

“The disease can cause a fever, depression, increased heart and respiratory rates, haemorrhaging, bloody diarrhoea, loss of coordination, rapid weight loss, skin swelling and jaundice. If an animal does show any of these signs, ask your veterinary surgeon for advice quickly. To be sure of the diagnosis a blood test must be taken.”

Your veterinary surgeon will know when and where to send this for testing. While it remains important to be vigilant for signs of this or any other infectious disease there should be no cause for alarm in the two counties.

Mr Rea said: “There are no cases in Worcestershire and given the rapid removal of the two offending horses from the population and the time of year that they entered the UK, it remains very unlikely that it will spread in any direction from the source in Wiltshire.”

While Defra has advised millions of horse owners not to be “overly concerned”, questions are being asked in the equestrian community about exactly how IEA came into the UK in the first place.

Environment minister Hilary Benn said EIA was detected in the horses as part of a routine postimport test. Horse owners are asking why the Coggins test, a simple examination for EIA, is not done before the horses are imported into the UK, especially since the virus poses such a threat to both horses and the countryside.

Simon Hart, chief executive of the Countryside Alliance, said: “We hope that the Government will examine further preventative measures such as the implementation of the Coggins test prior to the import of horses from high risk areas to prevent outbreaks of notifiable diseases, not just in horses but all animals imported to this country.

“Surely, it would be relatively simple for anyone importing horses from high risk areas such as Romania and Italy to produce a negative Coggins test alongside the compulsory horse passport.

While the advice from Defra says the risk of further spread of EIA is low, it is perhaps time to act now to prevent the import of any more carriers of the disease which pose such a threat to the horse population.”