September 26, 2007 @ 6:41 pm
Major Animal Disease Outbreaks
There have been several recent major animal disease outbreaks across the world which are of concern to most horse owners. There is Equine Flu in several states of Australia, a Foot and Mouth outbreak amongst cattle in the UK and most recently the first case of Bluetongue in the UK was found in a cow in Suffolk.
I had not heard of the latter but it is an indicator that African Horse Sickness may be heading towards the UK. Bluetongue is most prevalent in sheep and is spread by the same midge type insect as African Horse Sickness. African Horse Sickness has been spreading north across Europe for the last twenty years and the reason for its spread is believed to be climate change due to global warming. There was an outbreak in Spain and Portugal in the late 80s. The only vaccines currently available for African Horse Sickness are made in South Africa and are not licensed for use in Europe.
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