Preparing for African Horse Sickness

Preparing for African Horse Sickness

Advice on how to spot African Horse Sickness (AHS) and how to protect against the insects that carry the disease was unveiled at last March (09)  National Equine Forum.

UK Government official Arik Dondi, Deputy Director of Exotic Diseases Policy at Defra, said that the government has learnt lessons from Bluetongue, so if African Horse Sickness reaches our shores we would be ready to tackle it.

He spoke about the work of the AHS Working Group including how the group has worked with Defra to produce the leaflets on recognising the signs of AHS and how to control the insects that transmit the virus.

The AHS Working Group, which was founded and is led by UK charity The Horse Trust, brings together the government, scientists and the horse industry to work on an action plan for tackling the disease if it reaches Northern Europe.

AHS is a devastating disease, killing about 90% of infected horses. It is caused by a virus which is transmitted by midges. At present, the disease is largely confined to sub-Saharan Africa, but with global warming, the disease could spread to Northern Europe, including Britain.

Pressure from the AHS Working Group has led to the EU parliament establishing a European vaccine bank with a stockpile of 100,000 doses for each of the nine strains of AHS.

The current vaccine has various limitations, but an improved vaccine is in development, which it is hoped will be available within two years.

In July 2009, the Working Group plans to publish a strategy document detailing the measures that will need to be taken to control an outbreak of AHS. The document will include information on how the movement restrictions following an AHS outbreak could affect the £4bn UK horse industry, including the impact on horse racing, eventing, agriculture and private horse owners. 

Paul Jepson, Chief Executive and Veterinary Director of The Horse Trust, who chairs the AHS Working Group said: "I am delighted with the progress made so far by the African Horse Sickness Working Group. The vaccine stockpiles are a vital step forward that will allow European governments to rapidly respond to an outbreak and limit the spread of this horrific disease."

"People had said that Bluetongue would never reach Northern Europe, but once it did, we knew there was a risk that the same could happen with African Horse Sickness. At the time, no plans had been made on how to tackle an outbreak of African Horse Sickness, which would have made it difficult for the government and horse industry to respond effectively."

To read the AHS advice leaflets, go to:

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