African horse sickness has officials on trot

Cases reported in Gauteng, Mpumalanga

OUTBREAKS of African horse sickness (AHS) in Gauteng and Mpumalanga have been officially reported to the Department of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries (Daff) this month and last month, the department said at the weekend.

In most of South Africa, except for a part of the Western Cape, AHS was endemic and the area was known as an AHS-infected zone, Daff said.

Unfortunately, outbreaks of AHS were expected to occur in the AHS infected-zone from November to May, often with a peak from February to April, depending on climatic factors such as rainfall and temperature.

Parts of the Western Cape had been legislated as AHS-controlled areas in terms of the Animal Diseases Act and these were generally free of AHS.

Outbreaks of AHS in Gauteng and Mpumalanga were officially reported to Daff in February and March, but there was no conclusive information of unusually high incidences of AHS outbreaks for this time of the year.

“Restrictions on equid (members of the horse family) movements within the AHS-infected zone are not routinely implemented by state veterinary services because this would be almost impossible to control and would be seen as unnecessarily restrictive by most affected horse owners.

“The fact that the disease is transmitted by flying insects (midges) also makes restriction of horse movements less effective in the control of the disease,” Daff said.

Daff was working with the equine industry on protective measures for horses in the AHS-infected zone to reduce the severity of AHS outbreaks, “while being neither too restrictive on the movement and trade of equids within the AHS infected zone, nor too onerous with regards to the administrative and financial burden of all role-players involved with equids”.

“You are advised to contact your local state vets to ascertain whether local movement restrictions have been implemented for a particular area. It is vital to report cases of AHS to your local state vets so they are aware of these cases which will enable them to make informed decisions,” Daff said.

The Animal Diseases Act required that owners and managers of animals take all reasonable steps to protect their animals and prevent the spread of diseases from their animals, Daff said. The movement of equids infected with the AHS virus may increase the risk of AHS to other equids and should therefore be limited.

“Report any case of AHS or suspected case of AHS to your local state vet immediately,” Daff said