MsPony
Lovin' The Homestead
Just don't let ANYONE around your horses, and do not touch other horses. Don't take your horse anywhere.
Notice: Equine Neurological Disease Outbreak
- Thread starter liz stevens
- Start date
miss_thenorth
Frugal Homesteader
I haven't heard about it here, and I hope it does not cross the border. I would hope the border would be informed so as to not let any horses cross at this time.
TanksHill
Super Self-Sufficient
Can someone please tell me in layman's terms what this bug is and how it effects the horse?
g
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MsPony
Lovin' The Homestead
Normal EHV-1 is sniffles basically, its almost like a cold. This strain affects them neurologically, it kills them 
old fashioned
Almost Self-Reliant
Anyone know what other animals could be affected? Ksalvagno mentioned alpaca's, but how about dogs, chickens, goats, etc???
patandchickens
Crazy Cat Lady
It only affects horses, AFAIK.
There have always been neurological strains of rhino (EHV), and periodically there are outbreaks spread by show barns and so forth, and some horses die, and then the outbreak is over, and life returns to normal until next time.
This is something to be aware of being active at the moment, if you're a horseowner, but it is not anything NEW.
Pat
There have always been neurological strains of rhino (EHV), and periodically there are outbreaks spread by show barns and so forth, and some horses die, and then the outbreak is over, and life returns to normal until next time.
This is something to be aware of being active at the moment, if you're a horseowner, but it is not anything NEW.
Pat
TanksHill
Super Self-Sufficient
So let me ask a far off question. In the beginning did horses evolve to eat grains?
Sorry my brain works in weird ways. Please forgive me ahead of time.
Mad cow....
Mad Cow Disease Symptoms
Infected adult cattle may develop signs of the disease slowly. It may take from 2 to 8 years from the time an animal becomes infected until it first shows signs of disease. Symptoms in the animal include a change in attitude and behavior, gradual uncoordinated movements, trouble standing and walking, weight loss despite having an appetite, and decreased milk production. Eventually the animal dies. From the onset of symptoms, the animal deteriorates until it either dies or is destroyed (cattle who cannot stand are called downers). This disease process may take from 2 weeks to 6 months.
Horse EHV-1....
Equine herpesvirus-1 is highly contagious and can cause a variety of ailments in horses, including rhinopneumonitis (a respiratory disease usually found in young horses), abortion in broodmares, and myeloencephalopathy (evident in the neurologic form). The virus is not transmissible to humans. Clinical signs of EHV-1 myeloencephalopathy include fever, ataxia (incoordination), weakness or paralysis of the hind limbs, and incontinence. The virus is generally passed from horse to horse via aerosol transmission (when affected animals sneeze/cough) and contact with nasal secretions
I just remember watching the show that had the cow with the port hole in it's gut. It talked about how the grains were not digested. They formed bacteria E coli, which then in turn made the cow sick.
Cow was eaten by people people got sick.. They says EHV 1 is not contagious to humans. But people don't normally eat horses.
Sorry but things like this make me wonder.
Sorry my brain works in weird ways. Please forgive me ahead of time.
Mad cow....
Mad Cow Disease Symptoms
Infected adult cattle may develop signs of the disease slowly. It may take from 2 to 8 years from the time an animal becomes infected until it first shows signs of disease. Symptoms in the animal include a change in attitude and behavior, gradual uncoordinated movements, trouble standing and walking, weight loss despite having an appetite, and decreased milk production. Eventually the animal dies. From the onset of symptoms, the animal deteriorates until it either dies or is destroyed (cattle who cannot stand are called downers). This disease process may take from 2 weeks to 6 months.
Horse EHV-1....
Equine herpesvirus-1 is highly contagious and can cause a variety of ailments in horses, including rhinopneumonitis (a respiratory disease usually found in young horses), abortion in broodmares, and myeloencephalopathy (evident in the neurologic form). The virus is not transmissible to humans. Clinical signs of EHV-1 myeloencephalopathy include fever, ataxia (incoordination), weakness or paralysis of the hind limbs, and incontinence. The virus is generally passed from horse to horse via aerosol transmission (when affected animals sneeze/cough) and contact with nasal secretions
I just remember watching the show that had the cow with the port hole in it's gut. It talked about how the grains were not digested. They formed bacteria E coli, which then in turn made the cow sick.
Cow was eaten by people people got sick.. They says EHV 1 is not contagious to humans. But people don't normally eat horses.
Sorry but things like this make me wonder.
MsPony
Lovin' The Homestead
Interesting question Gina
I wish I could link you to a discussion in another horse group,but its private so ill pose your question to them.
We have been discussing how silly it is to vax and deworm heavily before show season as it seriously stresses the immune and GI systems. Then you add stress of traveling & showing. Of course this happens!
Personally I titer and fecal test, I only vax as needed (which since I have older horses, isn't often.)
I wish I could link you to a discussion in another horse group,but its private so ill pose your question to them.We have been discussing how silly it is to vax and deworm heavily before show season as it seriously stresses the immune and GI systems. Then you add stress of traveling & showing. Of course this happens!
Personally I titer and fecal test, I only vax as needed (which since I have older horses, isn't often.)
patandchickens
Crazy Cat Lady
Horses in the wild do eat some grain (i.e. the mature seedheads of grasses -- that is what grain *is*), just not nearly as much as most show horses do and not, of course, all year round.
Plenty of people *don't* feed their horses grain; but OTOH if a horse is in really heavy work it is not usually possible to provide sufficient calories/condition just from hay/grazing, so for people *using* their horses it may not be a choice to go totally grain free
Mad cow disease has NOTHING WHATSOEVER IN ANY WAY to do with neurological rhinovirus. Not even remotely. Except it affects an animal's nervous system but then so does mercury poisoning or a hard whack to the skull.
EHV is one of about a bazillion herpesviruses in the world, pretty much all mammals have their own suite of 'em affecting 'em and some are more crosstransmissible than others. Each one comes in many many variants. Respiratory rhinovirus in horses is not generally a big deal, and there are always some of these neurological strains floating around, it's just that occasionally the wrong set of circumstances comes together (usually involving big shows or race meets) and there is a bit of an outbreak.
These nationwide outbreaks of neurological rhino never used to happen much because hardly anyone trucked their horses all over creation. You'd have the problem in one horse, or maybe a barn or two, and then it'd disappear and that'd be it. Now however (in the last fifty years or so), with soooo much movement of horses all the time, there are many more opportunities for the strain to sometimes break into a more widespread epidemic. It is not a feature of the virus, it is mainly a feature of the *circumstances*.
While it might make sense to suppose that show horses who spend so much time being trucked all around to shows everywhere have higher stress levels and depressed immune systems, my impression of the ACTUAL STUDY EVIDENCE I've seen is that the evidence is mixed and the situation is not nearly as simple as one might suppose. But if SOMEthing is depressing show horses' immune systems to make them more vulnerable to contagious diseases -- and I am not aware of any good evidence that's the case -- it seems to me that the circumstances of their lives are at least as obvious a "suspect" as their diet.
I don't grain my own horses, btw; but then, they're not in work, either
Pat
Plenty of people *don't* feed their horses grain; but OTOH if a horse is in really heavy work it is not usually possible to provide sufficient calories/condition just from hay/grazing, so for people *using* their horses it may not be a choice to go totally grain free
Mad cow disease has NOTHING WHATSOEVER IN ANY WAY to do with neurological rhinovirus. Not even remotely. Except it affects an animal's nervous system but then so does mercury poisoning or a hard whack to the skull.
EHV is one of about a bazillion herpesviruses in the world, pretty much all mammals have their own suite of 'em affecting 'em and some are more crosstransmissible than others. Each one comes in many many variants. Respiratory rhinovirus in horses is not generally a big deal, and there are always some of these neurological strains floating around, it's just that occasionally the wrong set of circumstances comes together (usually involving big shows or race meets) and there is a bit of an outbreak.
These nationwide outbreaks of neurological rhino never used to happen much because hardly anyone trucked their horses all over creation. You'd have the problem in one horse, or maybe a barn or two, and then it'd disappear and that'd be it. Now however (in the last fifty years or so), with soooo much movement of horses all the time, there are many more opportunities for the strain to sometimes break into a more widespread epidemic. It is not a feature of the virus, it is mainly a feature of the *circumstances*.
While it might make sense to suppose that show horses who spend so much time being trucked all around to shows everywhere have higher stress levels and depressed immune systems, my impression of the ACTUAL STUDY EVIDENCE I've seen is that the evidence is mixed and the situation is not nearly as simple as one might suppose. But if SOMEthing is depressing show horses' immune systems to make them more vulnerable to contagious diseases -- and I am not aware of any good evidence that's the case -- it seems to me that the circumstances of their lives are at least as obvious a "suspect" as their diet.
I don't grain my own horses, btw; but then, they're not in work, either
Pat
Sunny
Lovin' The Homestead
Actually it is in western canada.. Every artical I have read says that.miss_thenorth said:
http://www.seattlepi.com/news/article/Fatal-horse-virus-reported-in-West-Canada-1382959.php
