ProMedMail reports that there is an outbreak of African Horse Sickness in Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape of South Africa.
Mod AS. adds that African Horse Sickness is endemic and seasonal in these areas. Authorities have imposed an embargo on the movement of horses into the province. African Horse Sickness is caused by an orbivirus, which is phylogenetically similar to bluetongue virus, and is vectored by the same Culicoides biting midges (e.g. C. imicola) that spread bluetongue. This is a life-threatening disease with fever, internal bleeding, attacking the internal organs, and causes high rates of mortality. It is therefore understandable that the EU placed a ban on importing horses from the affected area a few years ago. I suppose the European horse industry does not want to have it's own bluetongue.
Mod AS. adds that African Horse Sickness is endemic and seasonal in these areas. Authorities have imposed an embargo on the movement of horses into the province. African Horse Sickness is caused by an orbivirus, which is phylogenetically similar to bluetongue virus, and is vectored by the same Culicoides biting midges (e.g. C. imicola) that spread bluetongue. This is a life-threatening disease with fever, internal bleeding, attacking the internal organs, and causes high rates of mortality. It is therefore understandable that the EU placed a ban on importing horses from the affected area a few years ago. I suppose the European horse industry does not want to have it's own bluetongue.
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