Glanders alert!

This week we are still reporting on the illness that has now meant, as last advised, a total of eight horses have had to be destroyed, with a further 12 showing symptoms.

The Municipalities and Agriculture Ministry has been allocated BD150,000 to combat the disease which has been identified as glanders, or equina.

It is a highly contagious and potentially fatal bacterial infection in horses, mules and donkeys and in rare cases can be passed on to humans who have direct contact with infected animals or contaminated objects.

The painful respiratory infection can cause skin lesions and signs include fever, chills, muscle aches and chest pains and can lead to pneumonia and death without treatment. Infection can also occur in dogs, cats, goats, camels, hamsters and guinea pigs.

The outbreak in Bahrain is not considered to be 'serious' and is being managed. GulfWeekly was told by a veterinary source that the outbreak was confined to one stable which had recently introduced a number of thoroughbred Arabs imported from Iraq and other Middle East countries to its stock.

Meanwhile, precautions remain, and competitive events were again cancelled last weekend. We will update you as soon as we have more information. Until that time it is advisable to continue with recommended cautionary practices, and avoid taking your horse to another stable and don't allow visiting horses to come into your stable.

As soon as we know more we will let you know.

As sickness is currently on the agenda, I thought I would let you know about an illness that is the absolute bane of horses, ponies and donkeys worldwide, and definitely here in Bahrain - Summer Seasonal Recurrent Dermatitis (SSRD) or Sweet Itch.

What is 'Sweet Itch'? It is an allergic reaction and therefore an immune system problem which makes it notoriously complicated and difficult to deal with.

Technically, the disease is a delayed hypersensitivity to insect bites and results from an over-vigorous response by the animal's immune system. In the process of repelling invading insect saliva (which actually contains harmless protein) the horse attacks some of its own skin cells 'by mistake' and the resulting cell damage causes the symptoms described as Sweet Itch.

Virtually all breeds and types can be affected, from the tiniest Shetland ponies to the massive heavyweight draft horses, although the condition is apparently rare in English thoroughbreds. Sometimes known by different names such as Sommer Ekzem in Germany, Kasen in Japan, Queensland Itch in Australia, the symptoms are the same.

They include severe itching, hair loss, skin thickening and flaky dandruff and weeping sores. Early on in the disease, the skin will be bald, red, inflamed, crusting and sore. As the disease progresses, the skin becomes chronically thickened, blackened, and wrinkled and the hair becomes sparse and coarse. The tail takes on a characteristic rat-tailed appearance. Without attention, sores can suffer secondary infection.

The top of the tail and the mane are most commonly affected but it can also strike on the neck, withers, hips, ears and forehead, and in more severe cases, the mid-line of the belly.

The animal will be driven practically to distraction in some cases, vigorous tail swishing, frequent rolling, and attempting to scratch on ANYTHING within reach - pacing endlessly and seeking excessive mutual grooming from other horses.

If kept behind electric fencing with nothing to rub on, animals have been known to scratch out their mane with their hind feet and bite vigorously at their own tail, flanks and heels.

They have been known to drag themselves along the ground to scratch their bellies, or sit like a dog and propel themselves round to get to the top of their tail... SO, you can only imagine the immense pain and frustration these poor creatures are experiencing, to witness it is heartbreaking

There can be a marked change in temperament - lethargy with frequent yawning and general lack of 'sparkle' may occur, or the horse may become agitated, impatient and, when ridden, lack concentration. When insects are flying around the horse may become agitated, with repeated head shaking.

Diagnosis is not usually difficult - the symptoms and its seasonal nature (spring, summer and autumn) are strong indicators. However, symptoms can persist well into the winter months, with severely affected cases barely having cleared up before the onslaught starts again the following spring.

There is anecdotal evidence that stress such as moving to a new home, sickness, or severe injury can be a factor when mature animals develop Sweet Itch, as usually it appears between the ages of one and five. However, environmental factors also play a major part - where the horse is born and where it lives as an adult.

Sweet Itch is NOT contagious although in the UK it is classed by vets as a reportable condition which must be disclosed by an owner to a prospective purchaser before the sale.

The culprits are the flies and midges, feeding off the body site of the animal, and these thrive particularly well in the hot humid conditions of our climate.

At present there is no cure for Sweet Itch. Once an animal develops the allergy it generally faces a 'life-sentence' and each spring, well in our case as soon as the winter ends, brings about a potentially distressing period for horse and owner alike.

What can we do? There are two basic approaches: minimise midge attachments, which is not so easy, keeping animals away from damp vegetation, also stabling at dusk and dawn when midge feeding is at its peak, keep doors closed and instal fans to create a breeze to keep midges away.

However, a seriously itchy stabled horse has a confined space with only itching on his mind, relief is paramount, manes and tails and, in some cases, stables themselves have been demolished with intense scratching - don't forget we are talking on average 1,000lbs of irritated animal!

Use an insect repellent - Deet (technical term N.N.Diethyl-m-toluamide) has a track record over the last 40 years and is proven to be highly effective.

Use an insecticide - some owners achieve brilliant results with insecticides, whilst others unfortunately have not - but it's worth a try.

Benzyl-benzoate originally used to treat itch mites (scabies) in humans, it's a clear liquid, but usually obtained as a milky white suspension. It should be worked into the skin but not used on broken skin. Using oil or grease preparations help as it deters midges and flies from biting.

However, some of these preparations contain substances such as eucalyptus oil, citronella oil, etc, which can cause an allergic reaction in themselves so need to be tested on the animal first.

Injections of corticosteroids may help but there are side effects including laminitus.

The use of lightweight specialist blankets is often one course of action, to completely cover the horse and avoid them being bitten.

So what to do? Well, one young owner, Florence Finzi, recently investigated this further and has found a capsule in the UK that has been clinically trialled over the past six years, technically a suspension of heat-killed bacilli, which modulates the immune response from the dysregulation that leads to Sweet Itch.

The capsule should be administered fortnightly, and is safe with minor side effects.

Florence has been giving this capsule to her pony and has seen remarkable improvement - alongside another homeopathic remedy - appears to have greatly helped this pony.

Florence had contacted a homeopathic specialist and gave details of the pony, and was given a remedy.

All of this seems to have helped.

Internet investigation as to remedies into Sweet Itch list many alternatives and are well worth looking into, in fact anything that can help these animals is worth looking at.

Over the coming week I am going to look into more of these remedies and hope to give you some ideas as to solutions. In the meantime, if any of you have any Sweet Itch stories or remedies that have worked for you and your horse I would love to hear them.