South Africa’s state-owned animal vaccine manufacturing company says it will have a new batch of African horse sickness (AHS) vaccines available in a few days.
Meanwhile, in the absence of horse vaccines, cases of the viral disease affecting all species in the horse family continue to rise with cases confirmed in at least seven provinces.
Zipho Linda, communications officer at Onderstepoort Biological Products (OBP), confirmed to Food For Mzansi that vaccines were on the way. “We are currently producing the AHS vaccine and it will be available in the last week of March to early April this year,” Linda said.
Horse owners in a state
According to Lins Rautenbach, a horse breeder in Gauteng, frustrated horse owners are at their wit’s end as outbreaks in South Africa generally occur during late summer in the summer rainfall areas of the country.
“African horse sickness is hell on earth for us all. To see your horse die like that never leaves you,” Rautenbach said. “As a horse owner who owns a rescue horse who survived [that] horror, I live in a constant state of worry in summer.”
AHS is spread by small flies, and symptoms can include swelling and redness around the eyes and elsewhere on the face, frothing and discharge from nostrils, fever, slow and heavy breathing, coughing, and swollen face.
Rautenbach said the outbreak has started to take its toll on horse owners’ mental health as well.
“I have seen a grown rural man cry because he saw [his horses dying] and lost his means to survive. Nobody has ever factored in the damage this is causing to people.”
Complaints from the horse industry have also reached the desk of the portfolio committee on agriculture, land reform and rural development. They include outdated vaccines and the availability of vaccines.
Linda said while OBP is aware of the outbreak, the country isn’t facing a vaccine crisis.
Poor record-keeping
AHS in South Africa goes back to when the first horses arrived in the Cape with Jan van Riebeeck. The period of 1854 to 1855 saw the most severe outbreak in the country, with nearly 70 000 horses dying.
Over the years, record-keeping on the disease in South Africa has taken a nosedive, which some say negatively impacts AHS management.
“AHS is a very big problem in South Africa, not just this year but every year because records are so badly kept by the state, it has become very easy to openly claim low stats,” Rautenbach said.
Vaccine prices make matters worse and according to Rautenbach, it is not sustainable for horse owners who rely on the animals to put food on their tables.
“We have the rural carthorse owners whose horses are their bread and butter. Not only [do they] lose income, but have to buy new horses to [ensure] continued income.
“We have the stud farm owners whose horses are worth a lot. They lose horses and future income. Businesses supplying horse products [also] lose income. When it gets too much and people bow out, jobs are lost,” Rautenbach said.
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Waiting periods too long
Testing for AHS is available through laboratories approved by the department of agriculture, land reform and rural development, but according to the spokesperson for the department Reggie Ngcobo, the department did not dictate or influence the fee structuring for AHS vaccines.
“However, where a suspect case is reported and in the interest of the department, [or] when epidemiological investigations are conducted, and samples are submitted through the state vet office, the department pays for diagnosis. Otherwise, the general AHS diagnostics is at the cost of the owner,” Ngcobo said.
Horse owners also complain about the turnaround time for AHS test results. According to Rautenbach, tests conducted by the state veterinary services take weeks before results are available.
Ngcobo told Food For Mzansi that the turnaround time for test results depended on the laboratory.
“The average turnaround time is expected to be 3-7 working days depending on the type of test requested. Consider that the turnaround time is calculated only from the time that a sample is registered at the laboratory,” he said.
Where’s the strategy?
Another horse owner, Lindsey York-Roberts in Potgietersrus, Limpopo, said veterinarians are not responsive either.
“Our state vet in town refuses to come out for horses. She just says she does not specialise in that field and she is terrified of them. If we want to have something done, we have to call out a wildlife vet in town,” she said.
Rautenbach has called for transparency on government plans to tackle AHS. “We would appreciate transparency and communication, more needs to be done to curb this. Movement bans must be enforced, [and] outreach and education [campaigns] need to happen.”
The department of agriculture has advised horse owners to vaccinate their horses. “Preferably during the low-risk period of June to October every year or at least every 24 months,” Ngcobo said.
Farmers and horse owners are also advised to report any suspected cases of AHS to their nearest veterinary officers.
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