South Africa: Deadly horse sickness hits Cape

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NEWS/SOUTH-AFRICA/WESTERN-CAPE /
09 April 2016
By: Yazeed Kamaldien

Cape Town - Thousands of Western Cape horse owners have been told to lock up their horses, with an indefinite quarantine announced in the province to prevent a deadly horse disease from spreading.

Alan Winde, Economic Opportunities MEC, said on Friday the quarantine had been instituted after a Paarl veterinarian detected a case of African Horse Sickness (AHS) in a horse this week.

“Samples collected from the colt tested positive for the AHS virus,” said Winde.

“We activated a routine surveillance programme immediately. Our vets are working in the area to determine whether any other animals on the property are affected.”

Movement restrictions were in place and no movement of horses was allowed into the containment zone “without a movement permit from a state vet”. The quarantine is in place for a 50km radius around Paarl, and has led to the cancellation of various horse-related events planned for the weekend.

The discovery of AHS could also affect South African horse exports to the EU, state veterinarian Gary Burhmann said on Friday...

Read more here:
http://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/western-cape/deadly-horse-sickness-hits-cape-2007243