Bloodstock - infectious diseases: A stable condition

The consequence of an outbreak of a contagious, and quite possibly fatal, disease in the animal population is something most people would rather not consider.

It is all too chilling to recall the funeral pyres of 2001 where approximately seven million cattle and sheep were killed, in what were eventually successful attempts to stop the spread of foot and mouth disease. The crisis was estimated to have cost the UK around £8bn. Worse still, 80% of the livestock killed were free of the disease and slaughtered as part of the contiguous cull policy for disease prevention.

As a class underwriter specialising in the equine industry, I was keen to establish the likelihood and potential effects of a contagious disease striking at the heart of the UK's equine industry. This led to the Animal Health Trust being commissioned to prepare The Equine Infectious Diseases Report, a quarterly worldwide analysis of equine infectious diseases. The report monitors the global emergence of disease and provides a qualitative assessment of the risk to British horses, including advice on what should be done should an outbreak occur.

It is crucial that the equine industry and those who are involved in it learn the lessons presented by foot and mouth disease. The dreadful effects of this disease on the countryside and, indeed, the country's economy were a wake-up call and one we should not forget.

Horse export ban
Foot and mouth disease is confined to cloven-footed animals — not horses — but the equine industry faces similar threats. In 2006 in Ireland, an outbreak of equine infectious anaemia almost led to the banning of the export of horses from Ireland to Britain and other countries — a move that was potentially ruinous to the Irish racing and equine industries.

EIA had never been reported in Ireland before but Warren Schofield, veterinary surgeon at the Troytown Equine Hospital in Kildare, encountered a case of the disease. The hospital admitted a mare that had no history of EIA and, since the disease had never been known in Ireland before, had no suspicion she was incubating it.

By the time the situation became clear, all 16 horses in the shared hospital barn had been infected by aerobic transfer and either died or were destroyed in the days that followed.

It is clear that foot and mouth and EIA can cause serious financial losses in the event of a major outbreak. It is also worth bearing in mind that other diseases, such as contagious equine metritis, can also have devastating implications. CEM was responsible for the long-time ban on the export of UK horses to India, which has only just been rescinded after years of heavy industry lobbying to the Indian authorities.

A further warning came in January 2010, when EIA was detected in horses imported to England from Romania via Belgium. Separate but epidemiologically linked diseases were discovered in March 2010 in Belgium. Had these problems not being detected early and quarantine restrictions imposed, the disease could have had a catastrophic effect on the equine industry across Europe.

In the first quarter of 2010, the Animal Health Trust report also highlighted the presence of glanders, a bacterial infection caused by burkholderia mallei, in Bahrain. The infection was reported on 28 April and eight horses were euthanased in response. All horses suspected of being infected or coming into contact with the infected animals are being sampled and analysed in a specialist laboratory in the United Arab Emirates.

Nearly 400 horses have been sampled and the results of 10 of these have been negative so far. Movement of horses in the area has been restricted and investigations are ongoing. Horses imported to the UK from regions where there is a risk of glanders are routinely blood sampled on arrival.

The Animal Health Trust is also in the process of being commissioned to provide a study on the potential effects of hendra virus in Queensland, Australia. This virus is spread from the indigenous fruit bat population to horses and then to their human handlers.

This is extremely worrying given that the disease is potentially fatal to both humans and horses. Tragically, a recent outbreak caused the death of the attending veterinarian. Currently, the seriousness of the disease is only appreciated by special veterinarian and state authorities — we are monitoring the situation and will keep clients informed of developments.

Expert assistance
The Animal Health Trust reports are proving extremely useful. They give notification of diseases and track their spread, providing advanced warning and the ability to act to provide clients with expert advice and assistance.

One of the major problems of a disease outbreak is that often people have not had experience of the measures necessary to stop the spread of infection or to mitigate the immediate, medium and long-term effects of the problem. So, further research and analysis of the impact of diseases on the equine industry is needed.

From an insurer's point of view, it is important to be able to both responsibly advise clients and protect our business against a major catastrophe. We are very mindful of the wider implications of disease spread — which is often exacerbated by the free movement of horses within the European community. Understanding where these diseases are located and containing them at source will certainly help mitigate disease spread and the financial loss for the insured.

David Ashby is director of Amlin Plus