Simply called AHS, the African Horse Sickness is a very infectious and deadly disease affecting mules, zebras, donkeys and horses.

Diagnosis of AHS is made through post-mortem lesions, clinical signs and the presence of competent vectors. Tests such as Real Time PCR, Antigen capture ELISA and serological exams are used.

There is no treatment for African Horse Sickness. Outbreak control is done by quarantine, vaccination and vector control.

African Horse Sickness manifests into four forms – pulmonary, cardiac, mild and mixed. Animals with the pulmonary form of AHS experience depression, fever, breathing difficulties, cough and other respiratory symptoms. When left untreated after 4 days, the animal may develop pulmonary oedema, which could lead to lung congestion, respiratory failure and death. The symptoms of the cardiac form of AHS include abdominal pain, high fever and progressive dyspnoea. Symptoms of the mild AHS form include low grade fever and congested mucous membrane, while the mixed form show the signs of both cardiac and pulmonary forms of American Horse Sickness.

An Orbivirus from the Reoviridae family causes African Horse Sickness. It can also be caused by any of the nine serotypes of Orbivirus. AHS is spread by insect vectors, but is not “directly” contagious.