More than 100 horses die of African Horse Sickness in Thailand

More than 100 horses die of African Horse Sickness in Thailand

Footage shows government officials visiting a stables in Thailand as more than 130 horses have now died from African Horse Sickness.

The department of livestock sent the officers to the farm that was reported to have found 11 sick horses in Nakhon Ratchasima, northeast Thailand.

They had high fevers over 39 decree Celcius, were listless, panting and were eyes bleeding before they suddenly died.

The officers took a sample of the dead horse tissues and sent it to the laboratory for examination and the result showed that they were all infected with the African Horse Sickness (AHS).

Across the country, more than 131 equines have now died across four provinces in the country's first bout of the illness as of April 3, government data showed.

Director-general of the Department of Livestock Development, Sorawit Thanito, said they are now investigating how the virus came to Thailand.

''This disease has just occurred in Thailand.

We’ve never had it in the past,” he said.

The provincial director of the department of livestock, Vet Possawee Somjai, said these are the first cases of AHS in Thailand and they need to control the contagion.

He said: "The contagious used to occurred in India and Morrocco a few years ago but it not Thailand, we are now investigating about its source.

"Initially, we ordered the ranchers to separate their horses and keep them under the mosquito net to protect them from the mosquito as it was believed to be the main virus carrier.

The World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) suspended Thailand’s status as an “AHS Free Country” on March 27.

The African Horse Sickness is a highly infective and deadly disease commonly found in horse, donkey and mule.

The disease was not directly contagion through contact but it was an insect-borne disease.