On Thursday 27th February, Loch Leven Equine Practice (LLEP) hosted an educational evening for horse owners discussing Equine Grass Sickness (EGS), and the recent revelations discovered by the world-renowned research team at the University of Edinburgh’s Royal Dick Veterinary School (RDVS).
Professor Bruce McGorum, head of the Equine Hospital was invited by LLEP to present on the subject – one of his specialist areas of expertise.
The evening began with a short address by Dr Jenny Croft MRCVS, Clinical Director of LLEP, a privately owned equine veterinary clinic based outside Kinross, Scotland, who warmly welcomed the 170 guests in the audience from as far afield as the Scottish Borders and north Perthshire.
Latest grass sickness research results
Professor McGorum spent an hour discussing the disease, the pathology caused, clinical signs and most importantly the recently published research findings on the likely causal agent of EGS – which have never previously been understood.
The research team at RDVS, together with collaborating bodies at Newcastle University, Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale delle Venezie, and the University of Padova believe they have identified the specific neurotoxin that leads to the symptoms of EGS – Phospholipase A2.
Prof. McGorum described the results as “finding a smoking gun”, meaning they now believe they know the causal agent, they now need to track down “the shooter” – the source of the toxin – thought likely to be a microbe such as a bacterium or fungus. The findings have huge implications for the future welfare of affected horses and will hopefully allow the disease to be prevented, rather than just having to consider treatment of these animals, which sadly is invariably fatal despite hospitalisation and gold standard care.
The neurotoxin has been linked to snake venom – leading to paralysis of muscles. Snake bite victims that are unable to access the life saving antivenom in time will die of respiratory muscle paralysis. The conditions of the horse are a little different as it is the nerves of the intestines that are affected, leading to permanent paralysis resulting in gut stasis, ultimately leading to death.
The similarities between snake envenomation and EGS cannot be ignored, and further research is underway to establish if any of the medications used to treat snake bite victims could be beneficial to horses affected by EGS.
“Identifying a probable cause of Equine Grass Sickness represents a significant breakthrough. We hope that this discovery will lead to novel treatments and improved diagnostics for this devastating condition. We are very grateful for the generous support we have received from horse owners, veterinary surgeons, scientists, charities and funding bodies.”
The East of Scotland is the worst affected area in the world for EGS due to the weather conditions required to cause the neurotoxin proliferation. Research at RDVS is also undergoing to produce an app that will analyse weather conditions and predict the risk of EGS for horses. The hope is that the app can pinpoint the high risk times approaching, thus allowing horse owners to pre-emptively act and remove their horses from pasture during this high risk time.
Fundraising for The Equine Grass Sickness Fund
The evening was an enormous success – the first of its kind, with tickets been sold prior to the event to help raise funds for the incredible charity that is The Equine Grass Sickness Fund. The charity was represented by veterinary surgeon Anne Logan of LLEP, acting on behalf of the EGSF as Chairman. Anne has dedicated years of her time and expertise to help promote the research and awareness of EGS.
In addition to the findings shared, a raffle was held after the presentations and extensive questions from the enthralled audience. Prizes had been kindly donated from clients of the practice, horse owners in the area, local businesses, friends and family. A total of £1600 was raised overall thanks to all who contributed by attending and buying raffle tickets – a phenomenal amount of money that will shortly be passed on to EGSF.
LLEP are proud to be proactive at organising such events to help educate the wider horse owning community on conditions that can affect their animals.
The evening was held at the prestigious Loch Leven Campus lecture hall and sponsored by Agria Insurance who were keen to support the initiative to help spread the word and educate horse owners.
