African Horse Sickness

African horse sickness (AHS), also called equine plague, disease of Equidae (horses, mules, donkeys, and zebras) caused by an orbivirus called AHSV (family Reoviridae) that is transmitted by arthropods, notably biting midges (Culicoides imicola). The disease, which is not usually fatal to indigenous zebra herds, is often fatal in horses. Dogs have also been fatally infected after eating virally contaminated horse meat.

Signs of the disease occur within 10 days of viral invasion and include three main forms—pulmonary, cardiac, and fever—and usually edema. The acute, or pulmonary, form results in severe pulmonary edema and death. The subacute form affects the heart and causes widespread subcutaneous edema and often heart failure. The fever form, in which fever is the sole symptom, is usually mild. The disease persists in southern and equatorial Africa, and outbreaks have also occurred in the Iberian Peninsula, North Africa, and parts of the Middle East. There is no cure for the disease, but annual vaccination provides immunity.