Equine Grass Sickness

Horses, as mammals, share common ground with humans when it comes to suffering similar conditions. They can get allergies, cancer, blood disorders, cystitis, heart disease, skin tumours, and a variety of other ailments. 

But scientists at the University of Edinburgh’s Roslin Institute and Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies are finding new information about a fatal horse condition known as equine grass sickness that may hold clues to better understanding Alzheimer’s disease.

Equine grass sickness damages parts of the nervous system which control the involuntary functions resulting in gut paralysis and muscle tremors. The condition can kill a horse or pony within days.

The cause of the disease is unknown despite the fact that there has been almost a century of investigation. The first case was reported in eastern Scotland about 1907. There are three forms of grass sickness – acute (in which horses die within 48 hours), subacute (in which animals may only live seven days), and chronic (in which some animals may survive with intense nursing).

As to the cause, all kinds of poisonous plants, chemicals, bacteria, viruses, insects and metabolic connections have been examined and the current theory being explored is a soil bacterium. Yet, there have also been a few cases of animals getting the disease that have not had access to grazing. The disease does not appear to be contagious and the type of nervous system damage done suggests some kind of toxic substance