An equine hospital has confirmed a “significant” number of horse deaths at a livery yard is an isolated incident, caused by a suspected contaminated food source.

A number of horses at Clough House livery yard in Ripponden, West Yorkshire, became ill last week and have since been put down.

In a statement yesterday (20 October) Hird and Partners Shelf Equine Hospital said the hospital had been involved in treating horses from Clough House since 13 October, since then a “significant” number of horses had been lost.

“Early indications are that this is a poisoning due to an unidentified toxin. There is no indication of infectious disease,” the statement reads.

“The problem is an isolated incident on one yard. The source of the toxin is believed to be a contaminated food source that has now been removed and does not pose a risk to other animals or people.

“This has been a very distressing time for the horse owners and the equine hospital staff involved and we very much appreciate all the support we have received from the wider veterinary community around the world.”

The statement said the hospital will not be commenting further at this stage and is focusing all its efforts on providing intensive care for the remaining horses admitted to the hospital.

A Clough House livery told H&H she lost her mare in the early hours of Sunday morning (18 October).

“It’s very raw. She was my horse of a lifetime,” she said.

“We’re not pointing the finger, it’s a tragic accident. The vets have been absolutely brilliant, I cannot fault them. They have done their utmost to try to fight it.”

Continued below…

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Clough House yard manager Corey Taylor told H&H the yard had been working closely with Hird & Partners and further tests are being carried out.

“I can’t stress enough how amazing our vets have been and how brilliant our clients have been,” he said.

“We are absolutely devastated for everybody involved, our hearts go out to the team at Shelf and to our clients who have lost their beloved horses very tragically.”

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A new equine intensive care unit in Liverpool was opened earlier this month by Lord Derby.

Lord Derby officially opened the £2m unit at the University of Liverpool’s Philip Leverhulme Equine Hospital on 4 October.

The unit provides state-of-the-art-facilities, as well as specially designed areas for the treatment of foals.

And it has a motion detection system – the first of its kind in the UK – in each box to allow vets to identify changes in a patient’s behaviour over a short period of time.

The unit has 11 intensive care boxes across two wings of the new building. Each hospital wing is connected to a large examination and treatment area, which includes a patient observation area, as well as a lab for rapid testing of disease samples.

“The hospital sees 2,000 equine cases every year – ranging from routine cases, such as the investigation of lameness, to the more serious emergency referrals, such as horses suffering with colic. We also work closely with Aintree racecourse during all of the Grand National events,” said Chris Proudman, professor of equine studies at the University.

“The new technologies available to us, as well as the advancement of research into colic, cancer, and tissue repair, allow us to further enhance the treatment of critically ill horses. The development of the ICU at Liverpool is an important step forward in supporting veterinary scientists in the assessment of injury and disease, as well as evaluating the most effective forms of treatment.”

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The University of Liverpool is to build a £2 million intensive care unit (ICU) at its equine hospital.

The ICU, due to be completed in July this year, will provide state-of-the-art-facilities for the care of injured and sick horses, as well as specially designed areas for the treatment of foals.

The University’s Philip Leverhulme Equine Hospital provides expert care to the Grand National each year.

The facility will comprise of 11 intensive care loose boxes across two wings of the new building.

Each hospital wing will be connected to a large examination and treatment area, which will include a patient observation area, as well as a fully-equipped laboratory for rapid testing of disease samples.

The unit will also have a motion detection system — the first of its kind in the UK — in each horse box to allow vets to identify changes in a patient’s behaviour over a short period of time.

Professor Chris Proudman, from the Philip Leverhulme Equine Hospital, said: “The ICU has been designed to provide the best possible care for injured and sick horses.

“The new technologies available to us will further improve our assessment of injuries in horses and how they are responding to medication.

“The unit will be available to all horses, but it will play an important role in the care of racehorses coming to us from sporting events such as the Grand National.

“As well as the excellent facilities available to vets at the racecourses, we will have new stabling and services to care for those horses that require further investigation and treatment at the hospital.”

The ICU has been made possible through a bequest from University veterinary scientist graduate, Henry Edwards, and generous donations from the Bransby Home of Rest for Horses and the Leverhulme Charitable Trust.

The new facilities form part of a £6 million fundraising campaign to develop a Centre for Colic Prevention and an Equine Performance Centre.

The Performance Centre aims to increase veterinary support to horse racing industries and generate research focusing on the diagnosis of lameness, the prevention of athletic injury and the effective repair of damaged tissues.

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More veterinary equine news

Find an equine vet

We take it for granted that when our horses suffer from a bacterial infection there is a straightforward way to treat it — with antibiotics.

But new research has shown the time has come to stop being complacent. A fresh threat has arrived — antibiotic resistance following a stay in equine hospital.

Why the cause for concern?

Bacterial populations are smart. Ever since penicillin was first developed in the 1940s, they have been evolving ways to resist the attacks they receive from antibiotic treatment.

Whenever new antibiotics are developed, bacteria are susceptible to their actions to begin with but, within a few months, more of them will start to develop resistance until, eventually, the medication will be of little value.

A recent experiment conducted by Adele Williams and her team of researchers at the University of Liverpool showed why we should be taking this issue seriously.

The study proved that while kept in a home environment horses are at a relatively low risk of meeting bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics — problems start when they are hospitalised with other horses.

The effects of hospitalisation

Funded by The Horse Trust, Adele Williams’ project aimed to highlight the problem of antibiotic resistance and the effect hospitalisation of horses has on this.

Samples of droppings from horses arriving at an equine hospital were tested for the gut-borne bacteria E.coli. The same horses were tested again seven days later.

E.coli was chosen because it is present in the gut of all horses and it has the potential to cause infections in certain instances, for example in wounds. Recording how many of these bacteria were resistant to antibiotics gave a measure of the amount of bacteria associated with the horse that could be resistant to treatment at any one time.

The results of the study were conclusive: they showed that while the levels of resistance in horses admitted to the hospital were low, after seven days of hospitalisation, the levels of bacteria resistant to seven of eight common antibiotics used to treat horses increased significantly.

Furthermore, this increase occurred in every horse, no matter whether they were treated with antibiotics. It was the fact they were hospitalised that was important.

Interestingly, one of the common antibiotics used in equine veterinary practice, trimethoprim-sulpha — the most commonly prescribed antibiotic as it can be given easily in the horse feed — showed a high level of resistance in both horses when entering the hospital and also after seven days of hospitalisation.

Nearly one in three horses that were admitted to the clinic carried bacteria that were resistant to trimethoprim-sulpha, but this increased to two out of three horses after they had been in an equine hospital for a week.

For the full article on antibiotic resistance, see the current issue of Horse & Hound (18 February, ’10)

Looking for more veterinary equine news?

Find an equine vet near you

Cornwall’s first equine veterinary hospital was opened officially last month, after four years of planning.

Penmellyn Veterinary Group in St Columb Major has facilities including an operating theatre, X-ray and ultrasound facilities, an intensive care unit, an isolation unit, and an equine consultation stable for non-invasive procedures.

“The practice started before 1900,” said Peter Murrish, one of five partners at Penmellyn. “We moved in here last September, but it was opened officially by the Princess Royal on 29 May, after the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons [RCVS] designated us an accredited equine hospital.”

The mixed practice has 36 staff, with equine nurses providing 24hr supervision and four equine vets.

Mr Murrish added: “We’re already having a lot more horses coming in — people seem to want to come and get everything done at once, vaccinations, teeth and so on, and it’s much easier to do lameness tests and X-rays at the same place.”

The hospital cost £1.8million to build — 60% of which was funded by the Penmellyn Group and 40% from an Objective One grant — consisting of European and DEFRA funding.

“To get the funding, we have to fulfil a number of criteria over the next two years, including reaching the RCVS equine hospital standard — now achieved,” said practice manager Anne Thompson.

There are only 14 accredited equine hospitals in the UK. A spokesman for the RCVS confirmed that Penmellyn is accredited to the highest standard on the RCVS Practice Standards Scheme, a voluntary scheme launched in January 2005.

Local stud owner Angela Wise, from Dalcotes Stud in White Cross near Newquay, told H&H the hospital was a “definite plus” for all owners in Cornwall. She uses Penmellyn for studwork, and used to have to travel up to Bristol for hospital facilities.

“It’s bad enough having a sick animal without being referred up country with it for treatment,” she said. “Penmellyn is now just a 10min drive away for me.”

This news story was first published in the current issue of Horse & Hound (21 June, 07)

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A new scheme to “vet” veterinary practices was launched this week. The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS), the regulatory body for vets in the UK, has set up the voluntary accreditation scheme to offer owners quality assurance and peace of mind when choosing a practice.

“Since the Veterinary Surgeons Act 1966 there’s been a lot of changes to the way vets work,” said RCVS spokesman Lizzie Lockett. “It used to be enough to regulate vets, but it’s not now. Practices have changed with the rise of para-professionals, vet nurses, managers and the introduction of corporate practices.”

The scheme was devised by a group including the British Equine Veterinary Association (BEVA) and the British Veterinary Hospitals Association, and launched to vets in January 2005.

Practices will be accredited on three levels — for meeting core standards; species/discipline-specific general practices; and as a hospital, either small animal or equine.

Inspections will take place every four years, with yearly self-certification and spot checks in between. Minimum standards for qualification include 24hr emergency cover, staff training, hygiene, cost estimation procedures and certain types of equipment. With almost half of UK practices signed up, the scheme has been launched to the public, who can search for accredited practices online at www.findavet.org.uk

“It’s reassuring horse owners that we’re doing what we say we are,” said Chris House from BEVA. “We hope more practices will sign up as awareness of the scheme grows, it’s likely to become compulsory under the new Vet Surgeons Act [currently awaiting parliamentary time].”

“It’s useful for the public to be aware that not all vets are equal with their standards and facilities and it’s worth knowing that an independent body has checked up,” said vet Karen Coumbe, a partner in Bell Equine, now a top-level accredited equine hospital. “If you drop your animal into a vet you don’t currently know whether anyone will be there to check it in the middle of the night.

Of 3,800 vet practices in the UK, 1,808 have joined the scheme so far.

Ms Lockett added: “It doesn’t mean practices not on the scheme aren’t any good — this is voluntary.”

Accredited equine hospitals

• Endell Veterinary Group Equine Hospital
• The Ashbrook Equine Hospital
• The Queen’s Veterinary School Hospital
• Kearns & Rea Three Counties
• Ridgeway Veterinary Group – Valley Equine Hospital
• Du Preez, Lyall, Matthews, Waterhouse & Van Pelt
• Chine House Equine & Small Animal Veterinary Hospital
• The Liphook Equine Hospital
• Rossdale & Partners MsRCVS
• Bell Equine Veterinary Clinic
• Charter Veterinary Hospital Group

This news story was first published in Horse & Hound (6 April, ’06)

The Animal Health Trust (AHT) has re-launched an appeal to raise £10 million for the redevelopment of its laboratory complex and cancer research unit.

The main focus of the redevelopment of the laboratory complex is the equine infectious diseases unit, which is expected to account for as much as £5 million of the funds.

Infectious diseases in the horse are a major component of the AHT’s work, in particular the development of vaccines and keeping vaccines up-to-date. Similarly to some human infectious diseases, viruses such as equine influenza are constantly mutating, and the vaccine has to change accordingly.

“We are past the point of simply looking at infections,” explains Ted Chandler, Chief Executive of the AHT. “We want to know why an infection is infectious, and which elements can be used to produce immunity in a vaccine.”

The laboratories have been in need of work for a considerable period, with some researchers working in Portakabins on the site, but priority has until now been given to other vital needs, such as an equine hospital and an MRI unit to look at horses’ (and other animals’) legs.

“We’ve known for a long time that this work has to be done”, says Chandler, “not least because the AHT stands at the forefront of the industry, and in order to maintain that position, the laboratories and equipment that we use have to keep pace with scientific progress.”

Almost £3 million of the fundraising effort is expected to go towards modernising the equine infectious diseases unit, which is still housed in a 1960s pre-fab.

Another major feature of the AHT’s work is their research into animal cancers, and the trust is hoping to set up a new home for its cancer genetic work. This will bring together all the elements of cancer research – pathology, histology etc., so that the trust can push ahead in this field.

“We deal with animals with tumours that vets in practice can’t deal with,” says Mr Chandler. “But our work doesn’t stop there – we then analyse the tumours and look at the genetic structure – how the cells have changed to become cancerous – and the carrier state.

Creating the infrastructure for, and inserting a new cancer research unit is expected to cost up to a fifth of the total target. The AHT has already raised nearly £1 million, and hopes to have gathered funds for the redevelopment by early 2007.

• To make a donation, phone 08700 502 424 or e-mail: info@aht.org.uk

The Royal Veterinary College at North Mymms in Hertfordshire has teamed up with Diamond Land Rover.

Diamond Land Rover has supplied two Land Rover Discoveries and two Land Rover Freelanders free of charge.

This will give The Royal Veterinary College more vehicles to enable the students and vets to attend call outs to its farming clients.

The Foot and Mouth Disease outbreak has focused attention on the importance of training of veterinary surgeons for the future.

Professor Gary England said: “The association with Land Rover will increase the profile of the Royal Veterinary College’s Large Animal Practice and will be of significant benefit to both our staff and students.

“The Large Animal Practice is backed by the most modern facilities of The Royal Veterinary College’s hospitals. We have recently recruited a very experienced veterinary surgeon, Jason Tupper, to our equine team and look forward to our continued expansion and liaison with Diamond Landrover. ”

Professor England also said that the Large Animal Practice had continued to provide service to its clients, despite the turmoil of the current Foot and Mouth outbreak.

www.rvc.ac.uk