Equine deaths in Marion County, Florida

[Bondama]

Mystery illness kills about 100 horses in Marion

By FRED HIERS
Ocala Star-Banner


Published: Thursday, October 9, 2008 at 6:01 a.m.
Last Modified: Friday, October 10, 2008 at 1:43 a.m.

As many as 100 horses died at a farm in southern Marion County during the past 10 days after the animals became ill, littering the farm's pastures.


Dr. Jose Davila stands in a stall with a customer's mare at Equi Transfer on County Road 475 in Summerfield on Wednesday.
The death toll is unprecedented, say state veterinary officials, and the cause of the illness, so far, remains a mystery.

Owners of EquiTransfer, Jose Davila and his wife, Francis Ramirez, both veterinarians, had to euthanize the horses after the animals showed neurological problems and began collapsing. The couple say they think the cause of the illness was contaminated hay that wreaked havoc on the animals' nervous systems.

Davila and Ramirez would not say who they bought the hay from, but said that EquiTransfer is the supplier's only customer and that they have disposed of all of the suspect hay.

Davila said they did not want to name the supplier because of potential legal consequences that could result if the hay turns out not to have been the problem.

"I wouldn't wish this on anybody," Davila said Wednesday regarding the death of so many horses. "They (the horses) started trembling and fell on the ground. It was like they were having seizures."

Meanwhile, Davila and Ramirez, have sent samples from the dead horses, as well as from the hay, to toxicology labs in New York and Pennsylvania to determine what caused the illness on the 87-acre farm near Summerfield.

The farm also sent two dead horses to the University of Florida Veterinary Medical Center to conduct necropsies, but those reports failed to find an apparent cause of what sickened the horses.

The farm is an embryo transfer facility in which Davila takes fertilized eggs from donor horses and implants them in surrogate horses.

Davila said he doesn't know the financial loss due to the disease, but estimates it to be in excess of several hundred thousand dollars.

He said his horses are insured.

The couple said that the suspect hay arrived Sept. 26 and 27 and that by Sept. 28, the first few horses became sick.

"When we saw two or three, that wasn't common," Davila said.

Within hours, the couple said many more horses showed neurological problems, including twitching muscles, inability to stand and seizure-like symptoms.

Davila and Ramirez contacted other local veterinarians to help treat the horses and rid the animals of potential toxins in their stomachs.

By last Friday, antitoxins had also arrived from the University of Florida veterinary college, which the farm used to treat the sick horses, Davila said. EquiTransfer also gave the antitoxin to its healthy horses as a precaution.

There are at least 400 horses on the farm.

Davila said he is not sure whether the treatments worked, or whether horses got better on their own.

When the disease was at its worst on the farm, horses were "dropping like flies," he said. A few horses could still begin to show symptoms of the sickness, but most appear healthy now, Ramirez said.

Davila said soon after his horses started dying, he informed veterinarian Mike Short, with the state veterinarian's office, which is part of the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.

"If you look at what's occurred, there's no evidence it was contagious," Short said Thursday. "It looks like it's mostly associated with hay."

[foothillsequine]

I read in horse health that the working diagnosis was botulism. Is that still the presumption?

[Langfuhr]

Those horses were fed silage, not hay. Thats what killed them.

[nferro9925]

Langfuhr - How do you know?

[Derby Lyn]

that is also what I heard about the silage-which leads to botulism. Its what has been said on other forums, so I don't know the whole truth to it.

[serenarider]

Those horses were fed silage, not hay. Thats what killed them.

Yes that is what killed them. It was very sad. They also got it from a dealer that only gives them there hay.

[summerhorse]

It was actually haylage but either way it's a bad idea...

[Langfuhr]

I've heard it from people that have personally witnessed these horses eating improperly processed silage. The article says it was haylage...I wish they were actually eating that. The "substance" fed to these horses was literally rotten, moldy soot.