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One of the few vets who is any good has done a culture. It is an influenza virus of a type we haven't had here before. No telling if the vaccines are for the right thing but at this point vaccination of unvaccinated horses would actually work against them. Their immune systems take a hit and then in about 3 weeks come back stronger. We can't wait that long. Because of the variation in the types/vaccines and the outrageous prices for imported vaccines, most horses are not vaccinated. 

Maryanne

On Thu, Jul 10, 2008 at 11:18 PM, Elizabeth Walker <bwalker2@xxxxxxx> wrote:

Sending you good vibes....

Has this infection been identified?  You said at the start it was equine influenza, but then seemed to indicate that you didn't know what it really was.  Some vets can chime in, but if it is a form of influenza, if your horses have already been vaccinated, they might hopefully have some protection, even if this is a new form.

On Jul 10, 2008, at 12:10 PM, Maryanne Gabbani wrote:

We have an epidemic of equine influenza here in Egypt and horses are dropping like flies. I was called by one of my vets to warn me that it's a viral infection that seems to have come in from Europe with an imported jumper. Lord knows we have enough viruses in Egypt to deal with without anything else coming along. I have about 25 horses, donkeys, and mules on the farm and most of them have not been vaccinated for whatever the hell this is. The only vaccines here are imported from the US but not necessarily for the bugs that we grow here.

I've put the farm on strict lock down. No one coming in other than our staff and no horses in or out. Grooms have to have a change of clothes for going home and coming to work that have to be changed first thing before they put on their work clothes that stay here. Shoes and feet get washed in antibacterial tubs. And we've put together a herbal mix to enhance the immune systems. Clients have been told that there will be no riding for the time being....like I need the financial hit at a time when I have to pay the extra costs for the horses as well.

I guess I'm getting a month's vacation whether I like it or not, but it is so scary to sit and worry about bloody viruses flying through the air. I checked on a friend's horses at a stable just down the road and found that two of the horses there were running fevers above 40 C (don't know what it is in F but it's way too hot) and one of the friend's horses had a cough and a runny nose. The two horses died this afternoon and I don't know how the friend's horse is. I can't go back there because I would be tracking microbes home. Today I came home, shed my clothes to be washed, scrubbed my boots in Dettol, and showered completely to clean up.

I am so tired this evening from the strain of explaining how to maintain a quarantine to the staff and from the stress of maintaining an umbrella of calm, serenity, and love to help keep the horses safe and happy so that they can fight off any infections that may make it through. In all the years I've had since my husband died, I've never been so frightened.

Maryanne

--
Maryanne Stroud Gabbani
msgabbani@xxxxxxxxx

Egypt Face to Face
www.alsorat.com
Weblogs:
Living In Egypt
miloflamingo.blogspot.com
Cairo/Giza Daily Photo
cairogizadailyphoto.blogspot.com
Turn Right At The Sarcophagus
haramlik.blogspot.com
Da Moose Is Loose (a blog for kids)
mstroud.blogspot.com
Photos of Egypt:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/livinginegypt/

-- 
Maryanne Stroud Gabbani
msgabbani@xxxxxxxxx

Egypt Face to Face
www.alsorat.com
Weblogs:
Living In Egypt
miloflamingo.blogspot.com
Cairo/Giza Daily Photo
cairogizadailyphoto.blogspot.com
Turn Right At The Sarcophagus
haramlik.blogspot.com
Da Moose Is Loose (a blog for kids)
mstroud.blogspot.com
Photos of Egypt:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/livinginegypt/