State deptartment halts horse show at race course over glanders fear

PUNE: The animal husbandry department on Friday stopped a three-day horse show at the Pune race course organised by Maharashtra Equestrian Association from Friday.

The department's order came after the state government declared Pune, Ahmednagar, Satara, Amravati, Akola, Thane and Buldhana as 'controlled' districts to stop the spread of glanders, an infectious disease in horses, in October.

The department's order said, "... Government of Maharashtra has issued a notification on Oct 27, 2017 regarding declaration of controlled area in respect of glanders disease, which is a scheduled disease, declared under the Prevention and Control of Infectious and Contagious Diseases in Animal Act 2009. Under this notification, transportation and events of gathering of horses in Pune district is banned. So, you are hereby instructed to follow the rules and regulations mentioned in the notification..."

Glanders can occur in horses, mules and donkeys. It can be transmitted to dogs, cats, goats and humans. Burkholderia mallei, a bacterium, causes the infection through contaminated feed or water. The infection has affected horses in the state after 12 years.



A horse lover tipped-off the department about the horse show on Friday, demanding that any risk of the disease spreading to other horses be avoided. The organisers were unavailable for comment.

A senior official from the department told TOI that the state government had recently banned the transportation of horses as a preventive measure against glanders. "Close to 13 horses have fallen prey so far, this year. The disease was last reported in 2005. The state government declared Pune a controlled area after a horse succumbed to glanders in Indiranagar, recently," the official added.

The department is undertaking serum surveillance of horses in the controlled districts. Officials said these districts may be de-notified after three months.

The Pune race course, where the horse show was to be held, is jointly maintained by the defence authorities and Royal Western India Turf Club (RWITC).

The club's authorities said they were not connected with the show. A top RWITC source said the organiser had got permission to hold the event in the field training area of the race course from the defence authorities.

"The RWITC gave the space for the horse show. We are not the organizers. Our horses are currently in Mumbai and were not participating in the show. If the state government has ordered cancellation of the event, the order will have to be followed by the organiser," an RWITC source said.

Vineeta Tandon, honorary animal welfare officer, under the Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) said glanders, also called farcy, is highly contagious in horses and usually fatal.

"If a horse has the symptoms, it should be quarantined and safety measures taken. There should strictly be no races or shows as a safety and preventive measure for other horses," she said.

An Iowa State University study, updated in 2015, says glanders tormented the horse family for centuries, but was eradicated from most countries by the mid-1900s.

Its spread to humans is uncommon but can be painful and a threat to life. Without antibiotic treatment, the case fatality rate may be as high as 95%, the study added.

The larger concern is that the disease has re-emerged in countries where it appeared to be absent or was limited to small foci of infection, like in India in 2006.