MADDENED HORSES

Grey River Argus, 8 January 1944, Page 6

MADDENED HORSES

TRY TO CLIMB TREES SYDNEY, . Dec. 28. A disease known as “circling sickness” is' killing horses in Clarence River districts, on the north coast of New South Wales. Affected animals go ma'd and run round blindly in circles, crashing into railings and destroying fences. Draught horses are particularly affected by the disease. Some of the maddened animals have attempted to climb trees and buildings, and have endangered the lives of farmers who tried to catch them. A well-known Sydney veterinary surgeon (Mr Roy Stewart) said that the disease was encephalitis, or inflammation of the brain. It could be caused from the bite of an insect, but was more likely to be due to a microbe which bred in mouldy grain. “Probably the damp season has turned the farmers’ corn feed mouldy.’’ he added. “If so, the only wav to prevent the spread of the disease will be a completely new diet for the horses. - I have known individual cases of encephalitis among horses in New South Wales, but there have been no previous serious outbreaks. In America it has killed thousands of horses during the last five years.”