African horsesickness

A viral disease of horses transmitted by blood-sucking insects. In the pulmonary form, high fever, rapid breathing, excessive sweating and 95% death occur within 3-4 days. In the cardiac form, symptoms appear within 5-7 days and include high fever, swelling of the supraorbital fossa and other areas of the head, and conjunctivitis. Death occurs in more than 50% of cases within 4-8 days. The febrile form is the mildest form of AHS, characterised by fever followed by recovery. In the combined pulmonary and cardiac form, mortality occurs 3-6 days after the onset of clinical signs.