SPANA Launches Appeal to Tackle Diseases in Working Equids

The charity is raising the funds needed to vaccinate against and treat life-threatening diseases such as tetanus.
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Working animal charity SPANA (the Society for the Protection of Animals Abroad) has launched a major new fundraising appeal aimed at treating and preventing deadly diseases among working animals.

The charity—which provides free veterinary treatment to horses, donkeys, and other working animals in developing countries around the world—is raising the funds needed to vaccinate against and treat life-threatening diseases, such as tetanus.

The deadly diseases SPANA is targeting include:

  • African Horse Sickness—This highly infectious and deadly disease is spread by insect bites and affects equids in Ethiopia and elsewhere in Africa. The acute form of the disease is fatal in around 90% of cases.

  • Tetanus—Working animals are particularly vulnerable to cuts and scratches in their working environments, which means that the risk of getting the bacterial disease, which enters the body through wounds, is high. Although the disease is usually fatal for infected animals, it is preventable through vaccination.

  • Epizootic Lymphangitis (EZL)—This painful and contagious fungal disease currently affects up to 30% of Ethiopia’s cart horse population. Early treatment is crucial to the survival of a horse with EZL, and SPANA veterinarians treated nearly 800 cases of EZL last year.

“In many developing countries, animals are suffering and dying needlessly due to the lack of vaccinations and veterinary treatment for diseases that are entirely preventable," said Jeremy Hulme, SPANA chief executive. "SPANA vets are saving the lives of countless animals, such as the donkeys working on Mali’s rubbish dumps, by vaccinating them and treating their wounds. However, our work is only possible thanks to the generous donations we receive. We urge people to support this urgent appeal to help us vaccinate and save many more animals. With so many of the diseases threatening working animals, a simple injection really can be the difference between life and death

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