Can Potomac fever be fatal?
Absolutely.
Vaccinated horses tend to fare better when they contract it. Early treatment works a lot better than trying to play catch up.
If you’re in an area where it’s a problem, then regardless of vaccination status, I would be treating for it at the first sign of a fever, after blood is drawn for testing just in case it’s not that.
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Thank you. We are in N KY and have lost three horses at the barn where I board since Christmas . One of them was colic, although it was a bit of an unusual colic from my limited experience, the other two were just unexplained as far as I know. Just weird. From what I have read it seems to be aquatic to some degree, however I have also read that it can transmitted through bird fences. We definitely have birds in the barns.
I am pretty sure that it’s not a typical vaccine given here. We probably have to ask for it. I don’t remember seeing it on my recent invoice for spring shots. It’s just weird, and I am just trying to figure it out.
A friend of mine lost a young horse that was fully vaccinated to PHF. She lives in Western PA. None of the vets initially treating the horse even thought PHF until it was too late.
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Sorry to hear that, but thank you for replying.
While it can definitely be fatal, it is usually because it causes extreme and prolonged diarrhea and/or secondary laminitis caused by fever.
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My vet recently told me that the PHF vaccine is most effective within 4-5 months, so she recommended doing it in the spring and then a booster in the late summer/early fall. This a semi-new vet to me and I hadn’t heard that before, I had typically done it with my spring shots and that’s that, but will do the booster now as there have been several fatal cases of PHF in my area (MD) the past few years. Something to inquire about when you do vaccinate …
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I never vaccinated for PHF growing up in PA until the late 90s when I was taking my horse to college in VA and it was required.
When I moved to TN in the mid-00s, few people vaccinated for it or had even heard of it. Most vets didn’t recommend it. I kept up with the vaccine, mainly because I’d buy the PHF/rabies combo (which I’m now learning may have decreased effectiveness)… but I was sure glad I did, because it wasn’t long before a friend lost her horse to PHF. Several others also lost horses to it. I think the biggest problem was the vets weren’t used to seeing it and were treating it like general enterocolitis with the usual supportive care and general broad spectrum antibiotics instead of starting horses on a tetracycline right away. No one would start considering it until all the other cultures came back negative and the horses were continuing to worsen. PHF progresses quickly and by the time you realize what you’re dealing with, it’s often too late.
I worry about it here… we have A LOT of water around.
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Learn what horse diseases are happening locally. There should be a State site showing horse sicknesses, what is happening and where, how many equines affected. Then you can better keep an eye on your horses to spot changes quickly and take action. Talking to your local Vet office might keep you alerted to new sicknesses around the area. Our Vets posted notices in the paper last summer for a totally new dog flu, also fatal! Very virilant, spread thru the air with coughing and sneezing. They were vaccinating dogs in the parking lot to prevent spreading with dogs meeting in the waiting rooms!!
My 5yr old gelding got Potomac last summer at the Trainers, but because other cases had been reported locally, she was watching everyone. He was not enthused about finishing g his hay, when he is usually an enthusiastic eater. She brought him right in, because this was " way off" acting for him, called the Vet who came and gave the first treatment within an hour. Test proved he did have Potomac, so daily treatments continued for the full course of meds. He really did not act very sick, kept eating and drinking lots of water. So he got off training for about 8-9 days until back to himself. He was not vaccinated, though it seems even the vaccinated horses get Potomac. That virus mutates yearly, vaccines can’t keep up.
We also had a horse get Potomac about 5 years ago, which we also caught very early. She was in the barn pooping as we exited the barn to work other horses. We came back about an hour and a half later, put our horses in the crossties. She then pooped again, but it was clear liquid!! What are the chances of seeing such a change in that short time?? No idea what she had wrong but called the Vet right away. Vet guessed Potomac right off, sees it often. Vet had some cases about 20 miles away, it was very wet that summer. Vet came right out and treated horse immediately. Tests confirmed Potomac so she was back every day that week treating mare. Horse recovered well. Horse never stopped steady nibbling of hay, wet beet pulp and of all things, Calf Manna! Horse loved the Calf Manna. Vet recommended it, said almost every horse will eat it if they eat nothing else. Not eating causes body to use muscle tissue to survive, and few return to their former body condition if that happens.
So if you know there is Potomac in the area, keep a close eye on your equines for changes, even small ones. Don’t wait for them to “act normal” again. Having the Vet out to give the first treatment is small money, won’t hurt the horse, should tests say it is NOT Potomac. Better to be one day ahead in treatment than start treatment on a much sicker animal.
Locally there usually are a fair number of Potomac cases west of us. Lots of lakes and swampy there. No cases around (10 miles) close when the mare got sick and none of our others got Potomac. Same with the gelding. Potomac “was in the area” but none within 5 miles, though Trainer is located in an area with lots of water around. None of her other horses, neighboring horses, got Potomac like our gelding did. Weird disease, but VERY treatable especially when caught early. Our Vet was not excited that our mare had it, expected horse to recover with treatment and keeping horse drinking and eating. And we caught it really early seeing the clear water instead of real poop. Only 2 hours before getting treated! Some horses refuse to eat or drink, they get in trouble dehydrating without sustenance and enough liquids. Both ours were good to tube with the volume of liquid medication.
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