According to sources in Lebanon, twenty-one race horses have been euthanized recently in an attempt to control the highly contagious Glanders disease.
Glanders symptoms were first identified three months ago in two horses when the assistance of the Agriculture Ministry and the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE were contacted. Blood tests were performed on horses keept at the Hippodrome stables and in breeding areas in the Bekaa Valley
The blood tests were carried out at laboratories in Lebanon and Germany. Some 1000 horses were originally tested and those horses whose test results were"suspicious," if not necessarily positive, were destroyed in order to prevent the risk of the disease spreading. Microchips were implanted in the horses so that they could be tracked.
Glanders is a highly contagious disease that usually affects horses, donkeys and mules, but can be transmitted to other animals. It tends to be contracted through contaminated water but this is not its only source. There is no vaccine for Glanders, and sick animals can transmit the disease to humans.
Currently equines are under restricted movement control and subject to testing if any indication of Glanders symptoms are detected. All measures that have been implemented by the Agriculture Ministry are in compliance with international standards according to authorities involved in the cases.