GORHAM, Maine — A rare botulism outbreak has killed 23 horses in the past month at the Whistlin’ Willow Farm, according to the state veterinarian.
There are no signs the animals were cared for improperly, Donald Hoenig told the Portland Press Herald last week. Another 40 to 45 other horses at the farm were not sickened.
The toxin is not contagious and most likely developed in bales of silage, he said. Silage is packaged in white plastic when grass is moist while hay is packaged after it has dried.
The person who provided the silage to the farm is cooperating with state officials, according to Hoenig. The individual has not been identified.
“There may have been other feeds and we’re kind of in the middle of this investigation,” Hoenig said. “We don’t know for sure whether there could have been another source of feed there.”
The veterinarian said no other unusual deaths of horses had been reported recently to his office.
The 175-acre farm where the horses died between April 7 and 17 is located at 17 Nonesuch Road and belongs to William and Anne Kozloff.
They have not responded to email or phone requests for interviews, according to the Press Herald.
The cause of botulism is the toxin given off by the bacteria Clostridium botulinum, Hoenig said. It is fast-acting and powerful and can cause a horse’s death within hours after being ingested.
The same organism can sicken people, who usually become ill after eating improperly canned food.
State officials have been working with the owners of the Gorham farm to dispose of the animals’ remains properly without contaminating the water table, according to the Press Herald. The horses were buried 8 feet deep on the farm.
The concern is not about botulism, but the spread of other contaminants, Hoenig said. Research has shown the bacteria do not spread through water.
“We’re more concerned just about the deterioration of the carcasses and potential runoff into wetlands or in streams,” Hoenig told the Press Herald.
The carcasses might be composted after being removed from the farm, he said. The farm’s owners are working with a state compliance inspector and a soil scientist on a plan to prevent water from leaching through the carcasses and into the water table.
This is old news
Very sad news, and condolences to the owners. However, I didn’t think that type of hay, even uncontaminated, was appropriate feed for horses as it is of poor quality. If they could not afford to feed regular bales of nutritious hay, perhaps there are too many horses in their ownership. None-the-less, I’m sure that they never anticipated this kind or magnitude of problem from the silage. Again, my sympathies for your losses.
No nothing to do with “poor quality” that fact they were given the wrong type!! Hay that’s used for Cows. ……
My deep sympathy to the owners. Dr Hoenig is an excellent vet and will get to the bottom of this, but what heartbreak over such heavy losses.
That is another sad story about animals that depend on us.
I’m old enough to not know anything about this ‘new’ silage stuff. But we did know that the grass had to be dry before baling or you’d at least get the “black hay” inside the bale that couldn’t be used, or at worse, spontaneous combustion destroying your barn and your animals.
I was always a little curious how rolling it up to leave in the field could work, but it obviously does.
Silage is baled for use on dairy farms, It is cut then balled in the same day. Once warped the silage ferments like alcohol, It is used to feed the cows because it yields more milk production and it is cheap and stored easily. It is also poisons to horse’s causing colic. Why they were feeding it to horse’s is a question to me.
Condolences to
William and Anne Kozloff on the l oss of your beloved horses. Hope this is a tragedy that can be avoided in the future so as this heartbreak is not felt by humans and for the loss of beautiful creatures of nature. Best of luck Mr. and Mrs. Kozloff.
I am a horse person of over 35 yrs, and a small hay farmer also. It is my opinion, shared by others I know who are in the hay business that feeding hay silage to horses can have some very negative effects leading to death.
I cannot imagine why they were feeding the horses this way. The horses digestive system is totally different from cows and very very sensitive to poor feeding practices with colic often a result, among other bad things.
Good quality hay in round bales, like I produce, costs less than hay silage as it costs quite a bit to wrap the silage bales in plastic. It takes expensive, very specialized equipment and the plastic, all adding to the cost.
I bet the reason they were feeding baleage was that it’s cheap and they had over 65 horses to feed. I don’t know where you are, but round bales can be pretty expensive in southern Maine – $45-$65.
I am in dairy country, around Dover Foxcroft. I sold 4 x 4 round bales, out of the field last year for $20 each.
I guess I need a truck to haul them to southern Maine.
Nope, risky stuff this Green fodder silage is. The risk of botulism is well known, just one of a host of other issues like : most horses don’t like it; those that do eat it too quickly leaving
long “empty” times; the protein content is too high and could cause
problems in susceptible horses; it is acidic and can cause colic and
other digestive disturbances; there are documented cases of poor packing
leading to botulism poisoning of horses.It’s a way to save money and in my opinion far to risky.
A little science reporting would have helped this article.
Horses are the most sensitive of the domesticated animals tobotulism. Botulism is a disease that occurs when toxins produced bythe bacterium _Clostridium botulinum_ enter the horse’s body causingweakness which may progress to paralysis. The botulism bacterium is aspore-forming, anaerobic bacteria (grows in the absence of oxygen)which is found worldwide. It is commonly present in soil and indecaying animal carcasses.When the bacterium grows, it produces one or more toxins. These toxinsblock the connection between the nerves and muscles. As a result,affected horses often exhibit signs varying from muscle weakness toparalysis.Affected horses- usually have muscle tremors,- may be so weak that they cannot stand up,- lose control of their tongue so it may hang from their mouth,- can’t eat, and they drool because they can’t swallow,- may walk stiffly with a short stride, or they may be weak andstumble. Their tail may lose its tone.Eventually, they die because their respiratory muscles becomeparalyzed or because they get other health problems from being down.These clinical signs can occur within several hours or up to 7-10 dayspost ingestion of the contaminated feed.Horses can get botulism in any of 3 ways. In foals up to 8 months ofage, botulism can occur if the bacterium grows in the foal’sintestines. Foals that are growing well and are being fed grain aremost likely to get into trouble. These foals are called “shakerfoals,” because the muscle weakness from the toxin makes themtremble.Occasionally, a wound can become infected with the bacterium and causebotulism in adults. Fortunately, this is rare. Far more commonly,botulism occurs when horses eat feed or water which contains preformedtoxin. Clostridia grow on substrates (food sources) that are above apH of 4.5 and are in an anaerobic (non oxygen) environment, where theyproduce toxins.Improperly preserved hay can be an ideal environment for clostridialgrowth. Water and feed can also be contaminated with the carcass of adead animal. When several horses develop botulism, toxin in feed orwater is usually the reason.Seven distinct serotypes of botulinum toxin have been isolated. Theyare designated types A through G. There appears to be a geographicaldistribution of the various serotypes as well as association withdifferent feed sources. The following indicates the serotype and thetypical species involved in a poisoning:- types A, B, and C have been seen in cattle;- type A botulinum toxin has been incriminated in several outbreaks inhorses in the northwestern United States (Washington, Idaho, Montana,Oregon);- type B predominates and is referred to as forage botulism because ofits association with contaminated forage;- type C is referred to as carrion botulism because of the associationwith the ingestion of feed containing a decomposing carcass (such as,rodent, cat, dog, bird) or from eating the bones of dead animals;- types C and D are found in poultry and poultry manures, mink, andwild ducks;- type E occurs in fish or in association with the consumption of fishproducts.The clinical signs of botulism are similar to other causes of centralnervous signs, including rabies, the equine viral encephalitisdiseases such as eastern, western, or West Nile encephalitis, and thenervous form of equine viral rhinopneumonitis. Botulism is diagnosedby eliminating other causes of central nervous disease and associatinga point source such as the feeding of haylage.Rarely, is it possible to detect botulinum toxin in the serum ofaffected animals or in suspect feed. The mouse toxin assay is the goldstandard for toxin detection and typing. However, it may take up to 4days to complete the test. Although a positive test confirms thepresence of the toxin, a negative test does not mean that an animal isnot affected by the disease.Botulism is difficult to treat. There is a polyvalent (A-E) anti-toxinavailable from Dr Bob Whitlock at New Bolton Center, University ofPennsylvania. However, it costs about $3000 per horse. Other plasmaproducts (Veterinary Dynamics) contain type B antitoxin. TheUniversity of Guelph and some other teaching hospitals maintain asupply of antitoxin. The antitoxin is most beneficial if used whenanimals are 1st seen to be sick. With supportive care, horses canrecover but, if they are exposed to a large amount of toxin, most willdie despite treatment.An inactivated toxoid is used to vaccinate against botulism. A toxoidis a toxin which has been treated to destroy its toxicity but retainsits ability to generate an immune response when injected into ananimal. Neogen Biologics, Michigan, USA, manufactures Bot Tox-B. It isavailable in Canada from some suppliers. It protects against type Bonly. A 3-initial-dose vaccination program is recommended followed bya single annual vaccination.