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Queensland Itch - the proper story

With reference to the problem Sally Adams wrote about, the prevalence of Queensland Itch and it being a common problem in the horse population in Queensland. Let me assure you the problem is not endemic to just Queensland, and has been recorded and studied in some of the cold climates as well.

It is a complaint caused through one cause only, and here in Australia it is Culicoides Brevatarsis though there are some trains of thought that lie the blame squarely at the feet of Culicoides Robertsi, both commonly known as 'midges' or more properly, biting midge. This is the only known cause of the complaint and it presents as Ms Adams described in her blog on the complaint, solely as a hypersensitive reaction to the midge bite.

Testing of Histamine levels taken from both affected horses and unaffected horses showed a major dissimilarity in constants or working levels. The unaffected animal had shown a constant level of histamine throughout the day as well as night, whereas in the animals that showed signs of reaction the histamine level varied quite markedly and seemingly at around the relevant times of coincidence when midge activity was at peak levels.

There are treatments for the condition such as a course of Hapamine, however, here in Queensland, the only really effective treatment I have found is to be the removal of the horse from areas adjacent to the coast or on the coastal side of the Great Dividing Range. I have owned and been involved with horses showing the allergy, and during field testing I have conducted on these horses the only truly cure for the complaint I have just listed above - removal of the horse to the other side of the range or send the horse down south away from the midge problem.

Also in the course of my work as a veterinarian and an equine nutritionist, I have used the claimed 'cure' of saltbush in treatment programs, and have yet to prove its effectiveness in so far as Queensland Itch improvement or alleviation, although I did note behavioral pattern change in the horse itself whilst on saltbush.

Learn more about this author, Peter Waller.
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