[Ag-eq] horse deworming

[Jewel]

At present, and may it long remain so, we do not have canine heartworm in New Zealand, and, although 
I don't know the answer to this, the intermediate host for transmission of the worm may be a species 
of mosquito that we don't have either.
I suspect that the heartworm is not one of primordial vintage :  therefore, the dog has not 
developed any evolutionary resistance to it.
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Many years ago, the government Department of Internal Affairs Wildlife Division introduced 
myxamatosis in an attempt to control rabbits, but it failed to spread as the rabbit flea which was 
the vector was not present in  the environment.
The ghastly sight of those rabbits that did die with grossly swollen heads brought forth such a 
public outcry that the necessary step of introducing the flea was not made.
In the 1990s, there was a push from Federated Farmers to introduce the disease that has 2 nmames: 
rabbit hemorrragic disease [rhd] or rabbit colicci virus [rcv.
The government kept dragging its heels, until, a single, it is believed, farmer got hold of the 
virus that had been released in Australia and *illegally, brought it in.
The original method of distribution was to catch some rabbits and inject them with a vaccine that 
had been manufactured by putting the liver of a rabbit into a liquidiser and spiking it with the 
collicci virus, and then releasing the infected rabbits to circulate among their friends and 
relations.

At first, rabbits succumbed in the tens of thousands, but, not all rabbits died but went on to 
become immune and this immunity was passed on to their progeny.
RHD is still killing rabbits but the immune population is expanding.
In Central Otago where the climate is, particularly, rabbit-friendly, it seems that there are just 
as many rabbits as there were before the advent of RHD/RCV.

       Jewel
iwas m
Sent: Friday, May 03, 2013 1:01 PM
To: "'Jewel'" <jewelblanch at kinect.co.nz>
Subject: RE: [Ag-eq] horse deworming

Hi Jewel,

That makes sense especially in the U S where we have to give our dogs
heartworm prevention every month.

JODY