University of Florida

Newsworthy Topics

Equine Piroplasmosis

Equine Piroplasmosis (EP) is a tick-borne disease of horses, donkeys, mules, and zebras. It’s transmitted by contaminated blood; although the tick is the major means of transmission it can be transmitted by improperly disinfected surgical instruments and needles. This disease is endemic in Africa, Caribbean Islands, Central and South America, the Middle East, and Europe. More recently, The disease has infected horses in Texas, prompting Florida’s Commissioner of Agriculture to place travel restrictions on Texas horses entering Florida. Equine Piroplasmosis is not endemic to the continental United States but is endemic to Puerto Rico. Because EP is not endemic to the US and many area have climates suitable for ticks, US horses are highly susceptible to the acute forms of the disease.

Equine Piroplasmosis is caused by the parasite Babesia caballi and Babesia equi. In the US the only known natural vector is the Southern Horse Tick, Dermacentor nitens which is found in the Southern United States. Transmission occurs when this tick bites an infected equine and then bites an uninfected equine thereby infecting the second horse through blood transfer.

Newly EP infected equine show signs of the disease in 7 to 22 days after exposure. Acute signs of EP include fever, anemia, jaundice, swollen abdomen, labored breathing, central nervous system disturbances, roughened hair coats, constipation, colic, and hemoglobinuria. Some equine will die. Equine that survive the acute phase of the infection may be carriers of the organism and are potential sources of infection for others.
No vaccine is available for protection against EP. Prevention is the best treatment. Prevention includes eliminating any transfer of blood from infected to non-infected animals through biting ticks or surgical instruments.

According to Dr. Short of Florida Department of Agriculture Animal Health, the spread of the disease requires multiple ticks to be on a horse for 12 hours or more. The recommendation at this time is to keep your horses clean of ticks when traveling out of state.  Health papers issued to Florida horses will continue to be honored for horses traveling to Texas and returning to Florida, as long as the horse is not out of the state for more than 30 days.   

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Bronson Announces Import Restrictions on Horses From Texas

Florida Agriculture and Consumer Services Commissioner Charles H. Bronson has announced the imposition of import restrictions on horses coming into Florida from Texas following the discovery of hundreds of Texas horses positive for Theileria equi, one of two organisms responsible for causing Equine Piroplasmosis (EP).
     
Bronson is requiring horses from Texas to have blood tests to check for Theileria equi within 30 days of entry into Florida, have a health certificate, be checked for ticks that carry EP, and be sprayed with a pesticide no more than two weeks before their arrival in Florida.
     
EP is considered a foreign animal disease, not endemic to the United States.  It is a blood-borne parasitic disease primarily transmitted between horses by ticks or contaminated needles and is not directly contagious from one horse to another.  Ticks are the natural method of transmission of the EP organisms, and the tick species known to be efficient at transmitting EP is not believed to be in Florida.
     
Acutely affected horses can have depression, fever, anemia, jaundiced (yellow) mucous membranes, and can die from the disease.  In its milder form, EP can also cause horses to have roughened hair coats, constipation, colic, generalized weakness, and lack of appetite.  Some horses become chronic carriers of the disease, showing little clinical signs but have the ability to transmit the disease to other horses via ticks.  Treatment of infected horses has not been shown to be effective in eliminating the organism (Theileria equi), and infected horses must remain under quarantine.
     
The establishment of Equine Piroplasmosis and associated vector ticks would seriously threaten the horses and equine industry of Florida, which produces goods and services of more than $3 billion annually.
     
"We are being very proactive in testing horses that came in contact with positive horses that were imported from Texas over the past few years since we are not sure how long the problem has existed in Texas," Bronson said.  "This is a serious disease, and we must take all precautions necessary to prevent the spread of this disease as well as to prevent the introduction of any ticks that are carriers of the disease."
     
Ten horses that were exposed to EP in Texas and traveled into Florida before the outbreak was discovered have been located, tested and quarantined.  Five of those horses have tested positive for the organism.  The State Veterinarian's Office is working with the owners to test all horses exposed in Florida and to minimize the risk to other horses in the state.  So far no horses that were exposed to horses imported from Texas have tested positive.
     
Because some states have placed import restrictions on all states with positive horses, the Florida State Veterinarian's Office recommends that anyone traveling out of state with their horse to call the state of destination to ensure there are no additional requirements enacted associated with this outbreak.
     

For more information about the import restrictions and the disease, visit the department's Division of Animal Industry web page at http://www.doacs.state.fl.us/ai/ and click on the link under Announcements titled Equine Piroplasmosis.

Release - November 18, 2009

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FL Specialty Crop Growers’ Challenges and Views About Organic Specialty Crops

Florida Organic Growers (FOG), with grant support from the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, is conducting research into Florida specialty crop producers’ challenges and views about organic production. The survey is open to all Florida specialty crop producers regardless of the type of production system.  The following link will take you to the online survey: http://www.kwiksurveys.com/online-survey.php?surveyID=LKLHG_beacf8f3. Please feel free to link to the survey from your organization’s webpage. We’re very thankful for your assistance informing growers of this opportunity to give input.

If you produce any specialty crops please consider responding to this survey request.

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Practical Tools & Solutions for Sustaining Family Farms Conference

The Florida Cooperative Extension Service, Florida A & M University and University of Florida with funding provided by the Southern SARE program (www.sare.org) will be providing a limited amount of scholarships for limited-resource, minority and mentor farmers from Florida, to attend the most popular sustainable agriculture conference in the South.  The event is hosted by the Southern Sustainable Agriculture Working Group (www.ssawg.org).  This is an excellent learning opportunity for small farmers engaged in farming.

What: Practical Tools and Solutions for Sustaining Family Farms Conference (Program details available at www.ssawg.org)

When: January 20-23, 2010. Scholarship recipients will be funded to attend the conference on January 22-23, 2010.

Where: Chattanooga Convention Center in Chattanooga, TN

Description: A variety of whole-day intensive short courses will be offered Wednesday afternoon through Thursday noon. Field trips and new hands-on activities will be offered Thursday afternoon. The two full days of regular conference sessions will start Friday morning and conclude after the big banquet dinner Saturday evening.  Southern SARE provides scholarship funds for the regular conference sessions ONLY.

Scholarship: Scholarship INCLUDES: conference registration, up to $380 transportation reimbursement, 3 nights lodging on January 21-23, and Saturday night banquet dinner. Scholarships DOES NOT INCLUDE: transportation costs which exceed $380, food costs not included in the conference registration, cost of short courses or fieldtrip and additional nights of lodging other than those indicated above.

Deadline for Application: November 16, 2009

Eligibility: Priority will be given to limited resource, minority and mentor producers, producers currently farming, or those soon to be farming in the state of Florida with a serious desire to learn about sustainable farming systems.  At this point, only two individuals per organization/address are eligible to be considered for scholarship (but not guaranteed). 

How to apply: Download the registration form and submit to Fernanda Pernambuco via mail or email (Addresses below).  She should receive all applications by November 16, 2009.

   Fernanda Pernambuco
   P.O. Box 110310
   Gainesville, Florida
   Email: nandap@ufl.edu

Notification: Applicants will be notified by phone and/or mail no later than December 1, 2009 whether or not they have been chosen to receive a scholarship.

Logistics: Conference Registration forms for only those receiving scholarships will be submitted to conference organizers by Florida SARE.

Lodging reservations for only those receiving scholarships will be made by Florida SARE. 

If you have any questions, please contact Fernanda Pernambuco, Florida SARE Program Assistant, 352-273-3508, nandap@ufl.edu Courtnay Pilcher, Florida A&M University, Administrative Assistant, 850-599-3770 courtnay.pilcher@famu.edu

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Brevard County Farmers Market

The Brevard County Farmers Market opens January 14, 2010. It will feature products from local farmers and much more!

General Information

  • The market will be open every Thursday from 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
  • The market will be located at the equestrian center at Wickham Park, Melbourne.
  • The market will run through April 2010, and reopen in October 2010.

Become a Vendor!

We hope you will consider becoming a vendor at our market! Here is how you can become a vendor:

  • Complete the application and return it with your fee (check or cash only) to the address listed on the application.
  • Download the Grower's Permit, ask your local Extension Agent to sign it to confirm that you are the producer of the products you want to sell, return the permit to the address listed on the form.
  • Carefully read the market rules before your submit your paper work!

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