 SCIENTISTS have discovered a way of preventing a fatal illness that kills hundreds of horses in the UK each year. A team at the University of Liverpool has disproved the traditional belief that grass sickness is caused by eating the plant. The research is likely to lead to the implementation of a national routine vaccination programme. The study, carried out at the equine hospital, Leahurst, in Wirral, confirmed the link between grass sickness and a form of bacteria called Clostridium botulinum. Dr Chris Proudman, senior lecturer in equine surgery, said: "This link, first proposed in the 1920s, was recently re-evaluated by researchers at Edinburgh University. "Our study builds on this previous work and demonstrates protection against the disease in horses with high antibody levels against the bacteria. "This strongly suggests that vaccination may be effective in preventing the disease. "After nearly 100 years of research effort, prospects for the effective prevention of equine grass sickness have never been better." Grass sickness, which leads to nerve damage in the intestine, was first identified around 100 years ago but scientists have so far struggled to understand the disease and identify what causes it. Symptoms appear in two forms, either as severe colic causing the horse to roll and sweat through abdominal pain caused by a swollen stomach or as weight loss and difficulty eating. Blood samples were taken from a group of 66 horses suffering from grass sickness, living in 58 different stables. It was found that animals with the disease have far fewer of the type of antibodies that would help protect them against the bacteria. The study also revealed that using a variety of worm medicine, called vermectin, also makes horses more susceptible to grass sickness. The research, to be published in the Equine Veterinary Journal, was funded by The Home of Rest For Horses, based in the Chiltern Hills, which houses more than 100 retired horses, ponies and donkeys. Paul Jepson, chief executive of the home and a veterinary science graduate of Liverpool University, said: "We are delighted to be associated with this long-awaited breakthrough in understanding the cause of grass sickness. "There is now real hope for the development of an effective vaccine." | 
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