14th Century Ritual Practised Today
Little did I know that I and my horses would be taking part in a ritual that goes back to the 14th century. Welcome to Friday’s Open Range, I’m Susan Allen, I’ll be back right after the break. One of the most effective methods to control diseases throughout history and one I might add I and my horses are experiencing first hand as a result of being in proximity to the Equine Herpes Virus is Quarantine. The word traces back to fourteenth century Italy but the practice to biblical times when lepers were banished from society. During the Black Plague that swept though 14th Century Italy, officials would rule that individuals exposed to people with the disease be removed from society for 30 days, it was called trention. New illnesses often warranted longer removal, a 40 day expulsion became known as quarantino, eventually evolving into the word I’m becoming very familiar with, quarantine. When cattle or horses are imported into a country they are typically quarantined without question for set period of time to insure they are disease free. Unfortunately quarantining works only if it can be enforced there lies the problem. Upon hearing that our barn was being quarantined a mass exodus occurred with horses dispersing to private pastures. The devastating outbreak of equine influenza recently in Austrialia that has been reported to cost the country over $900 million US dollars is believed to have been caused by a break in quarantine.
