Pigeon Fever

Pigeon Fever

David Sparks Ph.D.
David Sparks Ph.D.
According to the news publication NR Today, in late August of this year, Jean Kellum of Douglas County, Oregon noticed a small lump on her horse's side. She didn't think a whole lot about it until their prized horse and companion was gone. Dead from a disease Kellum had learn the name of only a few days prior: pigeon fever.This disease is typically characterized by intramuscular abscesses, primarily in the chest area of a horse. Pigeon fever gives the horse a puffed-out appearance, similar to a pigeon, granting the disease its name. I checked in with Dr. Debra Lawrence, veterinarian for the Idaho Department of agriculture. "Pigeon fever is a bacterial disease that is spread by biting flies and the best way to keep it away from your animals, there is no vaccine, is fly control. Some years it's really bad and some years you don't even hear about it. It is a cyclical disease. If it is in the ground and they are rolling around on the ground and they have an open wound, they can get it. But most commonly it is a fly bite if the premises are not contaminated. If you have it and it is drained out onto the ground, you want to be sure and disinfect the area with Clorox.

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