Hay botulism in horses

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Radio interview source: Dr. Steve Hooser, head of veterinary toxicology, Purdue University Animal Disease Diagnostic Lab

As a veterinarian, my husband, Bob, treats a lot of different maladies in animals, and occasionally he sees horses with botulism poisoning. The toxin is related to the bacterium that causes tetanus, only more deadly. And it often lurks undetected until it's too late.

Purdue University Veterinary Toxicologist Dr. Steve Hooser says horses can ingest the botulism bacteria by eating hay that was rolled up with something extra during the baling process.

"Usually what happens is as you're baling the big round bales, an animal will get baled up and as that animal decomposes, the clostridium botulism bacteria can grow in there -- in that dead animal -- and form the botulitum toxin," Hooser says. "And horses are one of the most sensitive animals to that."

Dr. Hooser says he sees a case or two of botulism poisoning come through the lab every year. Most people will bale hay for years and not have any problems. But if it happens, the toxins reproduce rapidly in the horse's gut, with symptoms starting in a matter of hours.