Ocular disease in working horses in Ethiopia: a cross-sectional study.

The research article reports on the commonality and type of eye diseases in working horses in Ethiopia. It also explores factors that may be linked to the occurrence of these diseases.

About the Research

The research was a cross-sectional study carried out on working horses in Ethiopia. The aim of the study was to:

• Determine the prevalence and type of ocular (eye) diseases found in these horses
• Understand the risk factors that could be connected with these diseases.

Method of Data Collection

• The study sample consisted of 1049 horses that attended clinics run by the Society for Protection of Animals Abroad (SPANA).
• Each horse underwent an ocular examination in the field, performed with just a pen-torch.
• Horse owners answered a brief questionnaire about their horses’ health.

Findings of the Study

• The examination revealed that 23.5% of horses (with a confidence interval of 18.0% to 30.1%) had ocular abnormalities.
• 43% of horses (with a confidence interval of 28.7% to 58.4%) had an abnormality in at least one eye, though the prevalence varied among towns.
• The types of abnormalities most frequently found were mild forms of eye pathology, as well as end-stage disease, which brought irreversible damage to the eye.
• There were significantly more eye abnormalities in the right eye than in the left, and older horses were more prone to eye pathology.

Owner Awareness and Response

• Only 55.1% of horse owners were aware of the ocular abnormalities in their animals.
• A meager 2.2% had sought prior treatment for eye disease.
• Only 1.9% of the horses were brought to the clinic because of eye-related issues, suggesting either a lack of awareness or a low perception of the severity of eye disease among owners.

This research surface two main problems: lack of awareness about eye diseases among horse owners and insufficient attention paid to the importance of these diseases, which could lead to irreversible damage.