horse-sickness, noun

Origin:
South African DutchShow more Translation of South African Dutch paardeziekte, see paardeziekte.
Pathology
An acute, frequently fatal, viral disease affecting horses, mules, and donkeys, and characterized by a fever which may be followed by a swelling of the head, neck, and tongue, or by an accumulation of fluid in the lungs; paardeziekte; the sickness, see sickness. See also dikkop sense 2 a, dunkop.
Note:
Known internationally as ‘African horse sickness’, the disease is transmitted by a midge (Culicoides) which is endemic to some of the lower-lying regions of central and southern Africa.
1822 J. Campbell Trav. in S. Afr. Second Journey I. 32The horse sickness..was prevailing much at that time.
1837 ‘N. Polson’ Subaltern’s Sick Leave 163A disease sometimes prevails among the horses..styled the ‘horse sickness’ and has proved incurable hitherto.
1841 J.W. Appleyard War of Axe (1971) 7This evening I lost my faithful riding horse Caesar, by that mysterious disease termed Horse-sickness.
1857 D. Livingstone Missionary Trav. 101The disease passing under the name of horse-sickness (peripneumonia) exists in such virulence over nearly seven degrees of latitude, that no precaution would be sufficient to save these animals.
1857 D. Livingstone Missionary Trav. 136Great numbers..of Zebra are found dead with masses of foam at the nostrils, exactly as occurs in the common ‘horse-sickness’.
1877 Lady Barker Yr’s Hsekeeping 70Instead of the horses being left out night and day..they need to be carefully housed at night, and well fed with oaten straw and mealies, to secure them from the mysterious and fatal ‘horse sickness’ which kills them in a few hours.
1892 W.L. Distant Naturalist in Tvl 95The horse sickness was now prevalent; a few days previously when travelling to Johannesburg, we had to unharness a horse and leave it on the veld.
1918 C. Garstin Sunshine Settlers 29Horses were considered a luxury in our country on account of the horse-sickness, a devastating disease which killed off about fifty per cent. per annum.
c1936 S. & E. Afr. Yr Bk & Guide 326Horse-sickness is at times a terrible plague. It first appeared in 1719 and has never been stamped out.
1953 D. Rooke S. Afr. Twins 23She was valuable, for she was salted, which means that she was immune to horse-sickness.
1974 E. Prov. Herald 27 Feb. 4Vaccine against horse sickness should..be applied early in summer, and in cases where this has been neglected stock losses could be expected.
1993 Weekend Post 16 Oct. 2Horse owners have been warned not to vaccinate their horses against horse sickness and to take precautions against their horses contracting the often fatal illness. The warning..follows adverse reactions..to the current batch of horse-sickness vaccine.
1994 M. Roberts tr. of J.A. Wahlberg’s Trav. Jrnls 1838–56 19The horse-sickness had been rampant here too.
An acute, frequently fatal, viral disease affecting horses, mules, and donkeys, and characterized by a fever which may be followed by a swelling of the head, neck, and tongue, or by an accumulation of fluid in the lungs; paardeziekte; the sickness, see sickness.
Derivatives:
Hence horse-sick  adjective  nonce.
1896 R. Wallace Farming Indust. of Cape Col. 320This organism has been distinguished and separated from a host of nameless organisms present in horse-sick blood.
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18221994

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horse-sick

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rare or nonce
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