Swamp fever

Swamp fever is an incurable disease transmitted by blood and sexual contact.

Causes
While open wounds, sexual relations and the placenta are the best known means of transmission, insect bites is the most common. An insect that bites an infected creature and shortly after bites an uninfected one can carry the disease. This is most common in swamplands surrounded by dry land, where large insect populations coexist with large populations of other creatures, hence the name of the disease.

Prevention
To prevent contagion by blood, open wounds should be treated and bandaged properly and any utensil that has come into contact with blood should be cleaned thoroughly.

Condom usage is recommended both to avoid contagion between partners and pregnancy when either or both partners are carriers.

Insect nets and insect repellents should be used when possible, specially in places with significant numbers of infections.

Symptoms
Symptoms may include fever, anemia, edema, jaundice and fast heart rate and respiration. Miscarriages and sudden death are also common.

In foals, the disease can be confused with milk jaundice. If signs of swelling and fever are found, it's usually a sign of swamp fever. Tick fever is another similar disease.

A tell-tale sign of swamp fever is usually small purple or red spots in the skin underneath the coat as well as in mucous tissue.

Swamp fever can be asymptomatic, although symptoms can be triggered in asymptomatic carriers under stress.

Up to one third of patients die within a month of being infected and up to half have a significantly shortened lifespan as a result of the disease.

Treatment
Swamp fever is incurable and lasts for life. Treatment seeks to improve the quality of life of patients mainly through avoiding physical stress and raising swollen parts of the body to target the edema.

Patients may be advised to move away from areas with high insect populations where the disease can be most easily communicated and to take measures to avoid insect bites.

Distribution
See also swamp fever in Farasi.

This disease is most common in Farasi where wetlands provide water and fertile land among the drier, more sterile lands. These wetlands can support large settlements but the hot and humid environment is a breeding ground for insects which carry the disease.