EGS History

EGS has been recognised for almost 100 years since it was first reported in Forfar, Scotland in the first decade of the 20th Century.  Ever since then Great Britain has had the highest frequency of cases in the world, with disease now occurring in Scotland, England and Wales.  The disease also occurs in several northern European countries and an identical condition called mal seco (literally translated as ‘dry sickness’) has been recognised in Argentina, the Falklands, Colombia and Chile.  Interestingly, EGS is rare in the rest of the world including the U.S.A., Africa, Australia and Asia.  Notably, despite extensive horse movements between mainland Great Britain and Ireland, EGS remains virtually unknown in the Emerald Isle.

The horse in this picture is a CGS case showing depression, emaciation and the characteristic ‘elephant on a tub’ stance where the pony stands with all 4 feet underneath it.