A HORSE in Cornwall has been put down after tests confirmed it had the rare, highly-contagious and deadly disease, swamp fever.

The virus, which is spread by flies and midges, poses no danger to people but can be fatal for horses and donkeys.

A spokesman for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) confirmed that a case of Equine Infectious Anaemia (EIA) was detected in a horse at an undisclosed address in mid Cornwall.

Defra's chief veterinary officer, Nigel Gibbens, said: 'All the necessary precautions to prevent disease spread, including movement restrictions on the sick horse and others at the same stables, were put in place as soon as we became aware of the animal's illness.

'We have also begun a thorough investigation to ascertain whether any other horses may have been exposed to infection.'

Test results from the other horses are expected 'within the next couple of days'.

Mr Gibbens added: 'EIA is a serious disease but it can be contained by finding infected horses and removing them so that they do not infect others.'

EIA occurs typically in low-lying swampy areas and causes intermittent fever, anaemia, emaciation and death.

A Defra spokesman confirmed that the disease is unlikely to spread widely from infected horses as the flies that transmit the disease 'were very unlikely to fly further than 200 meters'.

This is the fourth case of EIA reported in the UK for 30 years. Three of these occurred in 2010 including a case in Highampton, Devon, where a horse had to be destroyed. All are thought to have occurred in horses that have come from Romania.