If you've been on any social media lately I'm sure you've heard of the incident of suspected botulism being the cause of several horses getting severely sick and also dying. New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma and I think Louisiana were reported. They came up with a common denominator being alfalfa cubes that came from Colorado so far. I also read the company makes other feeds as well that they are testing. Several other cube companies have put out statements saying there cubes are not part of the investigation. I saw one this morning from Danco saying they take extra precautions to ensure their cubes are safe, heating the cubes up to 400degrees kills most pathogens that could be in the hay accidentally. Forgive my ignorance,  and maybe someone can explain it better but wouldn't cooking the cubes, flax and vitamins/mineral paks destroy any nutrients along with it? Just curious.. I don't feed cubes currently but I was considering it again. Is it common practice to "cook" hay cubed during the cubing process? 

Eek. I've tried feeding cubes in the past, but...

??
I've eendownntofeefi g cubes but didn't like it for that reason. Anything could be cubed up in there. The horse can't sift through it in a cube.

 Botulism  is horrible  i had to put a mare down and she had just foaled 24 hrs ealier to this day we have no idea how she got it.  the other 9 head same pasture same feed hay  did not./  its horrible   there is enough botulism on the tip of a pen to kill all of ny city

it can be anywhere

By The Associated Press

Published: Dec. 17, 2022 at 6:24 PM CST

|Updated: 17 hours ago

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — State and federal officials are warning horse owners not to feed their animals Top of the Rockies brand alfalfa cubes after nearly 100 horses developed neurologic illnesses — 45 of which have died or been euthanized.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued the warning Saturday. The agency said it’s working with state agriculture departments in Colorado, Louisiana, New Mexico and Texas to investigate the horse deaths.

Manzanola Feeds of Manzanola, Colorado, recalled the cubes Friday. The company warns that certain batches may contain bacteria that cause botulism, a fatal paralytic disease. The FDA said more testing is ongoing to confirm the causes of reported illnesses.

The company directly distributed products to stores in 10 states including Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas and Wisconsin. The FDA warns the cubes may have been sold in other states as well.

Symptoms include dizziness, trouble with vocalizing or swallowing, difficulty breathing, muscle weakness, abdominal distension and constipation. Anyone who fed the cubes to horses or observes symptoms should immediately contact a veterinarian.

Some cubes have been reported to contain what appears to be fur and animal tissues, which may have been ground up during alfalfa harvesting. Botulism-causing bacteria is found in decaying animal carcasses.

Top of the Rockies alfalfa cubes are sold in white and tan plastic 50-pound bags with green labeling. The date codes are on the front of the package. Potentially contaminated lots include those with the date codes 111222, 111322, 111422, 111522, and 111622.

The FDA advises anyone with the cubes to throw them away in a secure container. People should wear gloves and a face mask when emptying containers with the cubes, then apply bleach solution to any feed bins or containers. More specific tips on disposal can be found here.

The Louisiana State University School of Veterinary Medicine said its lab has conducted necropsies on 12 horses. Testing of some alfalfa cubes and tissues from those horses is being done at the University of California, Davis School of Veterinary Medicine.

LSU says an equine medicine professor is treating other horses with symptoms.

I'm curious if anyone knows how many horses were affected at each location?  In a video I saw, one horse owner was saying she was losing several horses.  They appeared to be at a breeding/boarding farm in LA.   I'm hoping there is more to this than we are being told and it is not a widespread problem. 

Last I read over 100 horses impacted with at least 45 deaths. Don't know how many at each location though. There was also an issue that popped up with another brand that someone found ground up fur in recently.  But these cubes are also out of Colorado. I do not know how they tested as of yet or if those horses had been impacted. Last I read that company was not responding or addressing anything. The state inspector has the cubes now. It was advised to stop feeding any alfalfa hay cubes that are out of Colorado until further notice.  It's a mess. 

There are a number of ways that animal tissue can get into cubes. Swathing the hay field can kill animals that end up in the bales used to make cubes. This can also happen in long stem baled hay with the same result. In baled hay though, the whole animal is usually intact and visible when being fed. Storage location of hay can also get animal contamination from rodents or birds if not secure. I would not assume that other Colorado locations are unsafe just because one producer has this issue. Contamination is mostly a management issue, not a geographic one. Having multiple manufacturing lots involved as listed would seem unusual compared to a one off contamination occurrence. My heart goes out to those horses involved.