One of the unsung heroes of the Persian Gulf war is a horse that was the country's only source of antitoxin to protect troops from food poisoning, an Army official said Friday.
The horse, named First Flight, provided the military with antitoxins for botulism when allied commanders feared the Iraqis would resort to germ warfare."Botulism has long been considered a potential biological warfare threat," said Chuck Dasey, spokesman for the Army Medical Research and Development Command in Fort Detrick, Md.
The Army inoculated the horse with increasing doses of botulism toxins until its body developed an immunity to the food poisoning. About 12 years ago it gave the thoroughbred to the University of Minnesota under a contract to continue the research, Dasey said in a telephone interview.
First Flight was inoculated with all seven strains and produced blood antibodies that fight each strain, said Richard Condie, director of an immunology research center at the university.
The horse was the nation's sole source of antitoxin stockpiled to protect allied troops from botulism, Dasey said.
First Flight was bled over the years and had given nearly 1,000 liters by last summer, said Liz Barrett, who works with the university's lab animals.
The plasma was extracted and used for the botulism antitoxin.