Show watch sleeping sickness among horses Is advice the division of animal pathology and hygiene at the university of illinois college of agriculture urbana offers this advice for protecting horses and mules from sleeping sickness in infected areas keep the animals in screened stables use burlap or muslin fly covers on animals at work and spray them with an insect repellant keep stables clean vaccinate animals early so they will develop a strong immunity staff members of the division said only about one of every four animals in an exposed area develops the disease and about eight of every ten infected horses can be saved with prompt treatment the disease is seasonal appearing in july or august and continuing until the first killing frost it is believed to be carried by mosquitoes although biting flies also are suspected of transmitting it |