We should have seen it coming — an epidemic of eye damage is spreading throughout the Big Island like fire, or rather, like little fire ants.
The signs are now common in about 30 percent of the animals living in the Puna District, home to thousands of people and their pets, as well as the recently arrived little fire ants.
The surface of the animal’s eye becomes cloudy, as white spots develop and slowly spread, sometimes covering the entire eye and turning vision into a foggy blur.
It’s heartbreaking to see the crystal clear eyes of your pet become cloudy. And since there is no known cure, you feel helpless as you watch the cloudiness slowly spread, as your pet becomes progressively blind.
The condition is called tropical keratopathy and is found in tropical and semi-tropical places, especially where there are little fire ants (LFA). We suggest calling this condition “fire ant eye.”
While there is strong circumstantial evidence showing that fire ant eye occurs where there are LFA, there has been no observation of LFA actually stinging animals’ eyes and causing this cloudiness. And because animals seem to develop the eye spots without showing the signs of eye inflammation and irritation (which you would expect from a fire ant sting to the eye), there must be more to the picture than just the ant.
In fact, research does shows a bacterial infection in the cloudy spots. Bacteria are also known to infect human eyes and cause similar cloudy spots.
What may be happening, then, is that the fire ants irritate the eye, allowing the bacteria to enter and slowly grow.
But some Hawaii veterinarians doubt the ants are involved. Some think this eye problem may be a new one, not tropical keratopathy.
So the cause and cure are still a mystery. But we don’t have to be left in the dark.
The good news is that antibiotics may help cure this. We need to identify the exact species of bacteria involved, and then find the correct antibiotic to use.
One thing is sure. The problem is getting worse each day, and already is affecting thousands of pets on the Big Island.
While government funds are focused on LFA control, no funds are being spent on research into how to treat and cure this eye problem in animals.
To fill this void, the Good Shepherd Foundation is taking on the fight to find a cure.
We will be raising funds for much needed research. We will also create a data base of fire ant eye cases throughout the Big Island, and educate pet owners on how to protect their animals from the ants. We also are working with Big Island veterinarians to develop diagnostic criteria for this eye problem and share information on treatments and the outcomes.
If you share our vision to stop this disease, please go to www.FireAntEye.org. If you have pets with cloudy eyes, please take our pet survey.
One thing is sure. The problem is getting worse each day, and already is affecting tens of thousands of pets on the Big Island. It will likely spread to the other Hawaiian Islands. Without knowing the cause or the cure, the future is dark for Hawaii’s animals and their owners.
Sydney Ross Singer, of Pahoa, is a medical anthropologist and director of Good Shepherd Foundation.