Equine Flu: We Know It’s Out There – Do You?

Equine influenza (EI) is one of the most contagious
diseases of domestic and sports horses, which requires
ongoing chains of transmission to persist within the equine
population. However, in reality EI is not as commonly
diagnosed as it should be for such a persistent and
propagating infection, for which there is neither a carrier
state in the horse nor other natural reservoir hosts. There
may be several reasons for this, including delays in owners
calling vets to their horses, and vets and owners perhaps
not recognising mild clinical diseases such as influenza,
especially in vaccinated horses. Romain Paillot, at the
Animal Health Trust (AHT), discusses why vaccination is
one of the most effective methods of prevention against EI,
alongside effective surveillance, biosecurity and movement
restriction.