EQUINE INFLUENZA!!

OK, as al the australian users would know, we are having a bit of trouble here with Equine influenza.
Where I live, in Tasmania (an island state of australia) we were certain we would not get it here, as the flu would have to cross into victoria and spread through a whole state beofre it jumped the water and headed for us, but some smart might has bought the flu into tassie as we have had our first confirmed case of it in the horth of the state in Smithton! GREAT!!
Now we are on shutdown for the whole state and can't move our furry freinds anywhere!!

Has anyone else encountered this and for any aussie forum users who have had to deal with it, I hope all your affected horses recover to full health.... heres hoping my girls don't contract it!!

Hi, im in WA AUSTRALIA. We have friends that breed TB in NSW. One of there mares contracted it, but luckally she wasn't in foal, she was suppose to be though. Horrible stuff.

I have friens in Rockhampton QLD and they have two performance studs, the other in Brisbane. Their entire stud in Brisbane contracted the virus, over 30 horses. Their breeding season was shut down as both their stallion caught it.

That was a lot of their income for the year. :(

For me being in SA, so far we have been lucky but it really makes me mad that there are people so careless as to ignore quarantine procedures and if it can make it to Tassie then we are by no means safe!!

I even heard stories about people trying to move horses from the eastern states in furniture removal vans, to try and avoid detection!!

It isn't in S.A *knocks on wood*
I don't have a horse, but if my riding school gets it, it will have to close for 6 months meaning that they wouldn't have enough money and they would need to shut down. That means they have to sell all the horses and the land and there wouldn't be a stable on the property anymore. And I hope that doesn't happen!

Equine influenza has been mentioned many times on this forum. What exactly is it? I get that its a very contagous flu but how is it spread, from horse to horse or by insects or what? Does the horse die from it, is it something that can be inoculated against? We have our horses vaccinated every year for some sort of flu and several other things tetinus, west nile etc. Can you still ride your horse around the country side or do you have to keep them on your own property during the quarantine, and how long is it for? What is being done to stop it if anything? I know west nile has been a scare for us (spread by mosquitoes) a horse down the road died from it. We inoculate but its not mandatory for horse owners to do it, I wish it was. It sounds like a pretty scary situation for you all

The "flu" vaccine your horse is getting is for protection against "Equine Influenza", however the effectiveness of the vaccine is not 100% and the IM vaccine is only effective for 3-4 months. There is an intranasal vaccine (FluAvert IN), however it's not good for use in broodmares because it doesn't stimulate the production of antibodies to be passed to the foal in colostrum.

Influenza is a very contageous respiratory infection that can be spread by direct contact with infected horses or contact with items that an infected horse has been in contact (called fomites in veterinary literature)--including halters, fences, buckets, people, etc. However it's not hardy in the environment and doesn't survive more than a day or two in the best of conditions. Quarantining incoming horse (new or returning) for 30 days is the best way to prevent influenza from spreading through a barn, however for many people who compete regularly this is "too much hassle" even though their horses are at high risk for contracting influenza due to their high exposure to other horses that travel. Horses do not generally die from Influenza but it is possible.

Here is a good link:
http://www.vet.unimelb.edu.au/news/e...%20-%20UoM.doc

Does anyone know if there are any recent cases in the US?

Influenza is common in the US and is not reportable, so you aren't going to get an accurate count on how many cases are seen in a year. Most owners and vets just quarantine and wait it out without any real testing when their horses have respiratory infections over here.

Ok. Thank you Ryle

So its like the flu in humans. We can get a flu shot at the beginning of "flu season" to help combat the different viruses floating around every year. Good thing they don't quarantine us when it starts. Or maybe they should, my husband always complains about people coming to work sick and spreading it around