The UK’s first Equine Flu Awareness Month (EFAM) is being launched in April (2016) with the aim of raising awareness, understanding and virus surveillance of this highly contagious evolving disease, say the organisers.
The Animal Health Trust (AHT) and Merial Animal Health have joined forces to create the initiative aimed at raising awareness of the condition and helping owners act in the best interests of their horse or pony. The AHT’s head of epidemiology and disease surveillance, Dr Richard Newton, believes that the campaign is a significant step in the battle against equine flu: “The creation of Equine Flu Awareness Month is an important step forward for the equine industry.
“There have been 52 recorded outbreaks of equine influenza in the last two years, and whilst this may sound considerable, we believe it’s actually just the tip of the iceberg,” he says.
“An equine influenza surveillance scheme at the AHT provides ongoing free sampling to all practices registered to the service, funded by The Horserace Betting Levy Board (HBLB).
“We are fortunate that the HBLB invests in this important scheme which also benefits the industry as a whole. We know that approximately just 40% of the total UK herd is vaccinated, so when you consider that all racehorses and many other competing and performance horses are vaccinated under compulsory rules, that leaves the remainder of the herd even less protected and the total percentage well short of the 70% required in order to prevent an epidemic¹,²,” he adds.
“Many horses that don’t travel are still at risk of equine influenza, but frequently go unvaccinated. These animals are not only at risk of contracting and amplifying virus from their stable-mates that do travel, but are also at risk of airborne infection as equine flu is capable of travelling over a mile as an aerosol on the wind,” he concludes.
Suzanne Ashton, Founder of Everything Horse (Est, 2012), has a BA Hons in Marketing Management and a Diploma in Equine Science. Suzanne has ridden and owned horses all her life and has twelve years of experience in marketing, writing, design, SEO, and website creation.