Anyone who has their ear to the ground in the horse industry knows that Australia’s equine sports have ground to a halt due to the discovery of several isolated incidents of horse flu.
The Flu is Spreading Fast
Not just affecting the racing and breeding industry, the concern has spread as quickly as the flu itself. Australian horses and their people are becoming less and less inclined to be social.
Who can blame them, horse flu is highly contagious and any horse that has not been vaccinated against it is almost guaranteed to get it if exposed.
Could Affect the Olympics
Sydney’s International three day event was cancelled today, not only is this show a three star event, but it is also an Olympic qualifying event. It was scheduled for early September and because of the influenza threat it will be postponed until early 2008.
The virus was also diagnosed in several police horses in New South Wales today, forcing a quarantine of hundreds of animals and compromising their police force.
This is the first record of horse flu in Australia and over 400 animals have been affected to date in New South Wales and Queensland.
Symptoms
First of all, as contagious as it is, this virus in not transmittable to humans. You cannot catch the horse flu from your horse.
Incubation time of the virus ranges from one to five days and an infected horse will display the following symptoms:
- Fever
- Dry hacking cough
- Runny nose
- Depression
- Loss if appetite for food and water
This flu is not typically fatal and generally takes about two to three weeks for a complete recovery.