Equine Flu Outbreak: What’s Happening?

What is the Equine Flu outbreak?

News of a possible Equine Flu outbreak came on Wednesday the 6th of February when a trainer raised concerns after testing some of his horses who were suffering from illness. Upon testing, these horses returned a positive for the virus. The BHA acted swiftly to call off all racing late that evening. The further decision to call off racing until Wednesday the 13th was taken the next day when it transpired that the yard in question had runners at both Ayr & Ludlow.

A release from the BHA this evening: all racing on Thursday February 7 has been cancelled due to an outbreak of equine influenza. More to follow at https://t.co/aDE2R2Xfwi

— Racing Post (@RacingPost) February 6, 2019

What’s the latest update?

As of Monday 11th February, on top of the 6 positive tests originally found in Donald McCain’s yard, it was reported that a further 4 horses tested positive at Simon Crisford’s yard in Newmarket. Given that neither yard have had a runner at the same meeting in recent times, the cases appear unconnected but as Newmarket is home to almost 3,000 horses, it is undoubtedly a setback as the industry attempts to prevent the spread of the highly contagious illness. A decision was meant to be made this evening on whether racing will resume in Britain on Wednesday and further news is expected to follow today.

What is Equine Influenza?

Equine Influenza is a highly infectious disease that affects horses, donkeys, and mules, occurring worldwide. It’s caused by strains of Influenza A virus and is one of the most damaging respiratory viruses that can occur in equines in this country. Symptoms include high fever nasal discharge and coughing.

Veterinary surgeon, David Mathieson explains the equine influenza outbreak and how the yards will deal with treating it pic.twitter.com/9skNVokBX5

— Racing Post (@RacingPost) February 7, 2019

How long is racing postponed for?

As of today (Monday 11th February) racing will not resume until at the very earliest Wednesday 13th February, this, of course, is subject to change depending on the results of the analysis and tests taken from yards in the coming days.

BHA update regarding equine influenza case ➡️https://t.co/STnjofDLki

🔹Decision to be made on Monday 11 February as to whether racing can resume on Wednesday 13 February

🔹Decision to cancel racing is based on further scientific advice and discussions with participants pic.twitter.com/ReRcJyzeqb

— BHA Press Office (@BHAPressOffice) February 7, 2019

Will the Cheltenham Festival be cancelled?

At this moment in time, the chances of the Festival being cancelled are quite slim. Thanks to the quick-thinking of the BHA, yards were on lockdown and horses that were subject to cross-contamination from being at Ayr or Ludlow were quickly quarantined, including those from Gordon Elliott’s yard who returned to Ireland.

@MCYeeehaaa We've priced up the odds of Cheltenham 2019 NOT going ahead at 13/2 following the #EquineFlu news.

The market is live here: https://t.co/kf3JCBOSG3

— BetStars (@BetStars) February 8, 2019

When is racing likely to resume?

This remains unclear, as mentioned earlier the BHA has communicated the date of Wednesday 13th February at the earliest. Hopefully, this will prove correct and positive cases can be quickly isolated and treated.

Racing will not resume until February 13 at the earliest, the British Horseracing Authority has announced pic.twitter.com/h7nZr80Qvx

— PA Racing (@PAracing) February 7, 2019

Is Irish racing going ahead?

IHRB confirmed Irish racing would continue while their British counterparts were not. But no British horses may race in Ireland until further notice. Gordon Elliott’s quick thinking in isolating his Ayr runners will have been a huge help to this decision. All Irish horses must now be vaccinated with the relevant vaccinations to stop an outbreak.

EQUINE INFLUENZA UPDATE – The IHRB and HRI confirm that racing will continue in Ireland at present and that runners from Britain will not be permitted to race in Ireland until further notice. The full update is here… https://t.co/Zq4Ibnexxy pic.twitter.com/fYQurKWpOS

— Horse Racing Ireland (@GoRacing) February 7, 2019