Equine flu??

Question

how dangerous is equine flu? if only 1 pony has it, would you need to close a whole riding stables till its all over?

Answer 1

Reasonably dangerous. Mortality is low but higher than most people think. It is usually worst in youngsters and old horses but can cause freak deaths in any age of horse.

If one horse tests positive then the whole yard must be quarantined until veterinary swabs and blood tests confirm that the risk of infection of other horses away from the yard is very low. This can take weeks as other horses may be incubating the disease when the one case is confirmed - incubation period is usually 1 to 3 days. Ideally on an infected premesis only staff and horse owners should be allowed on and off the yard, so if it is a riding stables providing lessons then lessons must be stopped until the quarantine is lifted. 'Flu isn't as contagious as Stangles but should be treated with respect.

Answer 2

Equine flu is some of the fastest moving stuff I've ever seen...give me a AQHA circuit show, a yearling that arrives packing the flu bug, a very hot day, fans turned on in the stabling area, and it seemed almost instantaneous or overnight that every other horse at that 5 day circuit came down with the flu...no thanks to the yearling and the fan.

Answer 3

You shouldn't have a problem with equine flu, providing that your horse has had all the required jabs for it, however your horse and the horses on your yard should have their yearly jabs as it's a legal requirement, hence why there is a set of pages within a horses passport for keepin a record.

If someone hasn't keep up their jabs, then it's up to you to draw this to the attention to the yard owner as they have a legal responsibility to ensure that a worming and flu jab routine is maintained.

Horses from your yard should not be moved off your yard unless they are up to date with jabs

Answer 4

Most horses which contract the flu will recover without problems, but there are a few, such very old or very young animals, which sometimes develop pneumonia from it. Equine flu is like human flu in that it is contagious and easily spread around through horse to horse contact, as well as contact with items which sick horses have had contact with, such as brushes and and feed buckets. Quarantine procedures are a good idea when horses show signs of the disease, particularly if you want to keep it from spreading around. The symptoms of flu in horses are much the same as in people- the horse has a fever and is off his feed, he's exhausted, he coughs, ( although the cough is usually a DRY cough, not a productive one with the flu) and he may or may not have a snotty or runny nose. Horses with the flu will sometimes develop breathing problems as well, because this infection attacks the linings of the upper respiratory tract, just like in a person.

Flu is NOT STRANGLES, and should NOT BE MISTAKEN FOR IT. Strangles is caused by a bacterial infection- and the flu is due to a VIRUS, just as human flu is. This means that antibiotics are USELESS in the treatment of the flu in a horse, and should NOT BE USED unless the horse has or develops a secondary infection. Strangles is caused by the bacteria Streptococcus Equi, and is the horse's version of strep throat. As such, it does respond to antibiotic therapy, but there is a lot of disagreement among vets as to whether or not antibiotics should be used in treatment of that disease. Some vets feel that horses which get strangles should never have antibiotics unless the condition "bastardizes" and a secondary infection develops. Others feel that antibiotic therapy should be started immediately, at the first sign of illness. I am not sure where the truth lies- and science has not been helpful in providing answers.

In your case, since you only have one pony which is sick, as long as you isolate him in a separate barn, you should be able to continue to operate the rest of your facility normally. You will need to limit who has access to the quarantine barn, though,and have the same person do all of the sick pony's care, until he is well again. He needs to stay isolated until at least a couple of weeks after the last symptoms disappear. After that, he can rejoin the regular group- but everything he came into contact with while he was sick needs to be disinfected and sterilized.

In the future, you need to give all your horses flu shots- flu is one of the easiest of all the equine diseases to prevent, and the shots are inexpensive and easy to get. You can give flu shots yourself in most states- I have yet to hear of one where that wasn't legal. Giving flu vaccine from year to year also helps build up immunity in the horse, so that he is immune to more than one strain of the virus. The same thing has been observed in people, which is one reason why yearly flu shots are recommended for humans, too.

I hope this helps you, and clears up some of the confusion about this disease.

Answer 5

Is it "Strangles" if so the pony should at least be in quarantine away from all animals! Don't let any pony near it! It is very dangerous and very contagious!

look up www.equine-strangles.co.uk

Answer 6

The average healthy horse will not be killed by it, but it is still a nasty illness to deal with.  The horses will get a fever, snotty nose and cough.  They also can lose their appetites and lose weight.  i would close the barn, or at least quarantine any possible infected horses.  When they are sick, you can't work them and during show season no one would be happy laying their horse off for a month.  Also keep in mind that the flu can't be cured.  All you can do is use antibiotics to stop a secondary infection from setting in and keep their fevers down so that they don't run into hoof issues.

Answer 7

I wouldn't let any horses from that barn be exposed to others out of consideration.

ie. trail rides, shows

The green/yellow thick snot flowing out of the nostrils, all over buckets, stalls, fencing, and feed tubs is enough for me to want to put a quarantine on the place. (no horses in, no horse off)

Fever

Dull, doom and gloom

Wheezing

Cough

Body aches

Antibiotics and Banamine...warm mash.

Don't forget...no one but one person should care for the sick.  Prevents infection spread.  Wash hands and even a small dish of bleach/water to step in before leaving the barn is great.

Poor things!

We did have 2 stud colts with the flu and they were at the far end of the 20 stall barn.  They had turn out in an indoor arena and no one else had access to it.  They never had contact with any others and no one else contracted it.

Horses did come and go since the colts were pre-quarantined before they got sick.  (same colts got strangles the following summer!)

So..depends on where your pony was and who had access to his turn out and nose to nose contact with him.

Good luck!

Answer 8

Equine flu is dangerous to the horse, especially when one has suppressed immunity.  All horses who have been in contact with that horse should be quarantined, meaning no other horses going in on the yard, none coming out.  I would go so far as saying that anyone going in or out should be asked to wash their wellies off in a foot bath.

If you are caring for a sick horse only wear the clothes you wear for that horse and change into and out of clean clothes when you have done.

Complications can arise from equine flu and if you have not had your horse vaccinated then it should be done asap and kept up to date.