In August, 2007, 13 horses arrived in Melbourne, Australia from Japan. Unbeknownst at the time, eight of those horses were infected with the equine influenza virus. Within two months, those eight infected horses would spread the disease to 76,000 horses on 10,000 properties. Previously equine influenza-free, Australia was facing an epidemic.
Easily spread flu virus
One goal of Merial's Large Animal Veterinary Services Outbreak Alert System is to help people understand how quickly and easily equine influenza can spread and how important it is to vaccinate their horses.
© 2012 by Cybercobra
How did it happen? A new online video, “Birth of an Outbreak,” available at outbreak-alert.com, provides the details.
“Our goal is to help educate horse owners about the threats and consequences of equine diseases,” says April Knudson, DVM, equine specialist, Merial’s Large Animal Veterinary Services. “An eye-opening event like the one that occurred in Australia helps people understand how quickly and easily equine influenza can spread – and how important it is to vaccinate their horses.”
The video uses maps to visually demonstrate the influenza outbreak, beginning with the arrival of the 13 horses from Japan in early August 2007. Ultimately, the virus continued to spread, resulting in the widespread outbreak. While horse owners might find that hard to believe, the video helps them understand how just a handful of infected horses can rapidly lead to an outbreak, and how important it is to use a fast-acting vaccine like the European recombinant vaccine used to help make Australia equine influenza-free once again.
“Equine influenza spreads easily,” says Dr. Knudson. “A coughing horse may spread infected droplets as far as 50 yards.3 Combine that with the fact that a single horse infected with influenza can infect up to ten others,4 and it’s easy to see how the virus can become a problem very quickly,” she says. “Almost all unvaccinated horses exposed to equine influenza become infected, and unprotected foals may develop fatal viral pneumonia.”3
Besides explaining the outbreak in easy-to-follow terms and graphics, the video also offers insights about vaccinations and tips to help keep horses protected. In addition to viewing the video on outbreak-alert.com, horse owners can also sign up to receive text and/or e-mail alerts when equine diseases have been reported in their areas. The service is free.
To access the equine influenza video, go to outbreak-alert.com, click on the “Downloads” section and then select “Videos.”