A few years ago, we launched WormsAndGermsMap to help track certain emerging and endemic diseases. Data are entered by participating veterinary clinics, surveillance programs and the WormsAndGerms team. While we certainly can’t capture every case, we do collect some interesting information about the presence of certain diseases.
Using the “Report Filter” bar on the left,
Mandatory vaccination for horses entering shows, other events and sales has been a surprisingly contentious issue for years. Some groups have required equine influenza vaccination for a long time, and it’s an accepted measure. Attempts to mandate vaccination for some other groups or events have often been met with resistance, even when those attempts were
Camels are getting a lot of bad press on the infectious disease front lately. There’s been the ongoing question of their role in the epidemiology of the very serious Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV). This enigmatic virus (like the similarly deadly SARS coronavirus) is a tremendous public health concern, with high deaths
I’m at the International Conference on Equine Infectious Diseases in Lexington, Kentucky at the moment, and will try to write about some of the highlights. One interesting discussion yesterday was about canine and equine influenza. It’s well established that canine flu (A/H3N8) originated in horses and subsequently became established in dogs. Canine flu virus is
Two horses have been removed from the showgrounds after testing positive for equine influenza virus at the FEI show jumping event in La Baule, France. The horses were not showing any signs of illness but were positive on PCR testing (presumably from a nasal or nasopharyngeal swab) and were sent home, along with four other
Quarantine is an important, effective and underused practice on horse farms. Quarantine can reduce the risk of introducing new infectious agents to animals on the farm or limit the spread of something that’s already starting to circulate through the herd.
A recent article from TheHorse.com gives a good overview of why and how to implement
There are a lot of recommendations out there for establishing or improving sound infection control practices on horse farms, many of which can be found on this very blog. Some refer to such practices as "biosecurity," but what’s done on horse farms compared to the often very strict biosecurity protocols at facilities such as swine
A huge equine influenza virus outbreak occurred in Australia in 2007 – a classic example of what can happen when a virus gets into an area where it’s never been before. There were huge numbers of affected horses and a massive disruption to the industry due to quarantines and other control measures.
Like human influenza, equine influenza can be a seasonal disease with periods of particularly high activity. It’s possible that we are in a period of high flu activity in horses in Ontario, based on cases we’ve seen and anecdotal information from the general population. We’ve seen a couple of confirmed cases of influenza over the
