Ontario Horse Positive for Equine Influenza

The horse lives in the Regional Municipality of Durham.
Share
Favorite
Please login to bookmarkClose
Please login

No account yet? Register

ADVERTISEMENT
A horse in the Regional Municipality of Durham, Ontario, was confirmed positive for equine influenza and is recovering.
A horse in the Regional Municipality of Durham, Ontario, was confirmed positive for equine influenza and is recovering. | Wikimedia Commons

On November 28, a 3-year-old filly at a boarding facility in the Regional Municipality of Durham, Ontario, was confirmed positive for equine influenza. The filly developed clinical signs on November 19, including a persistent deep cough with mucopurulent nasal discharge. She is now recovering under veterinary care.

EDCC Health Watch is an Equine Network marketing program that utilizes information from the Equine Disease Communication Center (EDCC) to create and disseminate verified equine disease reports. The EDCC is an independent nonprofit organization that is supported by industry donations in order to provide open access to infectious disease information.

About Equine Influenza

Equine influenza is a highly contagious respiratory disease that infects horses, ponies, and other equids, such as donkeys, mules, and zebras. The virus that causes it is spread via saliva and respiratory secretions from infected horses. Horses are commonly exposed via horse-to-horse contact; aerosol transmission from coughing and sneezing; and contact with humans’ contaminated hands, shoes, or clothes or contaminated tack, buckets, or other equipment.

Clinical signs of equine influenza infection can include a high fever (up to 106°F); a dry, hacking cough; depression; weakness; anorexia; serous (watery) nasal discharge; and slightly enlarged lymph nodes. Consider monitoring your horse’s health at shows by taking his temperature daily, which can help you pick up on signs of infection early and take appropriate measures to reduce disease spread.

Vaccination is an important and inexpensive way to protect your horse. US Equestrian requires proof that horses have had an equine influenza vaccination within the six months prior to attending organization-sanctioned competitions or events. Your veterinarian can help you determine what other vaccines your horse might benefit from.

In addition to vaccinating, following strict biosecurity protocols can help reduce your horse’s chance of infection and disease. Such measures include quarantining new equine arrivals at barns, disinfecting buckets and equipment, and preventing nose-to-nose contact between horses.

Click here to read common questions and answers about equine influenza. 

Brought to you by Boehringer Ingelheim, The Art of the Horse

Share

Written by:

Sign Up for EDCC Health Alerts

Don’t miss an important EDCC Health Alert! Get alerts delivered straight to your inbox by signing up for The Horse’s newsletter.

"*" indicates required fields

Name*

Additional Offers

Weekly Newsletters
Monthly Newsletters
Other Newsletters
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

More Alerts

Stay on top of the most recent Horse Health news with

FREE weekly newsletters from TheHorse.com

Sponsored Content

Weekly Poll

sponsored by:

How frequently do you schedule dental wellness checks with your veterinarian?
0 votes · 0 answers

Readers’ Most Popular

Sign up for EDCC Health Watch text alerts to get notified when an equine disease outbreak is reported in your state or region.

Sign In

Don’t have an account? Register for a FREE account here.

Need to update your account?

You need to be logged in to fill out this form

Create a free account with TheHorse.com!