According to a report by Horse and Hound, Bransby Home of Rest for Horses, a Lincolnshire-based charity in the UK, has been forced to temporarily close its doors after an outbreak of equine influenza was identified May 11. The charity estimates 80% of its 271 equine residents are infected. The source of infection is not yet known.

All animals received by the publicly-funded charity are quarantined for four weeks and tested for disease before being allowed to join the herd, but none of the horses on the property are vaccinated for equine influenza because of the high cost of treating 271 animals.

This is not the first blow to Bransby Home of Rest for Horses, whose doors were shut for two years from 2006-2008 after an outbreak of the highly contagious respiratory disease strangles. Bransby hopes to reopen later this summer.