An as-yet unidentified illness has killed two horses and sickened 10 others in Bahrain, reports the Gulf Daily News. Authorities began investigating the situation April 15, and blood tests have been sent to a specialized laboratory in the United Arab Emirates.

Because it had not yet been determined whether the illness is viral or bacterial or how it spreads, horse and stable owners in the area have been warned not to move their animals. Authorities are also recommending that owners do not take part in equine sporting events until more information is forthcoming.

"Two horses have already been put down since they had very severe infection," Dr. Salman Abdul Nabi, Director of Animal Wealth Directorate, Ministry of Municipality Affairs and Agriculture, told the Gulf Daily News. Abdul Nabi is Bahrain's Municipalities and Agriculture Ministry livestock director.

Abdul Nabi reportedly said that he does not feel the illness is contagious and noted that only a few of the country's 6,500 horses were afflicted