Didn't the Gordon Elliott trained Veinard run in that race with Raise a Spark? I am assuming that horse has returned to Ireland so possibly has infected the other Elliott horses that ran at Ayr and are now quarantined.. No idea where that is but as they are carrying on running over there they must be satisfied there is no risk. Surely there is a chance that Gordon Elliott or any of his staff could have carried the virus back to his yard....
Yes there’s a chance of human transference but as they were notified before the horses were back at the yard I’d hope the staff were all told to go home and thoroughly wash themselves and their clothes before returning to work. Ireland is technically free of flu at the moment as there are no reported cases in the racingbpopulation, but anecdotally I’m told that the cases near Newmarket are all in horses recently imported from Ireland which suggests it’s there but no one is owning up to it and if the cases are not in registered racing yards legally they don’t have to notify anyone.
For one who likes a conspiracy theory.maybe this has been around in Ireland but they’re keeping quiet about it. There’s been whispers about Mullins having a bug.as far as vetinary husbandry is concerned it’s pretty archaic in Ireland.
Apparently only about 40% of the whole horse population (everything from Shetlands to Clydesdales) in the UK are vaccinated. I've heard that if at least 70% of the horse population were vaccinated then outbreaks would be effectively non existent. Surely its time there was at least a campaign to get the rate up. When I went to Pony Club stuff many, many years ago we had to be able to prove a horse/pony had been vaccinated.
First signs of dissent amongst the training ranks this morning. NTD reckons BHA have massively over reacted. Others suggest there are bound to be more positives when the 3000+ samples are tested as the equine flu is endemic in the UK. This could become a proper British farce.
It's probably their biggest nightmare come true. I don't know that much about equine flu but have a pretty good knowledge of exotic diseases such as avian flu and swine Fever. They're easier to deal with because the control measures are very different - but couldn't and shouldn't be used for horses. I hope I don't need to spell them out! There is a commonality though and happy for Princess to shoot me down on this one. You can have as many procedures and practices in place as you like but it only takes one person to make a silly mistake (usually through thoughtlessness or cutting corners) and the whole system falls apart. Farmers and owners sometimes like to moan about the red tape etc but it's there for a very good reason. I don't think it is an over reaction - what ever measures are taken will be in line with the latest risk assessments and epidemiological advice which is all completely independent and in many cases updated daily in a situation like this. But you can understand the frustrations I guess. Personally I'd love to hear what Mark Johnston or John Gosden have to say about it as they have more understanding of it than most - though there must be other qualified vets whoware trainers so their opinions would be as welcome - I just don't known who they are!
my thoughts as well chan , surely this and other viruses affect stables , sometimes for a season , last year hobbs had a poor season which he says was down toprimarily a virus , still ran his horses , their handicap marks were reduced as a result of performance and he benefitted this season , wellearlier on anyway , he’s just one example , what about owners etc visiting different yards all the time , surely there is no measures to wash feet and change clothes every time you visit a stable ?!!
A few of us on here went to a couple of studs in Newmarket a couple of years back and I must admit I was a bit surprised that there were no biosecurity measures in place for visitors (would be interested in @floridaspearl view on that). That said, it may well be that there is actually no reason for it - pretty sure that Godolphin and Judmont wouldn't be taking unnecessary risks!
I'm just an interested observer Dan and glad I'm not in a position where I have any responsibility for plotting away out of it. The difference I'd suggest to the examples you quote (avian flu/swine fever) is that equine flu is endemic in the UK. Back in my Civil Service days I had to attend a briefing about bird flu at our London HQ from the departmental expert (he'd gone on a few seminars more than the rest of us). This chap was promising all types of Armageddon as it wasn't a case of if but when with bird flu. He seemed genuinely pleased at the prospect. 20 years later, he'll be long retired, but shuffling around in his M&S slippers somewhere bemoaning the fact that he never got his day in the sun career wise cos it hasn't happened (yet!)
Bird flu's horrendous because there's so many variants. The ones we've had recently are either not communicable to humans or have mild impact. Asian bird flu would be a whole new ball game and the death of the poultry industry. I know some strains of equine flu are endemic but aren't there some that are not? Oh and for the avoidance of doubt I'm very obviously not a vet. If i was I'd either be in prison or a multi millionaire....
The thing with equine flu is that it’s very similar to human flu in that it’s not nice to have but usually people get over it within a few weeks. The other similarity is that it severely affects the very young, very old and immuno-compromised. The key thing for racing is the disruption it causes to a training schedule: if you’ve got flu in your yard you can’t train the affected horses properly so they can miss intended targets. If you then have flu cropping up all over the place your talking multiple yards suffering disruption. Also a Doomsday scenario is flu getting onto a Stud where you’ve got heavily pregnant mares and newborn foals who could realistically die or suffer severe complications. Could you imagine the effect on racing two years down the line when you’ve got a crop of two year olds that is smaller than normal because so many contracted flu as foals and ended up dying or suffering long-term respiratory problems. I do agree that bio security is the key. In my opinion one of two things has happened in this case: A) Someone has wilfully or negligently failed to follow bio security practices - failing to properly isolate new arrivals in a yard; failure to properly clean and disinfect horseboxes (which are often shared when using transport companies), racecourse stables, etc. B) Someone has been moving horses fully in the knowledge that they’ve been in contact with sick horses.
Having read a bit more about it, I’ve come to the conclusion it’s a bit of a storm in a teacup. But with this sport the gambling is a major factor. You can see it now a well backed fave gets beat and punters lose faith in the credibility of the sport. On the bio security. It’s non existent and if you wanted to noble a horse it wouldn’t be hard.ive come to the conclusion that a lot of these trainers know little more than people like myself when it comes to equine management. Don’t get me wrong I know nothing about targeting horses for races and the like.
well looking at some trainers , florida , it can’t be that hard to acquire the necessary “skills” , a lot of them are just “ managers “ and rely on knowledgeable staff to do the real work .......
And the wealthy ones have taken this little break as a perfect excuse to take a little skiing break. Lovely.
I have seen rumours (which is all I can call them at present) that this flu is more widespread than is officially reported (eg France and Ireland). As it is air born presumably it is not inconceivable that birds could carry it anywhere
There is another possibility - there is an asymptomatic carrier that has become infected with the virus, but which displays no signs nor symptoms and has infected other horses. Whether testing would pick this up I don't know.
Good news from BHA, of the 2,100 samples so far received by the AHT, 720 have been tested and apart from the additional positives within the McCain yard there have been no other positive results including the horses tested from Rebecca Menzies’ yard.
