Equine Flu Update Monday 11 February 2019 6.45 a.m.

ester

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only 2 weeks for immunity! we weren't allowed to do any flu culture until that had passed (well the first time we had it).
Not for actual rest! I don't do anything different.
 

PapaverFollis

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My flu jab 2 years ago knocked me for 6. The run I did a couple of days later was hilariously bad. It was like one of those awful dreams where you are trying to run but your legs won't move!! It's not always that bad but I wouldn't want to be jabbed immediately prior to any strenuous training that's for sure!
 

Abi90

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only 2 weeks for immunity! we weren't allowed to do any flu culture until that had passed (well the first time we had it).
Not for actual rest! I don't do anything different.


Ooooh. Yellow fever just about killed me off for a few days. That or the fact I had 3 vaccines in one go!
 

Abi90

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Obviously you can have a rest ;) but that's just not why we were talking about periods after vaccination.

I got confused with another thread on here somewhere talking about giving horses a few days off after vaccination because they would feel off
 

Ambers Echo

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vaccine introduces the extracellular proteins to your immune system. It doesn't even have to be the 'actual' virus you can express just the outside bits on a virus-like particule. Ideally this will = zero viral load due to quick elminiation of any entering virus particles. This is where the element of cross protection comes in though ergo the immune system might sort of recognise it but not enough for elmination to prevent infection. Does that make sense?

Just about!! So the vaccine may not eliminate ALL virus particles which sounds like is what happened to the 4 horses at Newmarket. They are still showing no signs of infection so the vaccine has protected them but not stopped them being stressed to some degree by the flu virus.

We don't randomly test asymptomatic horses as I don't think anyone would think they would be positive.

But in this instance those horses ARE asymptomatic and are also positive for flu. They have not been exposed to flu directly as far as anyone knows - they were considered at risk because they were at the same meeting as Rebecca Menzies horses but those turned out to be negative for flu. So they would not normally have been tested at all. Which begs the question again: how many horses would test positive for flu in any mass screening of any random set of 2000 horses. If the bench-marking research is not done how can these numbers be meaningful?

We have 10 cases in 2000+ horses, an incidence of <0.005%. So the conclusion could be 'flu in race horses at reassuringly low levels' rather than 'racing flu crisis deepens'.
 

Michen

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Yet I bet lots of leisure riders will still stay at home for the foreseeable future “just in case”!
 

The-Bookworm

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Or as in some cases stay put because they are on a yard that has locked itself down, or because the competitions were cancelled so nowhere to go anyway or because they can't go to the ones running as they won't accept you unless jab done in last six months.
 

Michen

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Or as in some cases stay put because they are on a yard that has locked itself down, or because the competitions were cancelled so nowhere to go anyway or because they can't go to the ones running as they won't accept you unless jab done in last six months.

Maybe not the case in the counties with flu but certainly most comps running as normal here. Haven’t heard of many yards in lockdown. Professionals still out and about competing and training. It would be somewhat ridiculous for yards to remain on lockdown if the racing industry have perceived the risk to be low enough that they may resume racing- when will these yards start to re operate?? How are they going to measure what is deemed safe?
 

Ambers Echo

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Fair enough if people choose to stay in themselves but yards with no flu and no direct exposure to flu being on compulsory ' lock down' sounds completely absurd to me! Or is there flu very local to you
 

ester

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AE which is why people have been so concerned because that is not normal.

We have I think 33 cases this year, 3 this year, and it is not ‘normal’ endemic flu.

I think people are entitled to react how they think appropriate, most consider a couple of weeks pretty short term but of course both my bases are affected by local outbreaks.
 

The-Bookworm

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All the racehorses must have been vaccinated in the last six months, or had their booster, or be assessed as low risk.

Mine is entered to run Thursday. But that doesn't mean he will be declared tomorrow.
What's a week out of my life, I would rather the trainer not take him as oppose to laying him up unable to run.
 
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The racing over the next week is going to be a little thin on the ground as most NH yards vaccinate in summer in the down season so their horses will be outwith the 6 month period or have just been down so will be in the 7 day cooling off period.
 

catkin

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Maybe not the case in the counties with flu but certainly most comps running as normal here. Haven’t heard of many yards in lockdown. Professionals still out and about competing and training. It would be somewhat ridiculous for yards to remain on lockdown if the racing industry have perceived the risk to be low enough that they may resume racing- when will these yards start to re operate?? How are they going to measure what is deemed safe?

The risks and vulnerabilities are different for everyone, so it is not ridiculous that yards remain on lockdown. If you have breeding stock or oldies you will look at risks from a different perspective to a yard full of FEI sportshorses. Owners of mixed yards will consider the needs of all residents not just one sector (at least I'd hope so!!)
 
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