equine flu

[maggiehorse]

Hi two horses next to mine have contracted equine flu both mine are in touching distance and are absolutely fine the two horses with flu haven't been off farm for months one of mine competes most weekends and I'm being blamed my question is can a horse bring in the flu virus but have no symptoms?

 

[be positive]

I am sure they can but it is hardly your fault, I assume yours are vaccinated so will be protected from getting the actual virus and symptoms, if theirs are not vaccinated that will be why they have got it.
If you keep horses on a yard where others come and go all horses in that yard are at risk it is down to their owners to take precautions and get them vaccinated. If they are vaccinated then it is bad luck that they picked it up and yours are fine.

 

[maggiehorse]

Yes ours are both vaccinated as is one of theirs

 

[maggiehorse]

The thing I'm trying to get my head around is how can a vaccinated horse at a show where there is no direct contact with other people horses or equipment and where all horses are required to be vaccinated. How can said horse carry flu back to his livery yard and transmitted it?

 

[Dizzydancer]

Equine flu is no different to human flu. It is in the air, there is nothin to say its come from the competition.
I kept my old horse on a retirement yard, no comings or goings for 4 years as all old liverys. Yet one winter 5 of the 8 got flu even tho they were vaccinated. It isn't your fault.
Some horses can carry it tho or not be affected the same your horse may have been sneezed on or near and now he has carried it back to yard and those weaker immune system horses have been affected.

 

[maggiehorse]

I see so it's possible to carry it back from a show on the horse or its equipment without my horse contracting it. I'm very carefully about not having phsycall contact with other horses I can't see how I could do more and yet there are a lot of upset owners at yard who don't compete and don't see why I should put their horses at risk by competing

 

[be positive]

I have just seen your thread in TR, the people making a fuss could have transmitted themselves by touching any horse, yours may have been in contact with the virus, not every horse will show symptoms and not every horse at the shows you go to will be correctly vaccinated or they may have come from a yard with horses that have the virus.
It is going to spread however hard people try to prevent it, if they want to avoid any possible form of disease they need to keep the horses in a bubble not on a livery yard and they still will be at risk from the vet or farrier bringing germs in.

 

[maggiehorse]

Thanks be positive that helps a lot

 

[Pasture Mix]

I agree that it's not your fault & feel for you; I've been in your position. The first winter I had LL she came down with flu as she had not yet had her first vaccinations. I was approached by the YO to get the vet out because "apparently" the other liveries had been moaning at her that they thought LL had strangles & was going to pass it on to all the others. This was annoying for 3 reasons:
1. It was the YO who wanted me to get the vet out, but she pretended the other liveries had moaned so that I wouldn't get angry at her.
2. I knew the other liveries hadn't said anything because they knew she only had flu. YO incorrectly assumed her snotty nose was due to strangles.
3. My mum & dad bought LL as a surprise birthday present (hence not organising vaccinations) as a 14 month old From Said YO, who bought her to sell on at 11 months & hadn't bothered to isolate her when she first brought her onto the yard. LL had never left the yard, so it would have been on the YO for bringing strangles to the yard anyway!

So, fuming, I arranged & paid for a vet to come out & tell me what I already knew - she had flu. Oh & that I was treating her really well for it too.
None of the other horses on the yard even got a sniffle that winter, so I was really annoyed.
It can pretty much come from anywhere. If they're going to be funny with you, turn it round on them: why should you miss out on competing/limit your enjoyment of your horse because they haven't had theirs vaccinated or theirs has a weaker immune system?
They could have even brought it themselves by touching an item in a tack shop that had been touched by someone else who's horse has flu!
So fight your corner & hopefully they'll soon realise they're being unreasonable

 

[maggiehorse]

Apparently her vet told her that my horse must have caught the flu but only mildly hence is showing no symptons but has passed it on I mentioned farriers back people etc. And she said I was only trying to be difficult and not takimg responsibility and then she went on about the cost of bet visit to the two sick horses I didn't do a be event today just in case and lost 75 quid in entry fees I was glad to do this I don't want any possibility of spreading it

 

[Pasture Mix]

Hm. Well LL got it approx. 9 months after being on the yard, she had never left the yard & the only time any of the others had left the yard was so go on hacks, so nobody had brought it back from competitions on our yard.
You're never going to know for definite where it came from, so I don't see why they're making such a big deal of the "blame game". They'll just be fed up 'cause theirs have it & yours doesn't.
I'm not saying be horrible, but don't be afraid to stand up for yourself. There are far too many people in the horsey world that blame/bully other people when things aren't going their way. I've been on the receiving end of it Many times & it's toughened me up.
I wouldn't be bullied into paying for a vet to visit my horse when I'm confident I know what's going on nowadays

 

[nix123]

Instead of you having to prove your innocence i think your neighbour should prove your guilt so to speak. Flu is an airborn virus and can be caught from anyone and anything so i would ignore her. As for her vet i think she's probably just added that comment on to their conversation.

 

[maggiehorse]

Just seen my two boys, one has a spotty nose and the other is coughing

 

[maggiehorse]

Snotty... Stupid phone

 

[Emz99]

Have the horses actually been tested for what it is or are they assuming influenza?

 

[maggiehorse]

No swabs were taken to confirm

 

[maggiehorse]

Unfortunately it's turned out to be strangles so far only four horses have it and are in strict quarantine in their field