Hunting and Equine flu

ycbm

Einstein would be proud of my Insanity...
Joined
30 January 2015
Messages
56,544
Visit site
Do you worry as much for yourself catching flu?


Hell yes! I can only assume you've never had a real case. I've had it at 14 and again last year 45 years later. Both times it wiped me out for weeks. My dose last year has left me with permanently reduced lung capacity and I now have an inhaler.

For a horse with a much longer, deeper airway, it can easily be career, or even life, ending.
 

AmyMay

Situation normal
Joined
1 July 2004
Messages
65,912
Location
South
Visit site
Back to personal experience of flu. The doctor came out to me. I spent most of over 2 weeks in bed. I could not walk, I crawled as my breathing was so bad. Later I was referrred for breathing tests. This was mid ‘80’s.

Yep. Same for me. I was 14 and was off school for a month in total. Luckily I wasn't hospitalised. But I was very I'll for quite some time, and recovery generally took a long time.
 

bonny

Well-Known Member
Joined
17 September 2007
Messages
6,487
Visit site
Personal accounts are just that ! I could just as easily say I had flu last year, felt rough for a couple of days and then was fine. Apparently 20% of people who would test positive for flu have no symptoms at all......non of this proves anything. How do you know when what feels like bad cold is actually flu ?
 

ycbm

Einstein would be proud of my Insanity...
Joined
30 January 2015
Messages
56,544
Visit site
Personal accounts are just that ! I could just as easily say I had flu last year, felt rough for a couple of days and then was fine. Apparently 20% of people who would test positive for flu have no symptoms at all......non of this proves anything. How do you know when what feels like bad cold is actually flu ?


Like I said, you've clearly never actually had it or you wouldn't need to ask the question.

Testing positive for antibodies is not the same as having had the disease. I test positive for TB, but I've never had it, I was just exposed to a close relative who had it as a child.


..
 

meleeka

Well-Known Member
Joined
14 September 2001
Messages
10,473
Location
Hants, England
Visit site
yes it does, I can only find the OIE summary which was of 2017 atm (OIE meeting march 2018), they mention TB or non-TB. There's too many results currently!
So presumably still competition horses? I’m just trying to work out accurate the monitoring is if it’s not a notifyable disease. I’m quite sure that the last horse I knew of that had it wasn’t reported to anyone above the vet that treated it. (This was a few years ago).
 

Cortez

Tough but Fair
Joined
17 January 2009
Messages
15,148
Location
Ireland
Visit site
People don’t on the whole get tested or even go to the doctor so we have no way of knowing who has flu and who has a bad cold. The same is true for most horses so we can’t compare years or get an accurate picture of what is going on.

Believe me, if you'd ever had flu, or seen someone with it, you would know that it wasn't just a bad cold. I have seen a horse die from equine influenza; it's not just a snotty nose.
 

bonny

Well-Known Member
Joined
17 September 2007
Messages
6,487
Visit site
Believe me, if you'd ever had flu, or seen someone with it, you would know that it wasn't just a bad cold. I have seen a horse die from equine influenza; it's not just a snotty nose.
That’s just patronising, you have no way of knowing my medical history or the history of those close to me......my point was that personal stories are just that, they are evidence of nothing.
 

Lammy

Well-Known Member
Joined
25 October 2013
Messages
728
Visit site
Personal accounts are just that ! I could just as easily say I had flu last year, felt rough for a couple of days and then was fine. Apparently 20% of people who would test positive for flu have no symptoms at all......non of this proves anything. How do you know when what feels like bad cold is actually flu ?

And 87% of people who are screened positive for rectal cancer have had no symptoms at all...doesn’t mean to say it won’t kill you. Just because one persons immune system is better than another’s is no grounds to rule that flu is not an issue. Same for horses, it might not kill a fit healthy 8 year old but it potentially will see off an 18 year old with other health issues.
 

Cortez

Tough but Fair
Joined
17 January 2009
Messages
15,148
Location
Ireland
Visit site
That’s just patronising, you have no way of knowing my medical history or the history of those close to me......my point was that personal stories are just that, they are evidence of nothing.

I don't particularly care about your medical history, but you do seem hell bent on simply dismissing any facts that don't agree with your opinion.
 

bonny

Well-Known Member
Joined
17 September 2007
Messages
6,487
Visit site
And 87% of people who are screened positive for rectal cancer have had no symptoms at all...doesn’t mean to say it won’t kill you. Just because one persons immune system is better than another’s is no grounds to rule that flu is not an issue. Same for horses, it might not kill a fit healthy 8 year old but it potentially will see off an 18 year old with other health issues.
I’m not sure you should compare cancer to flu
 

bonny

Well-Known Member
Joined
17 September 2007
Messages
6,487
Visit site
Presumably then the nhs spends a ton of money vaccinating vulnerable people against flu every because they just have too much money to know what to do with...
No of course not, flu is dangerous to vulnerable people or horses, no one has argued that is isn’t. I’ve just been reading though how ineffectual the vaccine seems to be in people and how the uptake is going down in over 65s.
 

DabDab

Ah mud, splendid
Joined
6 May 2013
Messages
12,572
Visit site
No of course not, flu is dangerous to vulnerable people or horses, no one has argued that is isn’t. I’ve just been reading though how ineffectual the vaccine seems to be in people and how the uptake is going down in over 65s.
So why do you think it is in any way strange that people are choosing to be cautious and stay home with their horses?
 

bonny

Well-Known Member
Joined
17 September 2007
Messages
6,487
Visit site
That a bad cold is not flu; that waiting for a few days will do nothing; that healthy horses do not die from flu.........pretty much anything sensible that people have come up with.
Ok, I think a lot of people who are ill with a virus think they have flu, without testing it’s impossible to know, without being in someone’s shoes you don’t know how bad they feel anyway. No, I don’t believe healthy horses die from flu, I’m not saying they never have but I think it’s very unlikely. And no, I don’t think cancelling hunting, shows and racing for a few days will achieve anything, I’m hardly alone in thinking that !
 

catkin

Well-Known Member
Joined
14 July 2010
Messages
2,557
Location
South West
Visit site
Presumably then the nhs spends a ton of money vaccinating vulnerable people against flu every because they just have too much money to know what to do with...

and businesses in many industries will PAY for key personnel to have flu jabs if they are not covered by the NHS scheme.

The human flu jab last year was a problem because the flu strain had changed and was not covered by the vaccs - just like the concerns now about equine flu
 

Mule

Well-Known Member
Joined
27 October 2016
Messages
7,655
Visit site
I know the flu vaccine is sometimes recommended for people who suffer from depression. Apparently a flu can trigger depression so people who already suffer from depression are at risk of their condition worsening, if they contract the flu.
 

bonny

Well-Known Member
Joined
17 September 2007
Messages
6,487
Visit site
Be interesting to know how many people who vaccinate their horses against flu also get themselves vaccinated ......and how many of them would get a booster if they heard of an outbreak of flu somewhere ? A lot of us are more paranoid about our horses than ourselves I suspect....just musing anyway
 

Mule

Well-Known Member
Joined
27 October 2016
Messages
7,655
Visit site
Be interesting to know how many people who vaccinate their horses against flu also get themselves vaccinated ......and how many of them would get a booster if they heard of an outbreak of flu somewhere ? A lot of us are more paranoid about our horses than ourselves I suspect....just musing anyway
I've never been vaccinated against the flu, but afaik in humans, age and current health status determine whether vaccination is advisable. I'd imagine my GP would suggest it, if she thought it was advisable.
 

popsdosh

Well-Known Member
Joined
7 November 2008
Messages
6,388
Visit site
That’s just patronising, you have no way of knowing my medical history or the history of those close to me......my point was that personal stories are just that, they are evidence of nothing.
Really Bonny your understanding of proper Flu ,not the one most of the population skive off with is so poor .
Google 1918 flu epidemic and do some research about the devastating effects . It infected 500 million and killed an estimated up to 10% of those infected so a bit worse than a cold. Well for those that died!
 

ester

Not slacking multitasking
Joined
31 December 2008
Messages
60,198
Location
Cambridge
Visit site
So presumably still competition horses? I’m just trying to work out accurate the monitoring is if it’s not a notifyable disease. I’m quite sure that the last horse I knew of that had it wasn’t reported to anyone above the vet that treated it. (This was a few years ago).
No, all horses? I don’t think I indicated comp horses?

It’s part of the surveillance they makes up the recommendations of what strains should go into vaccine, all horses matter for that.

Which is why the AHT pdf mentions OIE recommendations.
 
Last edited:
Top