#14,208
We continue to follow the UK's Equine Influenza epizootic (see here, here, and here) - their largest in 2 decades - which began last February (see UK BHA: All Horse Racing Halted After Equine Flu Reported In Vaccinated Horses) - and surprisingly turned out to be due to the “Florida Clade 1” strain, which is normally reported in North and South America.
We've also seen outbreaks this month in Niger (OIE Report) and Sudan (OIE Report), and last April the the OIE summarized outbreaks in South America, Africa, Europe, North America, and Asia and concluded there has been a global increase in equine influenza activity over the past year.While Equine influenza is not currently considered a human health threat, it is similar to other viruses which appear to have infected humans in the past, it is believed to have some zoonotic potential (see EID Journal: Equine Influenza - A Neglected, Reemergent Disease Threat).
For now this is primarily a concern to horse owners and the horse industry.With 209 outbreaks this year across the UK - and 43 of those reported in the 1st 18 days of July - the virus continues to accelerate. The UK reported 27 outbreaks in May, and appears on pace to equal or exceed June's total (n=63).
The UK's Animal Health Trust (AHT) issued the following update over the weekend:
Although the first outbreaks were in race horses, the bulk of the outbreaks the past couple of months have been in unvaccinated non-thoroughbred horses.
Although the UK has been hardest hit outside of West Africa, a number of
other Western European nations have reported outbreaks since the start
of the year, with the AHT and Equiflunet.org.uk reporting on July 1st:
Outbreaks of EI in Europe
There has been an increase in equine influenza activity reported in Europe. Multiple outbreaks were reported in Northern France at the end of December, whilst positive diagnoses have been made since the beginning of 2019 in France, Belgium, Germany, Ireland, Italy the Netherlands, Denmark and Sweden.
For more on the zoonotic potential of equine influenza, you may wish to revisit 2018's Equine H3N8: Looking At A long-shot In The Pandemic Sweepstakes.
