Horse owners and vets are being urged to report all cases of equine flu as experts say the true number of outbreaks is significantly higher than current figures show.
The Equine Infectious Disease Surveillance team has received reports of 116 laboratory-confirmed outbreaks across 53 counties since 1 April. It is aware of another 50 confirmed outbreaks that cannot be included in national updates due to missing details or lack of permission for anonymous reporting.
Analysis of the reported cases shows that 66 percent involved horses that had travelled before diagnosis and 63 percent involved animals that were unvaccinated or whose vaccinations had lapsed. The British Horseracing Authority praised the handling of one case detected on 12 June in Shropshire after a horse arrived from Ireland.
The disease has also spread through the New Forest. It began in the north at Woodgreen and has moved south to areas including Burley. Vet Alan Hough said around 10 ponies have been found dead after showing flu symptoms, though testing has not yet confirmed the cause in those cases.
EIDS stressed that continued vigilance and robust biosecurity measures are essential to limit further spread.
