The Horserace Betting Levy Board (HBLB) funded equine influenza (EI) surveillance scheme provides free of charge PCR testing for suspected cases of equine flu in the UK. The laboratory testing is conducted on behalf of EIDS and HBLB by Rossdales Laboratories for samples submitted with an appropriately completed scheme submission form.

Why use the HBLB-funded equine influenza surveillance scheme?

This scheme is intended to assist treating vets in confirming if influenza is present on a premises and in particular where there may be financial constraints on pursuing diagnostic testing. Importantly, the scheme is intended to also encourage testing in EI vaccinated horses with clinical respiratory signs, which may be suggestive of failure of vaccine efficacy. A prompt diagnosis helps to ensure successful implementation of control measures for an infected premises, limiting spread of flu and its impacts on the industry and welfare of horses. On confirmation of a positive diagnosis of EI, veterinary epidemiologists at EIDS will be able to assist equine vets with relevant outbreak advice.

This scheme also enables epidemiological and virological information to be obtained which is vital to ensure preventive measures such as vaccination are optimally used in our horse population in the UK. Identifying risk factors for outbreaks can assist in the design of premises specific biosecurity measures. Virological analyses determine if current vaccines are likely to maintain levels of protection against the circulating field strains of flu virus. Information obtained through this scheme is shared anonymously with stakeholders, through International Collating Centre (ICC) reports, Tell-Tail text alerts which include a link to the ICC report and on the EquiFluNet website. Anonymised data also contribute to further influenza research studies, which are intended to mitigate future major outbreaks of this highly infectious equine respiratory disease.

Which horses can be sampled on the HBLB scheme?

• Any unvaccinated horse with typical influenza clinical signs (that may include combinations of coughing, nasal discharge, fever and inappetence)
• Vaccinated horses with clinical respiratory signs, which may though be milder than those seen in unvaccinated animals

Which samples are covered for free PCR testing on the HBLB scheme?

• Nasopharyngeal swabs taken within 5 days of clinical signs first being noted (see Figure below)

The Equine Infectious Disease Surveillance (EIDS) team is a small, independent, UK-based group made up of equine veterinary epidemiologists (Dr Richard Newton FRCVS, Fleur Whitlock MRCVS and Dr Abigail McGlennon BSc, PhD) with support secretariat (Maire O'Brien) and is funded by the equine industry. The team is able to assist with the prevention, diagnosis, management and containment of a wide range of equine infectious diseases and to advise veterinary practices on sampling, vaccination, biosecurity and the most appropriate control of different disease situations. The team can be emailed and somebody from the group will respond promptly.

The EIDS Brochure

If you'd like to learn more about EIDS, please read our latest brochure, which offers a summary of the EIDS team, our disease outbreak alert systems, our free UK vet advice line, and our surveillance projects. Simply click the image below to view it.

Case study

A recent case illustrates the type of assistance that can be provided. In May 2021, a treating veterinary surgeon was dealing with an outbreak of pyrexia and neurological signs on a livery yard with over 60 horses. Preliminary laboratory diagnostics had confirmed cases to be positive for equine herpes virus-1 (EHV-1). There had already been two neurological cases that had required euthanasia due to the severity of their signs. Discussion with our veterinary epidemiologists from the outset enabled the right control measures to be put in place as quickly as possible, to limit further spread of EHV-1. Horses were designated into small groups and each group was isolated from other groups. Additional diagnostic sampling was conducted to understand the extent of the spread of EHV-1 on the premises and this included nasopharyngeal swabs for EHV-1 PCR and blood samples for EHV-1 serology. The results of this testing were analysed by our team and used to determine the next steps that should be taken on the premises. Strict biosecurity measures were kept in place for two weeks and the treating vet kept in regular contact with our epidemiologists. Clearance testing was then conducted to demonstrate that the virus was no longer circulating on the premises. Through a quick diagnosis by the treating vet and effective implementation of control measures to limit further spread, clearance testing demonstrated that the premises could lift restrictions. Ongoing, a biosecurity plan was implemented to reduce the risk of such outbreaks in the future and our epidemiologists assisted in the specifics of this to ensure they were relevant to the premises set-up and the population of resident horses. For the ICC report in this outbreak please follow this link.

Richard Newton BVSc MSc PhD FRCVS

After several years in general mixed practice Richard joined the Animal Health Trust, based near Newmarket, Suffolk, the headquarters of British racing, where he acquired a breadth of experience in the epidemiology, surveillance and control of a range of equine infectious diseases, including influenza, strangles and equine herpesvirus. He was the Director of Epidemiology and Disease Surveillance and Acting Director of Research at the Trust when it closed in July 2020. Richard and his immediate team have been retained by the UK Thoroughbred racing and breeding industry and they continue to provide global disease surveillance and advice on disease prevention strategies and management of outbreaks. More recently he has been working as part of the International Equestrian Federation (FEI) Veterinary Epidemiology Working Group, advising the FEI on outbreak management and return to competition following a large outbreak of EHV-1 neurological disease affecting horses attending showjumping events in Spain and Portugal in February and March 2021.

Fleur Whitlock BVetMed (Hons) MSc MRCVS

Fleur qualified from the Royal Veterinary College, London in 2012 and following an internship in Dubai, she worked in clinical equine practice in the UK. In 2017 she joined the Epidemiology and Disease Surveillance team at the Animal Health Trust. Fleur works closely with vets to aid infectious disease diagnosis, control and prevention. She also assists with the running of our surveillance schemes and collation of our numerous surveillance reports. Fleur enjoys promoting equine infectious disease epidemiology and regularly provides lectures and educational material on this topic. Fleur also completed a Veterinary Epidemiology and Public Health Masters in 2021 at the Royal Veterinary College.

Maire O'Brien

Having spent 16 years working in London and a year working in Australia, Maire moved backed to Bury St Edmunds and started working as a temp covering maternity leave at the Animal Health Trust and remained there for 22 years (!!) working as Richard Newton's secretary and admin support to the Epidemiology and Disease Surveillance team. When the AHT sadly closed Maire was also retained by the UK Thoroughbred racing and breeding industry and is the first point of contact for the Equine Infectious Disease Surveillance team and always happy to help with any enquiries you might have (email). Maire is involved in the production and circulation of International Collating Centre disease reporting platforms and Defra/BEVA Equine Quarterly Disease Surveillance Reports, working closely with Richard Newton and Fleur Whitlock on these initiatives.

Abigail McGlennon
BSc (Hons), PhD

Abbi graduated from Nottingham Trent University and joined the Epidemiology and Disease Surveillance team at the Animal Health Trust in 2017. Abbi is the lead developer of the Surveillance of Equine Strangles (SES) network which collates and reports on UK based laboratory diagnoses of strangles and has been operational from 2018. Abbi has since completed a doctorate in veterinary epidemiology based at the Royal Veterinary College examining the epidemiology, transmission and genomics of UK laboratory diagnosed strangles cases between 2015 and 2022. Abbi joins the EIDS team to update and streamline the SES network and assist the EIDS team with the collation of surveillance reports and scientific communication and engagement for multiple industry groups.

John Grewar BVSc, MSc, PhD

John qualified from the University of Pretoria, South Africa in 2006 and obtained an MSc and PhD in 2009 and 2020 respectively. He is a registered Veterinary Epidemiologist in South Africa and has been involved with the development and modernisation of the various equine disease reporting systems used by EIDS. He is the founder and director of jDATA (Pty) Ltd