Horse owners urged to look out for equine flu signs

Horse owners on the Isle of Man have been urged to be vigilant for signs of respiratory illness in their animals after a rise in cases of equine influenza in the UK.

Symptoms can include a lethargy, loss of appetite, dry cough, nasal discharge, and a high temperature or fever, and the highly contagious illness can spread rapidly among horses.

The island's chief vet Dr Amy Beckett said that while there were no confirmed cases on the island, owners should be "especially vigilant" for the signs, whether their horses are vaccinated or not.

People importing the animals to the island have also been reminded that those not fully vaccinated must be kept in isolation for two weeks after arriving.

The Department of Environment, Food and Agriculture (Defa) said while horses that are fully vaccinated "often show no clinical signs" they may "still shed enough virus to infect other horses" for up to 10 days.

The department said a substantial proportion of recent outbreaks of equine influenza notified to the UK's Equine Infectious Disease Surveillance involved horses that had moved premises prior to showing symptoms.

Defa said disease could be spread through the air "over reasonable distances" or indirectly through people, however there were "no known consequences" for people exposed to it.

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