Horses In M'sia Free From Equine Influenza - Vet Dept

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 23 (Bernama) -- The horse population in the country has been declared free from Equine Influenza (EI) virus or horse flu, says Veterinary Services Department deputy director-general Dr Kamarudin Md Isa. He said tests conducted on 58 samples taken from horses at the Selangor Turf Club (STC) and Perak Turf Club (PTC) on Sept 28 turned out negative for the presence of the virus. "Clinical examinations conducted on more than 200 horses at STC today (Thursday) also showed that the animals are healthy and there are no signs of them having the respiratory disease," he told a media conference on the status of the virus here Thursday. He said the department, however, would give three more weeks until November 15 before withdrawing the ban on transferring horse into the country or movement of horse to another stable within the country. He also said that following the positive development, home based racing could resume at the STC. Dr Kamarudin said the department had held internal discussions for additional regulations on the import of horses into the country to prevent the spread of the virus. "The Veterinary Services Department of Malaysia and Singapore will soon discuss on imposing new terms and conditions before horses can be brought into the two countries, including the need for vaccination," he said. An outbreak of the disease was detected after two horses transferred to STC, one to PTC and another to Penang Turf Club on Aug 14 showed symptoms of discharging influenza-like mucus. The tests on the samples from these horses, which were carried out by the laboratory at the Veterinary Research Institute in Ipoh and the Singapore Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA), confirmed the infection from EI. The infection was believed to be from four horses imported from New Zealand via Singapore on July 31. -- BERNAMA