Vet Times Podcast, Ep 12: Richard Newton and Adam Rash on equine disease surveillance

Adam Rash is postdoctoral research scientist at the AHT, while Richard Newton is the trust’s director of epidemiology and disease surveillance.

The Equine Quarterly Disease Surveillance Report is produced by Defra, the AHT and BEVA, and can be found via the AHT website.

Within the latest report, for quarter three, an update on equine flu outbreaks in the UK and Europe is provided. It states: “The majority of outbreaks were confirmed in June and July, and this is largely thought to be due to the high mixing of horses that occurs at this time of year.

“The UK saw the highest number of outbreaks and hypothesis for why this occurred is that the UK has a much lower level of vaccinated horses in comparison to Europe, with unconfirmed reports of only 30 to 40 per cent of horses being vaccinated.”