What is Equine influenza?

Equine lnfl uenza (EI) is a highly contagious though rarely fatal respiratory disease of horses, donkeys and mules and other equidae. The disease has been recorded throughout

history, and when horses were the main draft animals, outbreaks of El crippled the economy. Nowadays outbreaks still have a severe impact on the horse industry.

EI is caused by two subtypes of infl uenza A viruses: H7N7 and H3N8, of the family Orhomyxoviridae. They are related to but distinct from the viruses that cause human and avian infl uenza.

Equine Infl uenza is a disease listed in the OIE Terrestrial Animal Health Code and countries

are obligated to report the occurrence of the disease according to the OIE Code Source: The World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE)