A veterinarian collecting blood sample from a horse for lab testing during the 2007 equine influenza outbreak in Australia. [Image: NSW Department of Primary Industries]
The management of influenza outbreaks in horses will directly benefit from research by the Faculty of Veterinary Science at the University of Sydney. "We have demonstrated in non-laboratory conditions how air temperature, humidity and wind velocity influence the spread of influenza viruses. It puts us in a much better position to understand an actual outbreak of influenza in horse populations, under natural conditions," said Navneet Dhand , the principal investigator of the research project. The team analysed data from the 2007 equine influenza or 'horse flu' outbreak in Australia together with data provided by the Australian Bureau of Meteorology for the same time period. The researchers discovered horses were more likely to get infected on days when relative humidity was low and less likely to get infected on days when the maximum daily air temperature was between 20 and 25°C. The findings were published in PloS One , the Public Library of Science, on 21 April. "The results will be invaluable in modelling the spread of influenza viruses in the unique Australian environment and landscape," said Simon Firestone, the lead author of the paper and a PhD candidate at the University of Sydney's Faculty of Veterinary Science.
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