Since the beginning of April 2026, EIDS has become aware of six confirmed outbreaks of equine influenza (EI) on premises in six separate counties of England, with details made available for reporting from five of the outbreaks. In addition to the reports from Berkshire, Hampshire, Kent, Lincolnshire and North Yorkshire (shaded on the map), EIDS is aware of another confirmed EI outbreak in the East of England. These six outbreaks reported in the first 10 days of April are in contrast to only two EI outbreaks reported for the UK during all of the first quarter of 2026.
Points of note currently about these outbreaks are:
- Five have involved confirmed EI infection in recently arrived horses, with three of these in animals imported from European countries, including Ireland and the Netherlands
- Two have had EI infection confirmed in vaccinated horses
- Two were confirmed using different in-house point of care test platforms – loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) and insulated isothermal PCR (iiPCR)
- One was confirmed using free laboratory tests kindly funded as part of the Horserace Betting Levy Board (HBLB) flu surveillance scheme run by EIDS in conjunction with Rossdales Laboratories
EIDS therefore urges horse owners and their veterinary surgeons to be vigilant for the emergence of signs of respiratory disease (pyrexia, inappetence, coughing and nasal discharge) among animals under their care. This is particularly true among recently arrived and non-vaccinated animals, although signs in vaccinated horses should be taken seriously and also be investigated. Diagnosis relies on upper respiratory tract samples being collected and tested by either conventional laboratory methods (qPCR) or point of care testing at the practice (LAMP, iiPCR) for presence of viral RNA. If you have a positive laboratory or point of care test result for EI please do take the trouble to report this to EIDS via the online disease reporting platform here. just register on the system with your email and away you go!
With your help we can keep tabs on the extent of EI across the UK.