Dangers of equine flu??

RE: Dangers of equine flu??

Julian Earl — Sat, 16 Feb 2019 23:41:02 GMT

[quote user="Neil Wheadon"]Of more interest is the fact that extreme athletes damage their hearts and many die earlier than their fitness suggest.[/quote]

A survey in France a few years ago, reported in Cycling Weekly magazine shoed that ex-professional cyclists had a cardiovascular fitness fitness of people thirty years younger so it is not all bad news! Also AF is generally more common I long-term endurance athletes, if I recall correctly, it is thought to be due to cardiomegaly affecting the electrical transmission across the heart. One of my best friends here is 76 this year, has AF, and had a stroke about 3 years ago but is still a regular and active racing cyclist. Having raced every year since he was aged 15, it would be a great shock to his system if he stopped!

RE: Dangers of equine flu??

Anthony Todd — Sat, 16 Feb 2019 17:33:52 GMT

It was believed by some, in the 60s, that racing a horse when it was "infected" would lead to marked T wave changes and conduction defects which would inevitably affect performance.

Horses with positive T waves invariably had a limited ability for maximum performance but could be nursed, if possible, and have a short [anaerobic?] sprint.

[a leading show jumper in Sydney had AF....] one round was enough!

One of the world's greatest distance runners ended up with a prolonged P-R interval after, apparently, racing with 'flu.

RE: Dangers of equine flu??

Neil Wheadon — Sat, 16 Feb 2019 14:35:15 GMT

[quote user="Julian Earl"]This a real risk in people; eg my wife's father died at forty playing football dure to this so did Beryl Burton the champion cyclist. [/quote]

Of more interest is the fact that extreme athletes damage their hearts and many die earlier than their fitness suggest. Paul Sherwin (Tour de France rider and commentator) dies of heart failure at 62. Is this also seen in racehorses?

Neil

RE: Dangers of equine flu??

Julian Earl — Sat, 16 Feb 2019 13:32:19 GMT

Thanks Villagevet. If this is established knowledge, then it should be mentioned in the reports of the halting of racing for the time being: An immediate and obvious threat to the horses and their welfare.

Thanks for that information.

RE: Dangers of equine flu??

Lindsey Edwards — Sat, 16 Feb 2019 11:06:59 GMT

This was most definitely discussed in our lectures - definitely associated with 'flu but possibly also many other viral infections (have seen a couple of suspected cases in greyhounds ran when unwell also). Study below detected rise in troponin in sedentary ponies challenged with flu so more than possible that strenuous exercise could become affected

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21314723:

J Vet Intern Med. 2011 Mar-Apr;25(2):339-44. doi: 10.1111/j.1939-1676.2011.0680.x. Epub 2011 Feb 11.

Cardiac troponin I concentrations in ponies challenged with equine influenza virus.