GDN Online Desk
Sat, 20 Mar 2021
Al Raud Stable’s Mohammed Abdulhamid Al Hashemi won the Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa Endurance Cup after an exciting race at the Bahrain International Endurance Village yesterday.
The champion clocked 4 hours, 47 minutes and 23 seconds in the 120-kilometre event. He was followed by Victorious’ Isa Al Enzi (4.47.30) and Al Zaim Sultan Al Romaihi (4.54.40)...
Read more here:
https://www.gdnonline.com/Details/939640/Al-Hashemi-wins-thrilling-contest
Further casualties include 5 aborted foals; hundreds more horses blocked from competing as a third Spanish venue is linked with cases.
By: Pippa Cuckson | March 17, 2021
Seventeen horses are now confirmed dead in relation to the outbreak of the aggressive neurological form of Equine Herpesvirus (EHV-1) at jumping tours in Spain.
The latest deaths include a newborn foal in Germany at stables where two horses recently returned from Spain have also died and where five mares have aborted foals. In Belgium, two more jumping horses have died.
Cases associated with a third Spanish tour have led to the FEI blocking 856 more horses from competing. This is the Mediterranean Equestrian Tour (MET) in Oliva, just a few miles from Valencia where the outbreak was first reported...
Read more here:
https://horsesport.com/horse-news/17-sport-horses-now-dead-spanish-herpes-crisis/
16 March 2021
The three-day Nasser Bin Hamad Endurance Championship will begin tomorrow at the Bahrain International Endurance Village.
His Majesty King Hamad’s representative for humanitarian work and youth affairs Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa and Bahrain Royal Equestrian and Endurance Federation (Breef) will patronise the competition.
The championship includes a 40km qualifying race, and three other races covering 80, 100 and 120km...
Read more here:
https://www.gdnonline.com/Details/939182
March 11 2021
By Bridget Murphy
Equine vets are urging horse breeders and owners to vaccinate against Hendra virus, following the discovery of a new strain of the deadly virus by Australian researchers.
The research project, titled Horses as Sentinels, has linked the new strain, found in a flying fox in Adelaide, to a previously unexplained death of a horse in an undisclosed area of Australia in 2015.
Peter Reid, a veterinary scientist with the Australian Veterinary Association [AVA], said that breeds of flying foxes that had not been known to transmit Hendra virus in the past could be carrying the new strain in areas previously deemed as low risk.
These areas include parts of New South Wales, Victoria and southern Australia, where grey-headed flying foxes are found.
Hendra virus, which was first recorded in Australia in 1994, can infect both humans and horses...
info@endurance-world.com
5th March 2021
Pisa, San Rossore, Italy. Friday 5 March 2021.
The Longines FEI Endurance World Championship 2021, scheduled in Pisa San Rossore – ITALY on 22 May, wants to be stronger not only regarding the Covid-19 pandemic – for which the Organizing Committee is preparing a detailed safety protocol to best guarantee the attending NFs teams – but also regarding the recent spread of Equine Rhinopneumonitis (Ehv-1) which has led the International Equestrian Federation to suspend international events in France, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Italy, Austria, Poland, Netherland, Germany and Slovakia until March 28, 2021.
The organizing committee of the Longines FEI Endurance World Championship 2021, in steady coordination with the International Equestrian Federation and the Italian Equestrian Federation, is following the evolution of the case and studying the possible necessity to adapt the health safety protocols. These actions go hand in hand with setting up the organization of the event in the name of maximum safety...
12 March 2021
The FEI has imposed a further two-week extension of the shutdown of all international events in mainland Europe until 11 April 2021 due to the ongoing outbreak of the neurological form of Equine Herpes Virus (EHV-1). The FEI had previously announced a 28-day shutdown on 1 March 2021.
The move, which aims to minimise the further spread of the very aggressive strain of the virus, was unanimously approved at an emergency FEI Executive Board meeting today. The extended lockdown applies to all FEI disciplines.
The decision is based on detailed scientific risk assessment conducted by world leading epidemiologist Dr Richard Newton and the FEI Veterinary Department.
The extended lockdown applies to all countries that have international scheduled events in the period to 11 April – Austria, Belgium, Spain, Estonia, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal and Sweden. However, the FEI again strongly recommends that all National Federations in mainland Europe cancel their national events in order to minimise horse movement.
The shutdown will mean the cancellation of the FEI World Cup™ Finals for the second consecutive year following the loss of the 2020 Finals in Las Vegas (USA) to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ Final and the FEI Dressage World Cup™ Final were scheduled to be held in Gothenburg (SWE) from 31 March to 4 April 2021.
“The extension of the lockdown is difficult for everyone, and the loss of the FEI World Cup Finals for a second year is particularly devastating, especially for the qualified athletes and for our loyal Top Partner Longines,” FEI Secretary General Sabrina Ibáñez said. “We know how much work Tomas Torgersen and his incredible team in Gothenburg have put into organising the 2021 Finals, which would have been part of the 400th birthday anniversary celebrations for the city, so this is a desperately bitter blow.
“We cannot eradicate EHV as it is endemic in many countries, but we need to work together to minimise the transmission of this particular strain, which has already caused the death of 12 horses in Europe. All of the original in-contact horses from Valencia, Vejer de la Frontera and Doha are already blocked on the FEI Database, but the whole community needs to be on the alert and monitoring their horses. We strongly urge all European-based FEI athletes to avoid travel with their horses during this prolonged shutdown, as travel is a very clear risk factor.
“Sadly this additional lockdown is crucial to slow down the spread of the virus so that we can preserve the rest of the season, get our athletes and horses back competing safely and allow as long a period as possible for those aiming for Tokyo to earn their Minimum Eligibility Requirements and confirmation results, and of course to prepare their horses for the Games.
“Nobody wants to see an outbreak like this ever again. There will be a comprehensive and fully transparent investigation into every aspect of this outbreak and the way it has been handled, and the findings will be published so that, together with our community, we can all learn from this.
“We will be putting in place enhanced protocols to allow for a safe return to play once this outbreak is under control, and we will advise our community on those well in advance of the resumption of international events, but the priority right now has to be the treatment of sick horses and getting healthy horses back to their home countries in a safe and biosecure way. We all need to focus on safeguarding not just FEI horses, but the wider European horse community.”
Work on identifying the gene sequencing of this strain of the virus is already underway, and the FEI is continuing to monitor the evolution of the virus through the FEI Veterinary Epidemiology Working Group, which was formalised this week. The Group is composed of world-leading EHV specialists, the FEI Veterinary Director and FEI Senior Veterinary Advisor, supported by the Chair of the FEI Veterinary Committee. Reports and recommendations from this Group will be published on a weekly basis.
The FEI is also publishing daily updates on the dedicated EHV-1 hub.
Nearly 200 horses remain held at the competition venue in Valencia by government officials in Spain, where EHV-1 is a reportable disease.
Posted by Christa Lesté-Lasserre, MA | Mar 11, 2021
The death toll has risen to 11 in the equine herpesvirus-1 (EHV-1) outbreak that began at an international jumping competition in Spain in February. Competition organizers and scientists are scrambling to understand the details leading up to the crisis.
A horse died March 9 in the Valencia University Equine Hospital, making it the 11th fatality in the epidemic, which has included many neurological cases and is “very, very aggressive,” said Göran Akerström, DVM, veterinary director of the Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI).
Since The Horse’s previous report on March 4 of six horse deaths, two more at the Valencia hospital have occurred, as well as one in Barcelona and one in Germany, the FEI reported...
Read more here:
https://thehorse.com/197975/11-horses-dead-from-ehv-1-outbreak-in-spain/?utm_medium=Welfare+enews&utm_source=Newsletter
Sport.quotidiano.net - Full Article Costanza Laliscia, endurance champion, talks about her passion for horses and the sacrifices she makes...
