Australian authorities cancelled thoroughbred racing in a second state today as the nation's first outbreak of equine flu spread.
The equine flu outbreak forced a national three-day cessation of racing last Thursday and a national ban on horse movements until Friday. The worst affected state, New South Wales, has banned racing indefinitely.
Today, Queensland state cancelled racing until next week as more cases of equine flu were detected.
The highly contagious disease is not infectious to humans but has the same debilitating effect on horses as influenza has on people, causing high fevers, coughing, sneezing and lack of appetite. In rare cases, it can be fatal to horses.
More than 60 horses have been diagnosed with equine flu, and hundreds more horses are suspected of being infected. No thoroughbred racing horses have been diagnosed with flu.
Mounted police horses have been ruled out of providing security at the Asia Pacific leaders summit in Sydney next week.
The racing shutdown was costing the industry tens of millions of dollars each day, said officials.
Officials suspect the nation's first outbreak of equine flu may have come from Japan, which has just been hit by a much larger outbreak. Racing was cancelled in Japan last weekend for the first time in more than 35 years after almost 100 horses tested positive.
