BHA reassures trainers over shortage of leading equine flu vaccine

Supply issues facing one of the main providers of equine influenza vaccinations are not likely to be remedied quickly, but the BHA said it was working to adopt a balanced approach to the situation.

Boehringer Ingelheim advised that it would be unable to replenish stocks of the Proteq shot until the end of October, however the BHA has underlined that yards which use either the Prequenzqa or Equip vaccines should not be affected after receiving assurances from the manufacturers that existing customers would be kept supplied.

All racehorses must be vaccinated against equine influenza, an outbreak of which brought the sport to a halt for six days in February 2019, and the BHA says it remains committed to its new regime of shorter intervals between both the initial course of shots and of boosters introduced in January this year.

Ten days on from alerting trainers, the BHA released a statement, which said: "We want to do everything possible to support trainers who may end up with limited or no access to the Proteq vaccine, and are working with our veterinary committee, BEVA and specialists in equine infectious diseases to develop a strategy that can be implemented quickly.

"This will seek to balance the practicalities of preventing horses becoming ineligible to race with the threat of a flu outbreak occurring in the thoroughbred population during a short period of national interruption to vaccine supply.

"The practicalities of this are still being determined and full details will be shared with you at the earliest opportunity."

The adoption of six-month intervals for booster jabs brought both Britain and Ireland into line with recommendations made by the European Horserace Scientific Liaison Committee back in October 2019, while France adopted the new vaccination schedule in May 2021.

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