Vaccination calls following equine flu outbreak

An international dressage rider is calling on horse owners to have their animals vaccinated to protect them from equine influenza, after a spike in cases in the New Forest.

Ellie McCarthy, 29, bought a pony at auction at the end of May, which later tested positive for the condition.

One-year-old Rupert had to be quarantined away from the other horses on her yard in Lymington, Hampshire.

She said she has been "very careful with biosecurity" since and urged other horse owners to look out for symptoms.

"We've been wearing full body hazmat suits, covering our hair, washing hands,

"We have antibacterial foot dips to wash our shoes in when we leave," she added.

Equine influenza, or horse flu, is not typically fatal, but it can cause discomfort for the animals. As with human flu, it is highly contagious and is airborne.

The Equine Infectious Disease Surveillance group, based at Cambridge Vet School, said there has been a total of 95 confirmed outbreaks in the UK since April. There were just four cases nationwide in 2025.

Alan Hough from Celtic Equine Vets, based in Ower near Southampton, said: "A temperature is almost always the first thing, very quickly they start to develop a dry harsh cough and they can also then produce a lot of nasal discharge."

He is encouraging horse owners to ensure their animals are vaccinated to limit the spread of the disease.

"A lot of these animals become quite sick, particularly the animals that have never been vaccinated before or are particularly old, young or immunocompromised," he said.

For McCarthy - who has competed for Great Britain in three European dressage chamionships - the virus has had a big knock-on effect, forcing her to withdraw from competitions.

A number of show jumping events have been cancelled due to the outbreaks.

The New Forest's population of about 5,500 free-roaming ponies is also vulnerable to the disease.

The ponies are owned by commoners - people who own or occupy land with ancient rights attached.

Cases have been identified in Wood Green and at Stoney Cross.

Hough said: "We do suspect it will go through the entire forest population over the next couple of months."

"It just wouldn't be feasible or practical to vaccinate them.

"To protect the herd we need to ensure that all the other equines that border the New Forest and come and visit or ride out in the New Forest are vaccinated because those ponies have no antibodies to this virus."

The Verderers - the ancient body that regulates and protects commoners and their livestock - posted on social media that it was "monitoring the situation".

"The Verderers would remind horse riders to take extra care if they go out onto the forest – avoiding livestock and communal water troughs," it said.

It later said as a "precautionary measure", some of the stallions released in the south of the forest would be brought in early.