EHSC to have infectious disease focus
The 6th annual Equine Health & Science Conference (EHSC) has been announced, and will reportedly focus on areas of topical importance, such as infectious disease and the recent horse meat scandal.
Conference presentations by Roly Owers and Duncan Hannant will cover new and re-emerging equine infectious diseases in Southern and central Europe, and the detection of notifiable diseases in horses imported to the UK. Mr Owers will highlight both recent and on-going problems in the protection of equine health related to disease incursions.
Professor Hannant is set to discuss diseases currently in central Europe, such as equine infectious anaemia, west nile virus and dourine. The primary aim of his presentations however, will be to discuss some of the mechanisms whereby such diseases can cross national boundaries, and also cross from species to species.
Finally, the conference will include presentations on the highly topical subject of the horse meat scandal. The possible human health risks associated with residual drugs and antibiotics in horse meat have been widely reported in the news, but this year's conference will go further in discussing the additional risks that should be considered.
Professor Hannant is set to cover the implications of zoonotic equine infectious diseases in light of the recent scandal, noting that the health of the horses entering the food chain has not yet been documented. In his presentation on the subject Professor Hannant will discuss the importance of well-defined traceability for all meat products entering the food chain.
The conference will take place in Bury St Edmunds on 26 and 27 April 2013. Click here for more information.
With Strangles Awareness Week just around the corner (5-11 May), vets are being encouraged to share a survey about the disease with their horse-owning clients.
