Merck Animal Health recently introduced new equine influenza vaccines that feature the most recent circulating flu strains. “For the past 10 years, we’ve been monitoring influenza along with other common infectious upper respiratory diseases through the Merck Animal Health Biosurveillance Program, a partnership with the University of California, Davis. It was through this program that we identified and isolated a new highly infectious and relevant equine influenza strain from the 2013 Ocala, Fla. influenza outbreak that impacted a large number of horses from all over the world,” said D. Craig Barnett, DVM, director of equine veterinary professional services, Merck Animal Health. “This strain is now part of our updated line of influenza-containing killed virus vaccines and represents a current, clinically significant strain responsible for a large influenza outbreak in well-vaccinated horses.”
