Australian horse flu tests come back negative

Australia is breathing a sigh of relief after horse flu tests have come back negative.

Tensions were high last week when 74 horses were tested following a scare. One horse at Sydney’s Eastern Creek quarantine station was showing signs of equine flu and returned both a positive and negative result for equine influenza (EI).

But all 74 tests came back negative.

Horse owners feared that there would be another outbreak — only three months after the country was declared free from the disease that caused millions of dollars worth of damage and crippled the racing industry last year.

The federal agriculture minister Tony Burke today (29 September) confirmed that all tests came back negative and the Spring Racing Carnival will be going ahead as planned.

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