Japan calls off races because of virus

Race meetings across Japan scheduled for this weekend were called off on Friday after equine influenza was detected in more than 20 horses.

The Japan Racing Association (JRA) were forced to make a sudden reversal of Thursday’s decision to allow racing to go ahead after vets discovered more cases of the virus.

About 200 veterinarians had been dispatched to check around 5,000 animals at various JRA facilities and the organisation quickly enforced a ban on horse movement around the country to contain any spread.

But as of Friday morning, further tests on 163 racehorses showed that 29 of them had contracted the virus, prompting the JRA to cancel racing for the first time in 36 years.

The JRA confirmed that all horses registered with the association were vaccinated and that there was no danger of humans or other animals catching the virus.

In 1971, about 1,800 horses were infected with influenza, forcing Japanese officials to shut down racecourses for around two months.

“We will monitor the situation to see how long the shutdown lasts,” JRA media officer Yuji Shimizu told Reuters.

“The rate of infection is slow and the symptoms are relatively light.

“I don’t think you’ll see an explosion in the rate of infections like in 1971 because the horses weren’t vaccinated then. They’re taken very good care of now.”