Following an outbreak of the virus on the Valencia jumping tour, all competitions in several European countries have been stopped.

Peter Kallings says that no horse that has been abroad and come home to Sweden has been diagnosed with infection.

- There are some who had had time to go home from Valencia to Sweden before the outbreak was announced and they are isolated at home.

But what we know are not some of these sick, however, there are other sick horses in Sweden, says Kallings to SVT Sport.

- This disease is found in the country and there are cases every year, but in recent years the virus seems to have become more aggressive.

For the horses that now come home from abroad, some guidelines apply.

- If you bring a horse from abroad, you must isolate them at home from other horses for at least two weeks and if anyone has been in contact with a sick horse, it is three weeks.

If they have been ill themselves, it is four weeks if they are negative on test results, says Kallings.

Difficult to get the horses home

There are currently a couple of hundred Swedish horses abroad and transporting them home is not entirely problem-free.

- There will be successive home locks.

There are a couple of hundred Swedish horses out in Europe and it is difficult if everyone comes home at the same time.

- If you stop on the way home for the sake of the horses, there is a risk that it is contagious where you stop, and transporting horses with fever you absolutely do not want to do.

If you go straight home, it will be a long journey for the horses and it can create stress and trigger the herpes virus disease.

There is no cure

Peter Kallings says that the virus has different symptoms.

Horses can have fever and respiratory symptoms, neurological symptoms and pregnant mares can have stillborn foals.

- When it comes to the neurological variant, the horses get paralysis and collapse.

If they stay lying down, it is often quite difficult to save them, says Kallings.

At present there is no good help against the virus.

- There is no cure.

It is a herpes virus that is difficult, you can try with antiviral drugs for humans but it has no real effect on the horses.

You can get vaccinated, but it usually does not help with the neurological form, the severe form.