More than 1,000 horse people from around the world registered to watch and participate in the live "Understanding Equine Influenza" Webinar the evening of Feb. 28 on TheHorse.com. The free Webinar was sponsored by Intervet.

A large volume of questions were sent in prior to and during the live event. Those were answered by Webinar presenter Tom Chambers, PhD, an associate professor in the Department of Veterinary Science at the University of Kentucky's Gluck Equine Research Center. Chambers has headed the Office International des Epizooties (OIE, the World Organization for Animal Health) Reference Laboratory for equine influenza for 15 years at the University of Kentucky. This is one of three such laboratories in the world, and it's the only one in the Western Hemisphere.

He was assisted in the question and answer section by Roberta Dwyer, DVM, a Diplomate in the American College of Veterinary Preventive Medicine and a professor in the Department of Veterinary Science at the Gluck Center.

"With the international attention that has been focused on the economic crisis equine influenza caused in Australia, and the knowledge that a new strain could do terrific harm to other countries, including the United States, we felt hosting the Webinar on Understanding Equine Influenza was necessary," said Kimberly S. Brown, Editor-in-Chief of The Horse. "We greatly appreciate Intervet sponsoring this event and helping us share this timely information with the equine world."

Remarks from the live audience after the Webinar included:

• "Nice job on the webinar--no lag on the presentation, good audio."
• "Thank you for this educational program. It is much appreciated!!!"
• "A great way to share information--awesome stuff."
• "I just want to say 'thank you so much' for offering such an informative and interesting event to us."
• "Thanks so much for the webinar, it was very informative! The pictures of the cilia were shocking!"
• "I think the Webinars are GREAT! Thanks for putting these events on."

The archive of the Understanding Equine Influenza Webinar, which will include a transcript of questions and answers, is available on TheHorse.com and a DVD of the event also will be forthcoming. The Webinar may be viewed free of charge for registered users at TheHorse.com's video library.

The next Webinar will be "Understanding Foal Care" on April 17 at 8 p.m. This Webinar will also be sponsored by Intervet. You will be able to preregister for Understanding Foal Care in early March and submit your questions prior to the event.