<p>Bengaluru: Racing at the Bangalore Turf Club will continue to remain suspended this Winter Season after the National Research Centre on Equines (NRCE) in Hisar, Haryana requested another set of samples of nine horses while clearing 11 others of the deadly glanders disease.</p>.<p>Early this month, the Government Veterinary Hospital in Hebbal found five horses at the BTC with possible glanders infection which forced the club to send around 20 samples to the NRCE. The test reports arrived on Wednesday with NRCE asking BTC to send another batch of nasal swabs and serum samples of nine horses for additional investigation.</p>.<p>“We sent 20 samples to NRC in Hisar because they are the nodal agency for determining the outbreak of any zoonotic or any epidemic related to animals in the country. And of the 20 samples we sent them, 11 were declared as negative, which means those horses were found not to have glanders. For the nine horses, they have requested for us to do the collection of samples in triplicate once again,” BTC steward Shankar Balu told DH.</p>.<p>When asked if the nine horses tested positive for glanders (an infectious and life-threatening disease caused by the bacterium Burkholderia mallei that mainly affects horses, donkeys or mules), Balu said the NRCE has just asked for another round of testing.</p>.Horse racing: Close fight between Redefined and Ranquelino .<p>“We would be sending the triplicate samples soon. See, in Bengaluru, they did something called the ELISA (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay) test. There is another test which is known as the Complement Fixation Test (CFT) test, which also needs to be done in these situations. The CFT test takes much longer than the Elisa test,” said Balu.</p>.<p>“So, until we hear back from them, we would like to reserve any judgment on the matter because very firmly the ball is in the court of the nodal agency. We are also keen, obviously, to kill the suspense around the whole matter.”</p>.<p>Balu, meanwhile, said BTC is taking every possible precaution to ensure the safety of around 800 horses as well as syces at its stables. “All suspect horses are being kept isolated very far away from the other horses in the underground stables. The syces are also quarantined, because this can also spread to humans. All necessary precautions are being taken. Everything that needed to be done was done at the right time.”</p>
<p>Bengaluru: Racing at the Bangalore Turf Club will continue to remain suspended this Winter Season after the National Research Centre on Equines (NRCE) in Hisar, Haryana requested another set of samples of nine horses while clearing 11 others of the deadly glanders disease.</p>.<p>Early this month, the Government Veterinary Hospital in Hebbal found five horses at the BTC with possible glanders infection which forced the club to send around 20 samples to the NRCE. The test reports arrived on Wednesday with NRCE asking BTC to send another batch of nasal swabs and serum samples of nine horses for additional investigation.</p>.<p>“We sent 20 samples to NRC in Hisar because they are the nodal agency for determining the outbreak of any zoonotic or any epidemic related to animals in the country. And of the 20 samples we sent them, 11 were declared as negative, which means those horses were found not to have glanders. For the nine horses, they have requested for us to do the collection of samples in triplicate once again,” BTC steward Shankar Balu told DH.</p>.<p>When asked if the nine horses tested positive for glanders (an infectious and life-threatening disease caused by the bacterium Burkholderia mallei that mainly affects horses, donkeys or mules), Balu said the NRCE has just asked for another round of testing.</p>.Horse racing: Close fight between Redefined and Ranquelino .<p>“We would be sending the triplicate samples soon. See, in Bengaluru, they did something called the ELISA (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay) test. There is another test which is known as the Complement Fixation Test (CFT) test, which also needs to be done in these situations. The CFT test takes much longer than the Elisa test,” said Balu.</p>.<p>“So, until we hear back from them, we would like to reserve any judgment on the matter because very firmly the ball is in the court of the nodal agency. We are also keen, obviously, to kill the suspense around the whole matter.”</p>.<p>Balu, meanwhile, said BTC is taking every possible precaution to ensure the safety of around 800 horses as well as syces at its stables. “All suspect horses are being kept isolated very far away from the other horses in the underground stables. The syces are also quarantined, because this can also spread to humans. All necessary precautions are being taken. Everything that needed to be done was done at the right time.”</p>