Chief steward at the meeting, Peter Ryan, said he had been notified half an hour before arriving on-course that a horse in a farm near to the racecourse was showing all the symptoms of the highly contagious disease.

Ryan said after consultation with Racing Victoria's veterinary department it was decided to abandoned the meeting and close down the area because of the risk of the disease spreading.

He said all horses stabled and trained at Wangaratta will be closely monitored over the next 48 hours.

Strangles is a notifiable disease.

Historically strangles was serious because it led to abscesses forming within the body which occasionally led to a fatality.

This means when a case of strangles has been confirmed, Agriculture Victoria is to be notified automatically.

Generally Agriculture Victoria will then quarantine the property where the strangles case has been identified.

In recent times, due to various prevention methods, including annual vaccinations, the disease has not had such serious consequences, however because it is highly contagious and requires that property be quarantined, it is a disease with serious economic impacts.

Thursday's discovery was a costly one for the industry, as more than a hundred horses were on their way to the meeting from all parts of the state and New South Wales.

But the lost betting revenue from Thursday's meeting was a small price to pay considering the risk to major racing communities such as Flemington, Caulfield and Cranbourne.