EI Experiment

Centennial Park is about to undertake the following test, hopefully leading to a model by which all of those stranded in various places can be released from our Equine incarceration!
Cheers,
Kate Wallis & Spike

Centennial Park inmates
SENTINEL PROPOSITION FOR CONFIRMING CLEARANCE AFTER
EQUINE INFLUENZA INFECTION

We at CPEC have been given the opportunity to create a model with which to clear affected areas of Equine Influenza after they are no longer infective.
We are going to have all our horses at CPEC tested with a nasal swab and blood test on 11th September 2007.
Dr Keith Hart from the RLPB is going to supervise the collection of samples in conjunction with the DPI.
If as expected the nasal swabs are negative for virus we will follow on with the Sentinel Project as described below.
We will need to be vigilant about bringing the virus back into the centre which would cause the test to fail.
The sentinel horses are unaffected and have no immunity to the EI virus which is the ultimate test to see that we no longer pose a risk to other horses.

Now that you are all familiar with the bio security procedures I know you will all work at making this project work.
Please do not go to places frequented by other horse people before you come onto the centre and you will need to scrub both in and out.

The sentinel horses will be strictly protected from direct human contact.
Thank you for your cooperation through this emergency.
Once the project is complete you can be confident that you will not be able to cause the spread of this virus on your person from CPEC.
Proposal
This theory is based on in vivo testing for disease which should work and if it does as expected
we will be able to reduce the quarantine periods by confirming that affected populations of
horses are no longer contagious albeit the horses may still appear sick from the effects of the
virus or secondary bacterial infections. I stress this is far more easily applied in contained
population groups but can be applied in extensive areas as well.
This proposal is based on the prospect of using “EI naïve” horses as sentinels in determining the
eradication of virus from a previously infected site.

The Sentinel Project
We have a unique opportunity to test this theory at Centennial Park Equestrian Centre as early
as Monday 10th September 2007. The last infected horse at CPEC was confirmed on the
morning of Monday 27th August 2007. Should we be successful then we would have a model
with which to clear other closed groups of horses in containment areas such as Parkes
Showground, Warwick and Randwick Racecourse.
Horses affected with EI should only be contagious for 10 days after contracting the virus. If we
introduce “EI naïve” horses from unaffected populations after the contagious period to confront
any potential remaining virus, these horses would become sentinels for the virus. These horses
could be moved around within the quarantined population and constantly monitored for any signs
of infection.
Should as I expect these “EI naïve” horses remain healthy for 5 days (Suggestion only) then I
am of the view that these quarantined areas could be “opened” as the risk of infection spreading
from these areas has been eliminated and the much-needed resources could be freed up to
contain and eradicate fresh EI outbreaks.

The benefits of this proposal.
• We can free up valuable resources.
• We can quell the “fear” in the equine community and give a huge psychological boost for all
concerned.
• We can concentrate on the rehabilitation of the affected horses without the quarantine
restrictions.
• We can hopefully clear up regions and start limited movement of horses.
• From what I can see clinically the Eastern Creek ’07 virus has a far milder affect on horses
than the Johannesburg ’86 virus so there may be some hope that the horses will recover
quicker and be able to resume training and hopefully begin a return to normal business.
• We could start collecting plasma from the cleared horse populations to administer to
newborn foals in the face of an outbreak to give them some protection as they confront the
virus.