Equine Influenza, Tamborine

The situation here is nothing short of a joke, I have followed the guidelines all the way through, kept my horses away from fence lines, not visited other properties, not allowed visitors, disinfected , etc. at the moment I have 7 horses, 1 stuck out on a agistment block, 1 stuck at my local pony club grounds, 5 at home, 2 of which are not mine. I had them sold just before the standstill but no money was paid over at that point so the sales have fallen through. I have registered my horses with the dpi, as asked. I am still waiting to receive the promised up dates.

I was led to believe from talking to the dpi and studying their website, that the dpi would monitor properties surrounding a suspected outbreak and keep a check on the horses, so feeling sorry for my horses who by now are very sick of being confined,( I have 2 of the ponies living in a chook pen for Christ sakes!) and not having heard from the dpi, I assumed it would be safe to relax a little, I let my horses out for a pick on the 9th. On the 14th, they looked off colour, in the afternoon picking my kids up from school I ran into a lady who works at the stud across from me, just casually I asked her how the horses were holding up, Oh great was the reply they have almost all had it and they are recovering well.

I drove home double checked mine who by now had temps, snotty noses and a cough and sneeze, so I rang the dpI. this is still on the 14th, and told them that yes I had it, 3 out the 5 were sick, they said a vet would call to arrange to come and view them and take samples. By Sunday the 9th they all were sick.

On Monday I had a phone call from the dpI to tell me that a property near me was quarantined, they couldn't tell me which one but I would see the signs, do I have horses? How many and is there anything else I can do for you? Yes, I have horses and not only are they registered with you but I have also reported that they now have it and yes you could have told me I had a suspected property near me 2 weeks ago instead of telling me it was quarantined today!!

Is this what they mean by monitoring surrounding properties? What a joke!

Tomorrow is the 21st, my horses have been reported with EI now for seven days and the dpi has not been in contact regarding them, they are all on there way to recovering and I am following all of the procedures, but my point is this, why wasn't I put into temporary quarantine straight away pending the tests, and as bad as it is, why do I still know nothing more, they should tell us to make up a sign and put it up, temporary quarantine, suspected EI the governments can send every household election campaign brochures both state, federal and even local council, we should have all had one about this flu. They could of included a sign incase we needed it, ok everyone doesn't own a horse, but everyone needs to know about this outbreak, so we don't have the people pulling up outside fences to pat the pretty ponies, they are not keeping up, but our new community information centre has three desk staff and two vets, why are they not out testing. I was going to cancel our holidays next week, but my horses are ok and I couldn't be bothered now about waiting for the dpi to test them, they will be well by the time they arrive, they have no chance of stopping this as all they are doing is following it and colouring in the property lots on the map.

And here is a cost no one has thought about, my horses have been locked away from my dam since the standstill and have been getting tank water, 30 litres a day times 5 horses, 150 litres a day, I hope they pay for my next load of water!!

Glynis