NSW DPI 28/09/07

State Government ramps up EI plan as vaccine hits the decks

The first NSW horse will be injected with vaccine for Equine Influenza within the next 24 hours, Minister for Primary Industries, Ian Macdonald said today.

Minister Macdonald said 20,000 imported horse flu vaccinations safely touched down at Sydney airport early this morning and every action was being taken to expedite the process to ensure horses were vaccinated as quickly as possible. “Vaccine is our next weapon to combat this contagious disease,” Minister Macdonald said. “The first 20,000 doses arrived from France earlier today. “The Iemma Government expects to take hold of its 7940 allocated doses today after boxes of phials are identified with a bar code number and recorded into a database. “The vaccine must be processed and cleared by AQIS before being distributed to the States for use in the nationally driven control and eradication program. “Any use of horse flu vaccine in NSW must be authorised by the State’s chief veterinary officer, Bruce Christie. “NSW DPI will use its doses to begin its buffer zone projects north and south of Sydney where individual horse owners will be asked to have their horses vaccinated free of charge by an experienced veterinarian.

“In addition to this, doses will also go to protect high value at-risk horse populations within restricted areas. The horse industry is working to identify these animals. “These horses will be vaccinated by veterinarians who have completed a specially designed induction program on how to handle the live ProteqFlu vaccine and process to identify vaccinated animals. “The NSW Government has developed a thorough plan to ensure its designated doses are used strategically and with precision.” Minister Macdonald said veterinary, surveillance, mapping and epidemiology teams at the NSW Department of Primary Industries had identified buffer zones which would act as plugs to stop the disease creeping into unaffected-regions. “These are located south of Sydney near Hilltop (north of Mittagong) and north of Sydney near Gloucester. “Horse owners in the buffer zone are at the front line to hold horse flu within containment lines.

“In the Hilltop buffer we expect about 300 horses will be vaccinated over the long weekend. Many of the owners have already been contacted and we are seeking their full support. “To date we have been overwhelmed by their can-do attitude towards stamping out this insidious disease. “South of Gloucester another 300 horses will be vaccinated in the next few days.” Minister Macdonald reminded horse owners that the vaccine would not stop horses from becoming infected, but it would reduce clinical signs of the disease and reduce virus excretion stopping the disease from spreading. “The buffer zones will provide a firebreak,” he said. “Horse owners who do not want their animals vaccinated have the option of moving their horse out of the buffer zone under a special permit. There are rules about where owners can move their horse to. “Owners will receive $500 per horse as an incentive to move their horse out of the buffer rather than have them vaccinated.”