Equine influenza vaccination goes national

THE Australian thoroughbred industry and government departments have officially sanctioned and approved the vaccination of the entire thoroughbred population.

The National Management Group met on Monday and a national strategy to vaccinate all horses in Australia was approved.

Australian Racing Board chief executive Andrew Harding said the risk of the spread of EI needed to be minimised and the best insurance policy the industry had was to vaccinate.

"We've tried to contain and eradicate the disease through containment but there's no guarantee that works. We need an insurance policy and that's vaccination," Harding said.

"We believe a permanent vaccination strategy is necessary. We need to eradicate this disease. We've had to make government authorities understand this is a major industry and we can't afford to take any risks. We can't be inactive indefinitely."

Harding said the majority of thoroughbreds in Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria had been vaccinated.

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