Queensland vaccination response, a one-sided affair.

Today I received confirmation the buffer zone plan within Queensland is indeed a secondary issue to the requests and requirements of the racing industry .

Vaccination Program
Vaccine received by DPI&F has been as follows;
Date Rec Batch Qty Received Status Despatched Remaining
28/09/2007 L222086 7940 Released 7940 0
28/09/2007 L223025 4800 Quarantined 0 4800
06/10/2007 L223025 6000 Released 4760 1240

Usage of vaccine is:
Buffer 2106
Harness 3700
Racing 6680
Other 214

So out of the 12700 vaccines distributed only 2106 have been allocated to the buffer zone. This is 16% is the part of the plan that is supposedly going the halt the spread of the disease. How many of the 10380 vaccines used in the racing industry have effectively been wasted by vaccinating horses which had a very high chance of being infected prior to their full immunity. The continued practice of thoroughbred mare breeding movement in the red zone within 30km of infected properties near Beaudesert and the subsequent accelerated infection of large thoroughbred populations many of which had been vaccinated the week before is a waste of the precious vaccine. Now the infection is in the Toowoomba thoroughbred racing precinct and the powers that be are still intending to vaccinate the rest of the racehorses in the precinct despite the inevitable infection of the remainder prior to their immunity developing. More vaccine wasted. If the buffer zone is not being given even a proper go at being a success then it is doomed to fail before it starts. Has anyone actually counted the horses in the buffer zone? 2106 doses for the 1st round does not sound like many horses for a buffer zone. Oh that’s right, the buffer includes natural features mountains etc. That helped stop the Toowoomba racing precinct infection coming up the range 40 km from Laidley/Marburg. Or did it come for Warwick (80km) or Pittsworth (40km) or more likely Hendra (110km)?. How wide is the buffer? 10km.
The idea that a 10km wide buffer will stop the virus is very unlikely given the distances new infections are popping up within the red zone let alone the infections outside red zones (southern NSW). The Queensland DPI gave up confirming infection and testing horses close to infected properties long ago. No one knows which horses are infected, recovered (now immune temporally) or yet to be infected. Add in populations for highly mobile vaccinated horsed within and outside the red zone (racehorses will be running again as soon as they are fit and immune), how will the virus be monitored within these populations? Vaccinated bloodstock in quarantine were the initial source of infection and now effectively every racetrack in the eastern seaboard is a semi- immune incubator for the maintenance and distribution of the virus. We have seen repeatedly the racing industry is no better than any one else at biosecurity for this highly contagous virus.

Has the DPI got an exit plan to end the lockdown? How can the virus be found to be "Burnt out" when the virus is disseminated over such a wide area and many horses are exhibiting mild disease symptoms. As a veterinarian and horse owner I cannot see an end to this apocalypse other than acceptance of endemic infection and the legislation of the commercial release and use of vaccination for anyone who wants to protect their horses. I am happy to be proven wrong by the successful eradication of EI with the next 4-5 months but do not want to be still in lockdown in 12 months time with a red zone from Cairns to the Nullarbor with "EI still confined to the red zone and eradication still the prime objective", waiting to see who is running in the 2008 Melbourne Cup.
Glenn