Some Confusion.

24th October.

It does seem a bit odd that in France, a country where humans do consume horse meat, that they would produce a vaccine for Equine Influenza that resulted in the meat being unsuitable for either human or animal consumption. It is certainly not a subject we like to talk about, however the fact is, horse meat is used for animal food in Australia. There has been some concern that if vaccinated with the genetically modified canary pox ProteqFlu, horse meat was not suitable.

Horse Deals contacted Merial, the vaccine manufacturers in France. We received an email from Jacques Lechenet stating, “ in the EU there is no withholding period (for ProteqFlu) and there is no food issue problem”.

We contacted Peter Scott from Merial Australia who assured us; “in all the 33 countries the vaccine is registered, there is a nil withholding period between vaccination and use for human/animal food.”

“The vaccine is the same as any other vaccine. It poses no residue hazard for food produced from vaccinated animals, because the virus that carries the influenza antigens (those pieces of the virus that the horse’s immune system recognises and raises immune antibodies to) cannot multiply in horses or any other mammals and quickly disappears from the site of injection. The virus is only a carrier that presents the antigens in a form that causes a strong and rapid immune response in the horse. It was chosen because it cannot cause disease in any animal, not even in canaries where its ancestor viruses came from”.

Another matter of concern is the fear that horses vaccinated with ProteqFlu would be barred from entering New Zealand. The New Zealand Equestrian Federation put us on to Trish Pearce from the NZ Food Safety Authority. Her reply.

“Good question. On balance I’d say a vaccinated horse can enter NZ. A horse is not a new organism and we’ve not taken the line that an animal which has consumed a GM product is a ‘new organism’. An organism is able to replicate itself; a vaccinated horse could not replicate that organism and a vaccinated horse is not in itself a new organism. If it was you would have to say all horses/animals/people entering the country are new organisms carrying their own unique brands of bacteria…”

Some people have expressed concern that their horses have become re infected with EI. After consultation with veterinarians it was determined that they are not getting a second bout of EI, what they are in fact getting is a secondary bacterial (not viral as EI) respiratory infection or pneumonia. Horses recovering from EI can outwardly look well, but when scoped demonstrate extensive damage to the respiratory system. This will repair itself, but caution is urged when bringing horses back into work after a bout of EI. Two months rest after a mild case and three months for a more serious case is recommended. And they should be brought back into work slowly, beginning with walking exercise.