Vaccination update Friday 26th October

Derek Major and a team of vets have now delivered some 2000 doses of Canary Pox Vaccine to horses in the Purple and Red Zones.

There still seems to be some misunderstanding about the present arrangements. This is because when the vaccine first became available the DPI required that it be given in the buffer zones as a first priority in order to control the spread of the EI virus. Whilst this was obviously a sensible plan, it did mean that there was concern about the number of doses available and the ‘unknown’ number of horses who would need vaccinating in those zones.

The DPI’s next priority was to vaccinate all those horses in the Purple and Red Zones who were disease free. Again it was not possible to know how many horses remained disease free in the zones. Again vaccine was in limited supply.

This meant that the EFA was asked to decide which horses in the Purple and Red Zones were to be vaccinated first. We nominated our performance card horses as of course we wanted to ensure that these horse could get back to competition. Of course when the vets went to the EFA listed horses they would find other horses who had not had EI on the same property and it was agreed with DPI that all horses on each property should be vaccinated as this served everyone’s interests.

Very significant misinformation inevitably circulates in these situations and it is important that our members and the wider Performance and Pleasure Horse community understands that the EFA, both State and National has tried under all circumstances to look after the whole horse community as well as its own members.

The Canary Pox Vaccine is being used because it has the significant advantage of enabling testing which shows whether the horse has had EI or the vaccine. This is important because if Australia is ever to be declared EI, this information needs to be available.

The argument as to whether this is reality or not, given the extent of the infection, is something which we can only speculate about at this point.

The Federal Government have now approved the importation of 750,000 of the Canary Pox Vaccine. In NSW we have 18,000 horses registered as Performance Horses but of course for every horse registered there are a large number of other horses which take part in competition but may not yet be registered. All horses, not infected, will need to be either blood tested or vaccinated if they are to take part in competitions in the near future.

For the other horse organisations the numbers are also very considerable. The horse industry, across the board, needs to get back to normal as soon as possible and it seems that this vaccine will enable us to lessen the impact of the disease and get a ‘disease free’ proportion of our horses back on track.

At this stage every effort is being made to get the vaccine to as many horses as possible. DPI has a vaccination program that is closely linked with that of the equine vets in NSW. Again it is worth emphasising that the equine vets and DPI vets are vaccinating as many uninfected horses in the Red and Purple Zone as they can irrespective of whether those horses are EFA registered or not! This is a combined effort to enable the Purple Zone and the Red Zone to get back to normal.

Horses in the Amber zone can also be vaccinated but it should be understood that it may mean a longer wait for the vaccine in that zone because of the availability of ‘vet power’ and vaccine. This vaccination in the Amber Zones will be ‘user pays’. The DPI has stated that this vaccine, when available, should only be made applicable to competition horses that are likely to compete in the purple and red zones.

When the vaccine is given, all horses will be microchipped. This will enable a significant data base to be constructed. Our lack of records have been a difficult problem in the management of the disease because we have not been able to give a true indication of the numbers of Performance and Pleasure horses that make up such a significant part of our industry.

EFA NSW has available on the website an Interim EI Record document. This can be downloaded by anyone who needs it in any section of the horse industry. It is clear that in the short term event organisers will need to sight a record of every horses’ EI status in order that competitions can go ahead. In the long run if we regain our EI free status in Australia this may no longer be necessary but it is essential at this stage.

Other societies are very welcome to use the EFA Form or make appropriate adaptations according to their needs.