Are we "REALLY WINNING" this battle ???

It seems every time I listen to our local news report here in Orange, I hear of another NEW outbreak of this virus in our district. How many more new outbreaks will we have to endure before the DPI decide to vaccinate more effectively. I realise it's human complacency at fault here, but unfortunately that is something that can't be taken out of the equation, so something more needs to be implemented. These outbreaks all seem to be happening on the fringes of amber/green zones, a supposedly clean area.

I now read that Tasmanian race horses will all be vaccinated so they can hold their summer racing carnival and sales - hello, isn't the vaccine in short supply ??? Why are we using it on horses that aren't at risk, when horses in the purple & red zones that haven't had EI, can't get access to it. The DPI were asking for details of uninfected horses in those areas so they could be vaccinated to help boost buffer areas, but I know a lot of people who are having a battle trying to get their horses done. Was the DPI just wasting those peoples time getting them to fill in those forms ?? Maybe that was supposed to be a sweetener to make it look like they cared, but most forms seem to be getting lost in all the red tape.

This is now getting beyond a joke. Yeah, I don't particularly want to live with EI, but I'm sick of being a DPI toy thing. I'm thinking that they'll be bored with "toy" this soon enough and we'll all be told that due to people spreading this virus, they have no hope of controlling it so we'll all just have to suck it and live with it.

I'm sick of being told that plans are being put in place to free up this or that, when in reality, the plans never make it out of the building. I was told a month ago, that they should have a plan in place in a couple of weeks, to be able to move horses that are immune (i.e. Had EI and recovered) back to their homes outside the purple and red zones.......still waiting to hear back from them, but what do they care, its not their money that's paying the agistment etc costs. If they think I'm starting to sound bitter and angry, they'd be right. I'm not asking much, all I want is to know when I can bring my horse home & maybe be hopeful enough to start working him in preparation for a show sometime in 2008....or is that being presumptuous of me ???

Just wondering, are we really getting on top of EI, or are we just kidding ourselves and we'll end up living with it after "sacrificing everything" anyway ?

Maddy R