Dead US pony linked to flu riddle

THE mysterious death of a Shetland pony in Los Angeles three months ago may help solve the puzzle of how equine influenza reached Australia.

The 13-year-old mare was found dead in its stall on August 20 after arriving on a cargo plane from Melbourne via Auckland - three days after horses at the Eastern Creek Quarantine Station in Sydney showed symptoms of horse flu and five days before the outbreak was made public.

Although there had been no contact with the sick imported horses, which arrived on August 7, an Adelaide equine expert believes the pony could have been infected by equipment or staff used by the transport company which handled both deliveries.

The autopsy by the Californian Animal Health and Food Safety Laboratory, obtained by the Herald, does not give a cause of death but rules out a bacterial infection and poisoning. It also notes: "Female pony submitted with a history of acute onset of disease while in quarantine, characterised by high temperature, recumbency, respiratory distress and death."

Elizabeth Woolsey Herbert from the Adelaide Plains Equine Clinic, which tested the pony for equine infectious anaemia before it left, insists the death should be investigated by the commission of inquiry headed by the retired High Court judge, Ian Callinan, which resumes next week.

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