Quarantine staff unaware of rules, flu inquiry told

SYDNEY'S Eastern Creek Quarantine Station was understaffed and running at 150 per cent capacity when the equine flu broke out, an inquiry heard yesterday.

Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service staff attended to only dogs, cats and bees while private grooms living there tended to horses, the Callinan Commission of Inquiry was told.

The grooms were required to sign a declaration in which they agreed to adhere to quarantine control guidelines such as changing clothes and showering before leaving. But quarantine and inspection service staff were not required to enforce the rules on the grooms.

The hearing was told that before the outbreak, 22 stallions from overseas, worth $220 million, were sent to Eastern Creek on July 7. Between August 3 and August 8 "some 50 odd" worth $560 million were stabled there. The quarantine service charged owners $34 a day per horse. Those with more than 25 horses paid $10 a day for each extra horse.

At Victoria's Sandown racetrack quarantine facility for overseas thoroughbreds, private security guards enforce a rule that anyone who enters must shower and be disinfected before leaving.

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