Townsville racing industry set to get horse flu vaccinations

The Townsville horse racing industry in north Queensland should be immunised against equine influenza (EI) by Christmas.

Horse owners currently have to apply to Queensland Racing Limited for the vaccine and vaccinations are expected to begin next month.
Queensland Racing is hopeful the vaccination program will protect the state's racing industry from any future horse flu outbreaks, but any relaxation of quarantine restrictions will continue to be controlled by the Department of Primary Industries (DPI).
Queensland Racing operations manager Malcolm Tuttle says at this stage the vaccine is only available for racing thoroughbreds.
"Many of our pleasure horse friends, their industries aren't as well advanced in terms of regulation, so that's obviously a concern, it concerns us, it also concerns the DPI, but we are talking about a zone in Queensland that is actually free from EI at the moment," he said.