NSW horses to Oaklands

SYDNEY - NSW Primary Industries Minister Ian Macdonald has confirmed Turf Monthly's Friday report that 66 NSW horses will cross the Murray River into Victoria. He said in a statement that, 114 days after equine influenza (EI) was detected at stables in Sydney’s Centennial Park, the group of horses was the first to meet tough new interstate travel biosecurity protocols.
“The horses will be transported by truck from a William Inglis and Son quarantine facility at Newmarket this afternoon to a quarantine facility in Victoria, arriving early Tuesday morning," Macdonald said.
“Their movement is in line with policies from the national consultative committee on exotic animal diseases and is consistent with the national campaign to control and eradicate EI.
“Each has previously been infected by horse flu, developed full immunity to the disease and has made a successful recovery back to full health.
The protocols entail:
Been tested at a NSW DPI laboratory to confirm they don’t have the disease;
Is from a property now scientifically proven EI free through resolution testing
Have returned blood tests with strong anti-bodies, showing immunity exists.
Also, each truck will be decontaminated twice in Sydney before the horses are loaded.
Macdonald said that as an extra measure, the animals have been under tight quarantine in NSW and will be placed under quarantine at Oaklands in Victoria when they arrived.
He said in NSW the number of properties infected with EI has dropped from more than 5,000 to 2,554.