Registration vital

SYDNEY - Vaccination of horses is a critical component of the program to eradicate Equine Influenza (EI), the Australian Horse Industry Council (AHIC) has advised.

“If you are in a Red or Purple control zone you should register your horse. This registration is vital; it provides the vaccination teams with information such as the location of horses within the different zones,” AHIC said in a statement.

This registration can be done online or by contacting the disease hotline.

Visit http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/agriculture/livestock/horse/influenza/information/horse-owners-restricted-areas/form

AHIC advises that in NSW there are currently 5,337 infected Properties, 453 dangerous contact properties, 500 suspect properties, and 41,406 infected horses.

A total of 28,607 horses in buffer zones have received first round vaccinations, and 6,721 have received second round vaccinations.

Nearly 15,000 horses have been vaccinated in the Purple Zone.

The local vaccination centre at Dubbo has finished its second round of vaccinations within the Dubbo vaccination buffer.

They will now initiate second round vaccination in to the red zone to eradicate the disease in that region.

For more information phone the NSW equine influenza hotline on 1800 675 888 or visit http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/equine-influenza.