EI at Thagoona QLD

The QLD DPI have only stated that EI is at Minden and Rosewood. Today a property at Thagoona was quarantined. This property is very near mine and one of my horses has a cough. I rang the DPI today and was told that it may be a couple of days before anybody would come to check. No wonder it's spreading, you can't find out where it is and the poor beggars at the DPI don't have enough staff to respond!! This area is almost wall to wall hobby blocks with horses on most. It will be almost impossible to stop it around here.

Jeff

Bad Timing

“I was hoping for a first, but I was thinking more of a blue ribbon than having the first Australian Stock Horse to catch EI”, commented Donna Wright, whose first ever trip out to do the Western NSW run of shows came to an abrupt halt at Parkes.

Donna, back at home in Sydney briefly” to sort out work and finances”, related to Horse Deals how a combination of circumstances, (or bad luck) led to her lockdown.

“I keep my horses and teach part time at the Malabar Riding School about eight kilometers from Centennial Park near Maroubra. I bought my first ever Australian Stock Horse, Marsden Tip Off last February, and when at a training night at Centennial Park I was offered a place on a float to do the shows out west, I took it, as I don’t own a float of my own. Our trip to Parkes was very nearly delayed for 24 hours and if it had been we would be ‘happily quarantined at home’.

“The Centennial Park group of six horses plus mine all left for Parkes on Friday 24th August. We arrived at about 4pm and after organizing the horses, my traveling companion and I went to a motel, with the others staying with the horses. When we arrived on Saturday morning at 5am we were confronted with the news, broadcast on the radio, that horses from Centennial Park were suspected to be carrying EI. That was the first we knew about it. One of the horses had a bit of a cough when it arrived, but we thought that was due to the trip and the dry showgrounds. There had been a couple of horses coughing and sneezing at Centennial Park, I was told, but there are always a few that do in the stables each winter. No one thought of EI. The Centennial Park horses and eventually mine, after quite a long deliberation (I don’t know why as it had traveled and been stabled with them for the past 24 hours), were quarantined from the other horses and the show gates shut to keep others out. AQIS turned up on Saturday afternoon to take blood from two Centennial Park horses and mine. The entire Parkes Show was cancelled on Sunday.

“There was a little ill-feeling towards the Centennial Park group at first, but that has settled down with the realisation that we are innocent victims too. No one would put their horse on a float for six hours and take it to a show, if they thought it was unwell. The Centennial Park people are taking turns to look after the horses. I am heading back in the next few days, but Rose Gough, who runs the Moore Park Stables is staying up there all the time with the horses. Nothing can happen with the others at Centennial Park, but Rose has to pay staff to look after them, so it is very tough on her. I have another life away from horses, although I can’t live it at the moment.

“The DPI have been providing all the horse feed, but we have to feed ourselves and pay for the horse’s drugs. They said they would organise everything, but that has not been the case at all. We got a wheelbarrow that we needed, but when we asked for firewood, as it is cold camping at night, we were told they could not supply it, as it was a ‘non essential’ item. Thankfully when Rural Lands heard about it they brought us some wood. The EFA have given us relief money, which has been fantastic and totally unexpected and a blessing as it helps us to get by. The locals have been wonderful as well, with bread, cakes and a washing machine. There is quite a lot of washing to do with the decontamination process. Horse Deals sent us some magazines early on which was great, as we had something to read. There was a horse from Parkes advertised on page 27 and we wondered if it was in lockdown?

“All the horses have had flu and the next step is to take swabs from all of them later this week or early next week, to start to work out when it is safe to travel the horses. Originally we were told we could go on the 27th or 29th September, but we now have to wait for the test results. When we do go it will be in convoy and with a permit to go from Parkes straight to one destination. There is some concern about going through clean zones, but presumably when we leave, we can neither give nor receive the virus. I am told that when I go back to Parkes there will be a lot of plastic bags for gear that we don’t use, that can be decontaminated and then sealed, which is a positive move”

Horse Deals will contact Donna and co from Parkes next week to find out if they have tracked down a release date.

Let's get togther and get some action in QLD

I would like to thank Horse Deals for their help in regards to getting information on the EI crisis in QLD.

If any one has the Premier Anna Bligh's email could they post it. I think we should bombard her with emails about the poor performance of DPI QLD. And get some answers!!!

RegardsTodd McDonald-Smithwww.dalsonpark.com.au

No show for horses at Launceston

The organisers of the Launceston how have cancelled all horse events for next month's show as a precaution against Equine Influenza.

Read the full story.

Qld Situation

I would like to offer an insiders view from as both an employee of DPI and a horse owner - I am nothing short of amazed at the poor response and communication. As an "Insider" even I cant find out what is going on with the response. Internal updates are few and far between and website updates are non-existent. I feel for staff in regional offices who cop the flack from horse owners - the staff simply are not informed. All I can say is this reflects on an organisation that has been run in caretaker mode for the last few years, suffers from continual funding cut backs - and now simply doesn’t have enough staff, and those that are left don’t have enough professional skill sets to cope in this situation.

God help us all if Foot and Mouth or something more dangerous ever makes it in. Having spent many frustrating conversations with the DPI call centre going round in circles - I have yet to find an operator that will give away any information, preferring to give neutral open ended advice. How pathetic is it when the public has to rely on the likes of Horse Deals to keep us informed....

Roger Capster

Authorities take blood samples from Morgan Park horses

Blood samples have been taken from all horses in the equine flu quarantine zone at Morgan Park in Warwick, west of Brisbane.
Read the full story.


ACT horses unlikely to be vaccinated

The ACT's chief veterinary officer says he does not expect equine influenza vaccine shots will be made available to horses in Canberra.

Read the full story.

Horses breach NSW/Vic border unescorted

There have been more than 20 border lockdown breaches since the horse flu outbreak, but the most serious has been by two horses roaming free
Read the full story.

Controlling equine influenza
RIGOROUS and regularly reviewed protocols for the importation of horses into Australia have been in place for many decades. These protocols were for example a major focus of renewed attention in the context of the equestrian events at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games and for the movement of foreign horses for events such as the Melbourne Cup.

Read the full story! There are two pages to this article.

Thanks to Horse Deals

Thank you to all the Staff at Horse Deals, I am very grateful for the effort you have put into sourcing Info for those of us in Queensland due to the lack of information on the Qld DPI site.

I believe a few of your staff are doing it tough as well and I wish you all the best and please help keep up the fight to eradicate this awful Virus. I think it is important that any media re: the EI also states the possible problems of contracting the virus, such as the after effects, scar tissue etc.

Again, thank you to Horse Deals.
Sharon, Woodford.

EI in QLD

I am sure that the whole of QLD would appreciate your efforts, Horse Deals, to try and dig out some information from the DPI. Rumours are rife as to the where abouts of the EI, and it would appear it is making its way from Tamborine to Beaudesert and Beenleigh at an alarming rate, but the DPI are keeping a lid on exactly how far and how quick it has spread.

It is becoming increasingly frustrating for most people not knowing how long the Standstill will stay in place. We are aware the DPI don't know themselves, but would it be easier if they gave us a date to work with, eg. Standstill applies until 1st November '07, so people could down tools knowing nothing would be happening until at least then. I am sure nobody would mind if it was lifted earlier!

Good Luck Horse Deals, we eagerly await your findings!!!

Pieter Barnard

Communication Breakdown Re Queensland EI Outbreak.

In response to quite a few emails and calls from worried Queensland horse owners, as the Queensland DPI site as of early am on the 18th September, had not been updated since the 13th September, we went on a quest to discover the latest information regarding the EI outbreak there. And quite a quest it was, with little to show for it other than how difficult it is to find out what is going on.

We went to the Queensland DPI website on the morning of the 18th to discover nothing since the 13th. We rang the DPI and were told to look at the website, and when we persisted were put through to the DPI call center supervisor. We were advised that they had handled 10,000 calls successfully since the outbreak and that there was nothing to put up on the website, as there was nothing further to advise! We said that we had heard from the Warwick treating veterinarian, Nathan Anthony that the virus was spreading and were told to take what we were told by vets, “with a pinch of salt” and that we should go to the website http://www.ouutbreak.gov.au/. Apart from a brief encounter with fire ants, we found ourselves back at the DPI site. Another suggestion was to listen to ABC radio for updates. Neither the website nor the ABC are viable options for all people.

We then rang the Queensland EFA and were told that the people emailing or calling Horse Deals for information were not their members, as they were kept up to date via the State EFA website. We told them that some were in fact EFA members (and even if they were not they are still concerned horse owners). When we went to that site there was no more than a link back to the ‘at that time’ not updated since the 13th DPI website. Further to our conversation with the Queensland EFA we were told that they only put up what they were sent by the National EFA or the DPI.

We contacted National EFA CEO, Franz Venhaus, who was concerned that there was no information for the Queensland members. He said he would email some contacts he had and would try to get some information out to the members. Whether it was Franz’s efforts or the Queensland DPI waking from a temporary slumber, information was posted on the site at approximately 11am on 18th September.

It would seem Victorians are kept more in the loop as to the Queensland outbreak, as the Victorian DPI issue regular situation reports, which include the number of infected properties. As of the 17th September we were informed that Queensland had 146 infected properties. However, the Queensland DPI have subsequently issued that as of the 18th September there are 167 (conservative estimate) properties in Queensland, at Warwick, Brisbane Western Suburbs, Minden, Rosewood, Goondiwindi, and Tamborine, and new cases had been detected in those areas in the last five days. There is now serious talk regarding creating ‘buffer zones’ with boundaries established and horses moved from the buffer zones into the infected zones, but at the time of writing, nothing official had been broadcast.

Please Note.

There is to be a major meeting tomorrow, 19th, in Queensland with the DPI, veterinarians and other concerned bodies regarding the eradication of EI. Tomorrow evening Horse Deals will have information regarding that meeting.

Coolmore Trio Go Back to US

Coolmore Australia have confirmed that three of their American shuttle stallions currently in the Hunter Valley – Tale of the Cat (USA), Johannesburg (USA) and Lion Heart (USA) - have been sent back to America to avert any chance of them being stranded in Australia at the end of the breeding season.

Read the full story!

DPI NSW Outbreak Map

Follow the link below to see an animated map of the EI spread throughout NSW:
DPI NSW Animated Map

Morgan Park Lockdown

Hannah checking out Horse Deals September in Lockdown at Morgan Park, Warwick.

When will Qld. DPI tell us whats happening!???

Yesterday morning I sent an email to the Qld DPI and I am still awaiting a reply!! I realise they are busy but in my email I asked if it was in our area as the rumour mill is in full swing!! We are near Woodford in Qld. As was mentioned in an earlier post, the DPI web site has not been updatedsince last Thursday, today is Tuesday!

With school holidays approaching many out there will be thinking it is all over and will be risking their horses and ours, please get the word out there Qld. DPI and please show us maps of the places infected. We will all play by the rules if we know what they are and why they are in place. I have a couple of neighbours who are borderline doing the wrong thing and I don't want my horses infected. Please update the web site Qld. DPI.

Sharon , Woodford, Qld.

EI in Qld

Please keep cheeking this space, Today Horse Deals will endeavour to go into unchartered waters and find out the true situation about spread EI in QLD. We have a number of contacts and we will keep ringing down the list until we get some answers.