Equine Influenza Talking Points

Equine Influenza Talking Points; as distributed by the Federal Government
28 September 2007

NSW and QLD have introduced zoning in areas affected by EI in an effort to both minimise the spread of the disease and to allow (in certain circumstances) movements of horses to occur.

It is critical that everyone involved in the livestock industries and people who come into contact with horses, continue to be on the highest alert and maintain heightened biosecurity precautions.

Apart from horses, the movement of people, equipment and vehicles pose the highest risk for spreading the disease.

VACCINATION

Vaccination is not a “silver bullet” to solve the current EI outbreak. High levels of biosecurity and movement controls must continue to be observed if control of EI is to occur.

The vaccine will be used to implement identified buffer zones in NSW and QLD.

The use of vaccination to protect high value, at risk horse populations outside the buffer zones in NSW and QLD will be permitted, with appropriate safeguards. This is consistent with AUSVETPLAN.

Horses associated with the Victorian spring racing carnival will be vaccinated.

The first shipment of 20 000 doses of EI vaccine has arrived in Australia. Additional doses are expected to arrive late next week.

The vaccine will be bar-coded to allow for stock control and then moved through a cold-chain distribution network to the State Vaccination Centres.

The vaccine can only be used under the authority of the relevant state Chief Veterinary Officers who are responsible for administering the vaccine and complying with the vaccination protocols.

Vaccines will be administered by registered veterinarians following direction from the relevant state CVO.

All horses that receive the vaccine will be identified via microchip.

Personal importation of the vaccine is not permitted.

ProteqFlu is a recombinant vaccine which has been shown to provide immunity protection and reduce shedding of virus 14 days after a single dose. A second booster vaccination is required to ensure adequate duration of immunity. Further boosters may be required six months later.

The OIE has been advised that the virus has been identified as the Wisconsin strain.

GENERAL MESSAGE

The importance of not moving horses, ponies and donkeys is as critical as ever. NSW, the ACT and Queensland continue movement restrictions in certain zones.

These restrictions mean horses, ponies and donkeys; their equipment and floats or trucks must not be moved off properties in those areas.

The eradication of EI relies on stopping the spread of the disease – and the only way this will occur is if people comply with movement restrictions and adhere to strict biosecurity guidelines.

Non essential gatherings of horses and donkeys continue to be discouraged in all other states and territories.

Evidence to this time suggests that EI has been contained to specific geographic areas in NSW and Queensland.

Surveillance activities in all states will continue unchanged. Suspect cases of EI must be reported to state authorities. It is an offence not to report.

Anyone who has any contact with horses has a responsibility to help stop the spread of EI. It is clear that some spread has been directly through people movement.

Shower and change into clean clothes and footwear and blow nose thoroughly after contact with a horse, even if the animal is showing no flu symptom.

All equipment which comes into contact with horses must be thoroughly cleaned and disinfected after each use.

People should not relax. Everyone must comply with horse movement restrictions, maintain good biosecurity practices and report suspect cases of the disease early.

AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE
The Australian Government initially provided assistance of $4 million for those in the horse industry directly affected by the standstill.

On September 9, a further $110 million was provided for a range of assistance measures.

A call centre has been established to provide general information to horse owners and to register for assistance (Hardship Grants) if employed in the horse industry. The number is 1800 234 002 website information is available at www.outbreak.gov.au

TALK ABOUT DOUBLE STANDARDS!!!!

I just received my October’s Horse Magazine in the post this morning and after a quick flick came across this extremely interesting piece of information provided by Heath Ryan in his Ryan’s Rave section of the magazine. Ever since the EI outbreak occurred I have wondered (along with many) HOW did & how was this disease able to get into the country in the first place? I basically had a general understanding that horses had to do 3 weeks quarantine in the UK before leaving to come to Australia then I thought they had to do another 2-3 weeks quarantine once in Australia. If this were the case then I came to the conclusion that it would be VERY hard for EI to remain undetected in horses “before” they actually left for Australia given the time frame of the period of incubation & infectious period… However I had no knowledge of what the procedures were for horses coming from the USA or Japan. In Heath’s article he states a very important bit of information which would explain how a horse was allowed to travel from a foreign country, carrying the supposedly undetected EI virus. I quote from Heath’s article in the Horse Magazine, note the bold & underlined bits I have included!:

‘Traditionally I am used to doing 3 weeks quarantine in a government quarantine facility either in Germany, England or the USA and then flying into Eastern Creek for a further 2 weeks quarantine. Bearing in mind that EI has an incubation period of 1 to 5 days and actively stays alive in its host for up to 10 days this means that in a 21 day quarantine situation, a) it will be easily detected, b) even if it wasn’t detected it can’t survive that period of time. So you would think that it is nearly impossible for an infected horse to get into Eastern Creek.

Unfortunately race horses seem to have a totally separate set of quarantine rules. Why, is totally beyond me, other that this industry has more money and is cheating on the rest of us. To import from Japan is 21 days for you and I, 14 days for a race horse and an unbelievable 7 days for a re-import (a horse that goes over to race and then returns immediately after that race). In the USA for you and I, its 21 days, for a race horse- 14 days. In Great Britain for you and I, 21 days, for a race horse, thank goodness, 21 days. There are lots of other anomalies out there and those of you interested in researching simply look up www.daff.gov.au (Australia Quarantine and Inspection Service).’ (unquote)

Now I don’t think anyone can come up with any logical reasoning WHY race horses do not have the same quarantine requirement as every other non racing horse!!! It just doesn’t make sense… If anything racehorses are probably more likely or more susceptible to carrying or transmitting diseases (un-intentionally) seeing as though they are exposed to such a large population number & range and because they cover such large distances to race regularly. Before this saga began I was under the assumption that Australia had some of the best quarantine standards in the world… OBVIOUSLY NOT!!!! And did who-ever who thought up these double quarantine standards every stop & think of the ramifications these anomalies would have if a disease such as foot & mouth was ever able to enter the country?... EI would be a walk in the park compared to foot & mouth!! We could kiss our agricultural industry goodbye alone with the livelihoods of everyone involved in these industries…

The whole double standards system between the racing industry & non-racing industry really upsets me, its actually very discriminating how the racing industry has treated the performance or non racing industry ever since this outbreak first occurred. We can play the blame game from here until the cows come home but from where I stand not enough is being down to try to contain & eradicate this disease! WHY I ask have I just heard on the radio that VIC has been given 7000 doses of vaccine to vaccinate racehorses when they are currently EI free? Why can’t the politicians & those in the racing industry see that it would be better to allocate those 7000 doses of vaccine to create buffer zones around infected areas in NSW & QLD instead of using them where they are not currently required… By allocating resources inefficiently it is just delaying and preventing the containment & eradication program. I know there is huge amounts of money tied up in racing and more importantly the spring carnival in VIC but shouldn’t the more important objective and ultimately the bigger picture be to concentrate on containment & eradication?... Personally, I think the national wide standstill should have remained in place with cancellation of ALL horse event’s including racing… that even means cancelling the Melbourne Cup if needed! I love watching the Melbourne Cup but if cancelling all events including this would help prevent the spread of this disease and eventually allow it to be eradicated then I am all for it!! Obviously allowing racehorses to return to training & racing in SE QLD did not help the situation… all it did was spread the disease a bit more & force the shut down of the racing in SE QLD till next year… It also appears that the racehorses have been given first priority to vaccines in QLD as well… Why is everyone else so less important!...

This article- http://www.theage.com.au/news/horse-racing/williams-warns-on-vaccinations/2007/09/27/1190486481819.html about VIC trainer Lloyd Williams gives an interesting insight into the potential consequences of vaccinating the Victorian race horses. He states that they will suffer a 25% loss in workload because horses have to be rested after each vaccination which will interrupt & affect the horse’s training & racing programs… I wonder if this had been considered by others before!...

Carissa
N QLD

EI

Hello to all fellow “NON RACING” horse owners.

I have two daughters, both eager young riders (9 & 12). They have two ponies in two agistments separated by a driveway and fence no more than 30 metres between them. Until EI they were almost daily, brought together in the lower paddock to be fed, groomed and ridden in our “Arena” and since the outbreak occurred, we are unable to move our pony from the top paddock. I have contacted Rural Lands Authority to be told point blank no movement in the red zone (Penrith area) and there was no way a permit would be granted as it is only a pleasure horse. I contacted Local Control Disease Centre to be told the same, but as both admitted, if one of your horses has the flu, so will the other one guaranteed! We are taking measures to prevent EI including washing before and after visiting, preventing visitors from coming to our paddocks, disinfecting our “paddock boots” and where possible keeping dust to a minimum.

This is extremely frustrating for my youngest daughter who can not ride her pony and is not able to ride the other more advanced horse. She says just send the sick horses to the Vet. To her this pony is worth more than any thoroughbred and it wasn’t as a result of pleasure horses that EI exists in NSW. Everone is complaining that they can’t race but what about the pleasure rider that can’t ride, especially as there is a rule “NO MOVEMENT” yet Race horses can move 500 metres with a permit. Lets’ get realistic and apply common sense, we are wanting to move a pleasure horse less than 30 metres within a rural block. This movement will not impact in eradicating EI than complying to the stand still as we are doing.a

Thanks
Mark Greeentree

NSW DPI 28/09/07

State Government ramps up EI plan as vaccine hits the decks

The first NSW horse will be injected with vaccine for Equine Influenza within the next 24 hours, Minister for Primary Industries, Ian Macdonald said today.

Minister Macdonald said 20,000 imported horse flu vaccinations safely touched down at Sydney airport early this morning and every action was being taken to expedite the process to ensure horses were vaccinated as quickly as possible. “Vaccine is our next weapon to combat this contagious disease,” Minister Macdonald said. “The first 20,000 doses arrived from France earlier today. “The Iemma Government expects to take hold of its 7940 allocated doses today after boxes of phials are identified with a bar code number and recorded into a database. “The vaccine must be processed and cleared by AQIS before being distributed to the States for use in the nationally driven control and eradication program. “Any use of horse flu vaccine in NSW must be authorised by the State’s chief veterinary officer, Bruce Christie. “NSW DPI will use its doses to begin its buffer zone projects north and south of Sydney where individual horse owners will be asked to have their horses vaccinated free of charge by an experienced veterinarian.

“In addition to this, doses will also go to protect high value at-risk horse populations within restricted areas. The horse industry is working to identify these animals. “These horses will be vaccinated by veterinarians who have completed a specially designed induction program on how to handle the live ProteqFlu vaccine and process to identify vaccinated animals. “The NSW Government has developed a thorough plan to ensure its designated doses are used strategically and with precision.” Minister Macdonald said veterinary, surveillance, mapping and epidemiology teams at the NSW Department of Primary Industries had identified buffer zones which would act as plugs to stop the disease creeping into unaffected-regions. “These are located south of Sydney near Hilltop (north of Mittagong) and north of Sydney near Gloucester. “Horse owners in the buffer zone are at the front line to hold horse flu within containment lines.

“In the Hilltop buffer we expect about 300 horses will be vaccinated over the long weekend. Many of the owners have already been contacted and we are seeking their full support. “To date we have been overwhelmed by their can-do attitude towards stamping out this insidious disease. “South of Gloucester another 300 horses will be vaccinated in the next few days.” Minister Macdonald reminded horse owners that the vaccine would not stop horses from becoming infected, but it would reduce clinical signs of the disease and reduce virus excretion stopping the disease from spreading. “The buffer zones will provide a firebreak,” he said. “Horse owners who do not want their animals vaccinated have the option of moving their horse out of the buffer zone under a special permit. There are rules about where owners can move their horse to. “Owners will receive $500 per horse as an incentive to move their horse out of the buffer rather than have them vaccinated.”

Showjumping Shetland

Well-known and successful Shetland Pony breeder and exhibitor, Jan Young from Rocksberg in Queensland, is another importer to have her latest addition “trapped” in quarantine at Eastern Creek. Jan explains:

“I went over to the famous Wells Shetland Pony Stud in Scotland and bought a four-year-old stallion, Wells High Class. Since George Vyner’s Wells Remarkable died a month or so ago, this pony will be the only Wells stallion in Australia. I bought him out of the paddock and he is a lovely big pony.

“He arrived in quarantine here on the 4th August and was kept in a little longer due to the arrival of the Japanese stallions, which they say brought the virus in. Anyway he was due out on the 23rd August and they rang me on the 22nd to tell me they were all locked down. He has been there until yesterday (27th September) at our own expense and I am told that is up to $100 a day!

“He is going to Helen and Chris Chugg at Glossodia in the Purple Zone. He could not have gone to a better place and I am very grateful that they took him. They are going to do some work with him and break him in to saddle, and a bit of jumping would do him good. He is there for the duration and we haven’t got a clue how long, maybe six months”.
You can just see it now, Australian Sporthorse Breeders will offer the stallions, Vivian, Conquistador, Quindoctro and Wells High Class. At Diamond B they are sure to see if he can jump, just a bit!

NSW DPI 28/09/07

EQUINE INFLUENZA 28 September 2007
Vaccination to plug southern route for EI

About 300 horses in a 10km wide strip just north of Mittagong will be the first vaccinated as part of the “buffer zone” phase in the campaign to eradicate the exotic horse flu.

Horse owners in the northern part of the Wingecarribee Shire near Hilltop are currently being contacted and informed of the options for their horses.

“These owners will be helping form a 200 square kilometre ‘southern plug’ to stop the spread south of the EI virus,” said NSW deputy chief veterinarian Steve Dunn. “They can move their horses under permit from the area to another property towards or into red zone,” he said. “Or they can elect to keep them onsite and have them vaccinated and micro-chipped by a veterinarian at no cost.

“Most owners have so far elected to have their horses vaccinated rather than take up a $500 offer to move their horses.” NSW Department of Primary Industries has set up a Local Vaccination Centre at Mittagong from where the vaccine will be dispensed to teams of authorised veterinarians. “These vets will be visiting properties to vaccinate the horses from early Saturday morning,” Mr Dunn said. “The target is to have all horses moved or vaccinated as rapidly as possible and create a buffer to stop the spread south of equine influenza. “Co-operation from horse owners in the buffer zones is vitally important in the success of this campaign.”

The vaccine will NOT be made available to each and every horse owner in NSW, but used for disease control in nominated buffer zones such as this one south of Sydney. Some doses will also go to protect high value, at risk horse populations within restricted areas. Industry representatives are identifying these high value, at risk horses requiring vaccination.

Mr Dunn said it was important to note that this vaccine is NOT the silver bullet, or the answer to all the problems thrown up by the EI outbreak.

EI

Hi Everyone,

I found this site which has a good article re "Observations of EI symptoms" written by one of the people that got it early on. - well worth reading -

http://www.efansw.com.au/site/equestrian/nsw/downloads/News%20Items/EI%20News/JF%20%20VB%20observations1.doc

Z & J Griffiths

Information Evening

HI all

For those of you that live in the Brisbane area, the Equine Team at Manly Road Veterinary Hospital are hosting an
Equine Influenza Information Evening
Carina Leagues Club
Creek Road
Carina
On Mon 1st Oct at 6.30pm

We will have representatives from the DPI and also our Practice Principal, Pauline Gaven talking about the current situations.
Everyone is welcome to attend a flyer is attached and if you require further information please call us here at Manly Rd.

Regards

Natalie Murphy

There is more than thoroughbred racing in the horse industry!!!

It angers me, and no doubt thousands of others that have horses, that so much emphasis is put on racing in this spread of the Flu. A lot is "forgotten" by the government and the media and other factors, about those of us who rodeo, campdraft, the cutters, the western disciplins, eventers, pony clubbers (and any other fields I haven't mentioned). This is a crucial time of year for those who are chasing titles in their relative fields.

The "Finals" for various associations are supposed to be happening in the next few months. Highly likely they wont run. Disappointing especially since the road to make it to them costs everyone thousands (literally). Also, those of us who would like to compete in the first few events of the new season ( who need to travel interstate for the events), probably wont be able to if the borders aren't opened up in time (Christmas time).Us in the "smaller" horse event fields may not rake the money in for the government that the racing industry does, so we shouldn't be made to feel as though we don't matter.

Kristy (South East Queensland)

Tower Of Babel

In an effort to find out what is really happening with the fight against and protection from the unprecedented EI outbreak in Australia, Horse Deals spoke to Olympic Team veterinarian, Denis Goulding (pictured). What is evident and very frustrating for Denis is the Tower of Babel situation amongst the states regarding the fight against the spread of EI. It seems we are back to changing trains at Albury, with all the states having a different width railway line.

Our first question to Denis was; why given the experience of overseas countries, in particular South Africa was Australia trying to fight Equine Influenza with isolation and standstill alone?

The epidemiologists have spent years writing the Ausvet plan and they are determined to stick to it. However, the initial effort to contain the virus has failed and now we are in stage two, which is ring/buffer vaccination.

Are you for Vaccination?

I am for vaccination, there is not question about it. Apart from New Zealand, we are the only country in the world not vaccinating and now we have EI. The only way to halt the disease is through vaccination. The argument that the anti lobby put forward is that vaccination does not stop an outbreak. That is true, as the virus can alter, but in an immunised area the illness is mild and the outbreak easily isolated, the country does not shut down. Vaccination is something we have to live with and we need it to halt the disease and enable the general equine population to get on with their lives. That does not necessarily mean mandatory vaccination forever. A few years down the track we might decide to try and live without it based on the fact that Australia is an isolated continent and that does help in keeping the virus out.

As Australian Team Vet what are you doing to protect the Olympic horses?

I have put in applications to the various states to vaccinate the elite horses. David Lawrence, President of the NSW EFA, has obviously spoken to the right people and has done a good job in acquiring vaccine for the elite horses and elite training squad horses there. Queensland rang to say they are giving the elite horses priority and how much vaccine will be required. An application to Victoria received a “that won’t happen” reply, and that elite horses would not be vaccinated there, despite the 4000 plus vaccines going to racehorses at Flemington. A special exemption to the rule is being given to Group 1 racehorses and I explained to them that these FEI elite horses were Group 1 horses too, and every one of them deserves that vaccination as much as any horse running in the Melbourne Cup. They say there is not enough vaccine available, but there will be plenty of people nominating their horses for the Cup meetings; it’s quite a farce really.

It will take just one horse to have EI in Victoria and we will all be vaccinating then, but it will be too late. If EI gets across the border, the Victorians will be up in arms regarding the discriminatory nature of vaccination there. Victoria has always been very opposed to vaccination, as has South Australia, more so than the other states. At the moment we are going to get all the elite horses vaccinated and (regrettably), in the larger community outside the ring/buffer zone nothing will happen until it gets across the NSW/Vic border and then we will all be lining up for vaccination.

There is some confusion as to what vaccines are to be used, what will be used?

“There are three types of vaccine, live EI virus, recombinant, and inactivated. The inactivated vaccine is the one that is used widely all over the world and it is the vaccine all our horses are vaccinated with when they go overseas to compete, and AQIS have some in hand for that purpose. Whatever other vaccines horses have received, they will probably have to be vaccinated with the inactivated vaccine before they travel. The vaccine that is being used in NSW and Queensland, to put the fire out as it were, is a recombinant vaccine, with a genetically altered DNA canary pox virus. This vaccine is said to give an earlier cellular immunity. However, Tasmania and WA will not accept genetically modified vaccines. I don’t think we should continue with the canary pox vaccine, as it is too complicated. I think we should stick with the inactivated, which provides good immunity. I have been traveling overseas with horses for 20 years now. We vaccinate and we have traveled through many countries and we have never had a problem. The elite horses outside the zones will be getting inactivated vaccine. The horses are being vaccinated on a value basis, but the virus does not understand value; it does not make sense not to vaccinate all horses. We need plenty of vaccine and plenty of vets to administer it. There is some light being shed with this second phase of the Ausvet plan, at least vaccination is beginning to some degree.

Where do the Jockeys come from????

While we are hearing so much about the racing Industry with the EI problem. We should be thinking about something else. I had a thought about how people get involved in this industry. I realised that a lot of people started with ponies on properties or Pony Club. A lot of these young children would have grown up still being interested in horses. A lot of young people would go on to be jockeys, stable hands, track riders and some may become trainers, breeders or vets. All of the horse businesses must start somewhere with young people. Also many ex race horses, trotters etc, are sold on to become great equine horses. Where as these horses may be a burden to race people if not passed on. The police force is another very important aspiration for young riders.

The government is concentrating on the Racing Industry because of money turnover and jobs of course, which is very bad for all the off shoots of racing. However the government should be reminded of the background as well. I believe the Pony Clubs should at least be helped if needed. They may be short on membership fees, as well as not be able to get fundraising from gymkanas, horse trials etc. I hope the Pony Clubs can find a way to have meetings with out ponies.

I am hoping to get in touch with PIRSA department to put my feelings to them. Perhaps if a lot of people say something like the racing industry does, we may get help too.

Jillian Gardiner.

To The President of PIRSA

To The President of PIRSA, Mr John Maney.

I wish to put forward my feelings on the EI situation. I know it is important to take care of the Racing Industry. However many of these people such as trainers, jockeys, breeders etc all had to start somewhere. Most of them started with ponies on properties and Pony Clubs. I think the Government should try and help Pony Clubs if they need it. At least to preserve the background of the whole horse industry. Some clubs may need help as they are not getting membership and cannot have fundraising.

Regards

Lew and Jillian Gardiner, Millicent SA.

Join the Voice to make things happen!

Whether you are a horse owner, riding instructor, farrier, vet, physiotherapist, or horse trainer - I know the equine flu has affected you. JOIN THE VOICE TO MAKE SOMETHING HAPPEN EVERYONE!! For those owners that are having to pay vet bills due to their horse contracting EI (with no financial support from the government) or someone who was earning their only income from the Horse industry and who at the DPI's request "stopped working unless it was an emergency visit" or similar, who tried to do the right thing by the industry and by the system - the system clearly isn't interested in helping us all out. Although some grants have been offered by the government to help those who were working in the industry, if you are like myself and have applied for those grants, I will be impressed if you can survive on these until the proposed time frame they are all giving us to when the lockdown is over - February 2008 at least! I run trail rides, riding lessons, horse training, and breaking in - but I am only small time - and even those grants (which I am yet to see a cent of) will be lucky to support me, my business and my horses until Christmas time. The government must be kidding itself if it really thinks this is a generous offer and the best they can do. The racing industry will very likely bounce back from this EI epidemic - given the fact that the media is saying "poor racing industry - looks like they will lose millions and millions of dollars due to EI - HOW ABOUT ALL THE BILLIONS THEY HAVE MADE IN THE LAST 10 YEARS!!! Surely they can support themselves through simply a few hard months????? Yet again, I stress that I know there are many small time people out there in the racing industry who will do it very tough, and I know some of these people myself, but what I don't understand is how the Australian Government can give millions of dollars away every year to overseas aide and disaster help, yet hesitate to help their own taxpayers out when we clearly need it. The grants aren't good enough guys, the lack of support is not good enough, and the lack of acknowledgment for all the little guys is certainly not good enough. Those out there saying "don't rock the boat, it won't work" WHAT HAVE WE GOT TO LOSE?? Please email and phone as many of your friends and collegues in the horse industry that are affected. Email me directly and we will start stirring up the pot that clearly needs stirring. Email Anna Bligh, your local, state and federal parliament members, email the EFA, DPI and the AHIC - start putting pressure on the people who can start making a difference. If you want to join the cause - SPREAD THE WORD - we don't pay our taxes for nothing guys. We didn't make the stuff up - the government did - and now we are paying for it??

Hayley Chambers

A Cautionary Tale.

So many people Horse Deals have spoken to over the last month have expressed a certain “relief’ that their horses have contracted Equine Influenza. The constant waiting for EI to spread its six kilometers a day would be worse than water torture.

With so many horses now in EI recovery, it would be timely to speak to someone with experience in post EI care. Horse Deals contacted Fiona Gruen, who came to Australia in 1992 from Cambridgeshire in England and is experienced in post EI nursing. Fiona, a rider and coach and breeder lives with family and horses close to Hall in the ACT and at the time of writing are EI free. It was interesting to hear of Fiona’s thoughts on the EI outbreak, how it is handled in the UK and some advice regarding the horses’ recuperation.

“When I first heard that EI was out, I thought, oh my God everything will have to be vaccinated. what for? Because it is such at highly contagious disease. I did not know about the Ausvet plan or realize that the disease was not endemic. When I heard its spread was to be controlled without any vaccination in a naive population, I could not imagine how, especially knowing how it had arrived in the first place. It is unrealistic to expect a population to adhere to a bio-security code that the professional quarantine people could not keep. I am seriously impressed with the horse industries response to the DPI demands and the faithful attempts to adhere to strict bio-security.

“When word got out about the EI virus I asked to have my horses vaccinated, but was told I could not, due to Government policy. The average horse owner will never get hold of vaccine, unless the Government decides they have lost the fight. But when competition starts again, if my horses have not been vaccinated, I will be very anxious about going to competitions within the (formerly) affected areas. In the UK it is standard procedure for competition horses to be vaccinated and have a vaccination certificate.

“Even though the horses were vaccinated in the UK there were still periodic EI outbreaks for a variety of reasons. Often vaccinated horses would show very mild symptoms, those whose vaccination had lapsed would not fare so well. Immediate quarantine would follow with tough bio security and the outbreak would be contained. From what I am reading on the internet, there seems to be a high incidence of secondary infection here, which is very serious and extends the recovery period. If you are lucky and your horse does not get a secondary infection, you must still remember that it has had a high temperature, been under stress and that there has been respiratory tract damage, no matter how mild the bout of flu might seem to have been.

“It will often take a horse longer to recover from a bout of EI than its coat or appetite suggests, the horse looks well with a shiny coat, no cough and becomes cheeky and bouncy. However, if you bring them back into proper work too soon, you run the risk of them succumbing to mild ongoing low grade infections, we used to turn them out for a month and let Dr Grass look after them. The paddock and low stress worked wonders, the turn out policy was assurance that the horses would be sufficiently recovered before starting a slow return to work. If a horse has been just a little bit off color with EI and better after only a few weeks, we are perhaps tempted to resume where we left off and that can cause permanent damage. Be careful not to stress them as they regain fitness, the program followed should flexible with the horse’s best interest at heart, not on an impending event schedule.

“ The conditions are so different in Australia, especially with the drought; dust management and the ability to find really good grass hay could be a problem. The option of a paddock, rest and low stress will work wonders. We made sure everything they ate was dampened down, the hay and the feed etc. to keep the moisture levels up and the airways moist.

“Also being aware of the affect the high temperature, antibiotics and stress has on the horse especially on the quality of hoof growth. The horse’s hoof is a history of the horse’s well being, and down the track there may be a band of weakness. That might not seem too significant now, but for any competition horse, especially if it is heading for Beijing, the time frame is not good. Just when preps for Melbourne 3DE next June are roaring along, that weakness might cause some frustrating hoof problems. Biotin or something similar for the horses pre flu is a good precaution, especially if they have not yet contracted EI, you are then ahead of the game. Caring for a post flu horse or pony only requires common sense and a bit of patience, as you have already done the hard yards. Hoping my green zone stays and this may be of some help”.

OEI

First of all, thank you so much Horse Deals for allowing people to express their thoughts on these tumultuous times.

I thought a lot of you would like to read an extract from the World Organisation for Animal Health re the outbreak in 2004 in Europe.

In the passages that I have downloaded for your information - TWICE it mentions that even up-to-date well vaccinated horses STILL GOT THE FLU.

Therefore, I would like to point out to people that the vaccination is NOT going to be the "do all" that a rather large number of you would have thought.

Quote: Influenza activity in 2004
Outbreaks of equine influenza in Argentina, Canada, Croatia, Denmark, France, Germany,
Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Sweden, the UK and the USA were reported during 2004. The outbreak that occurred during February and March in France was widespread and affected vaccinated as well as unvaccinated horses. All influenza activity was associated with H3N8 viruses. There were no reports of serological or virological evidence of H7N7 (equine-1) subtype viruses circulating in the equine population. Nevertheless, diagnostic laboratories should continue serological and virological monitoring and, when using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for rapid diagnosis, should ensure that primers specific for H7N7 virus as well as H3N8 virus are used.

Characteristics of recent isolates
All viruses characterised antigenically and/or genetically from Europe and North America during 2004 belonged to the ‘American’ lineage. In haemagglutination inhibition (HI) tests using post-infection ferret antisera, all viruses isolated in Europe were most closely related to the A/eq/Newmarket/5/2003 reference strain, whereas viruses isolated in South Africa and the USA were more closely related to A/eq/South Africa/4/2003. Antigenic differences between the two geographically separate groups of viruses were, however, not consistently observed.
The HA1 sequences of American lineage viruses isolated since 2003 in America, Europe and South Africa all fall within a single phylogenetic sub-group, previously referred to as the ‘Florida’ lineage (Lai
et al., 2001; 2004). The viruses isolated in America since 2003 (represented by A/eq/South Africa/4/2003 and A/eq/Ohio/2003) are characterised by two further amino acid changes in antigenic sites compared with the viruses isolated in Europe; these additional changes appear to contribute to greater antigenic drift from the /eq/Newmarket/1/93 - like viruses currently included in vaccines.

Recommendations for the composition of equine influenza vaccines
During the period January 2003 to April 2004, H3N8 viruses of the ‘American’ lineage caused widespread outbreaks in Europe, with well-vaccinated horses frequently affected. Unquote.

Being in the heart of the infection area at Warwick - and thankfully we still have not got it - I thought that many of you may like to know that keeping your affected horses out in the sunshine helps them to recover far more quickly than cosseting them up in the stable where they will continually get re-infected.

I too have a lot to lose with four horses over the 20 year old mark that are loved friends, however I believe you need to re-think the idea that the vaccinations will stop your horse from becoming infected.

And just one last point - the EI lodges in your nostrils and your ears, besides your hair and clothing - you should be scrubbing relentlessly all the time and disinfecting everything if you have been down the street including your car tyres as I believe that people have been spreading the virus more so than the wind drifts etc. - so please be careful before your handle your own uninfected animals.

Janice - Cadium Stud

Has anyone received their assistance money yet?

Has anyone received their assistance money yet? Either the $5000 grantor the CHAPS allowance?I know someone who has applied weeks ago but has still not recievedmoney or even a reply.Is there a trick to actually getting the money?

If so please place a blog.

Donna.

EI - a positive story

Hi there,

I just wanted to let you know of a positive story regarding EI. I know first hand the effects of EI as my horse who is stabled at Centennial Park in Sydney contracted the virus on Sunday 26 August, where is temperature reached 41 degrees. He was sweating, his joins were stiff and sore, he had nasal discharge and a dry rough cough. He was attended to by the vet who gave Bute and antibiotics to reduce his fever and I continued on antibiotics for two weeks to follow. I also contacted my equine herbalist who sent me an EI herbal medication which I administered twice daily to booster his immune system and gave him lots of TLC.

Last Tuesday 18 September, I had my horses vet checked to see how he was recovering from the virus, the vet did a fitness test and checked his heart and lungs to ensure that there was no strain put on them. Following the 15 minute examination, the vet gave him the all clear to commence light work.
I'm now into my second week of light work and my horse is going really well and believe he is fully recovered.

Kind regards
Belinda Lane-Weate

The Peter Horobin Dressage Championships

We are happy to announce that The Peter Horobin Dressage Championships to be held at Treehaven Equestrian Centre will be going ahead on October 14th 2007 as scheduled.

The EFA has advised that we are able to commence competitions in
Victoria.

However all competitors will be asked to sign and abide by the bio
security protocols that will be in place.

We are anticipating a large number of entries as competitors have had
training regimes interrupted.

Bio Security forms can be download from http://www.efavic.com.au/ (available
Friday 28/09/07) sign and attach the bio security documentation and
return with entry via express post for inclusion in draw.

Regards

Julie Scott
Show Sectretary
Treehaven Equestrian Centre
53 Western Port Highway
Somerville, 3912
Victoria, Australia
Ph/Fax: + 61 (0) 3 5977 6008

EFA Candlebark Horse Trials

"The Riddells Creek Pony Club committee met on the 27th September and by majority vote decided they were unwilling to permit the EFA Candlebark Horse Trials to proceed."

Master Games

The Australasian Masters Games regrets to inform participants and the general public that all Equestrian events in the Games have been cancelled due to equine influenza (horse flu).

The Equestrian events affected that were due to take place as part of the Games in October include Polocrosse at Lobethal, Equestrian Carriage Driving at Monarto and Equestrian at Aldinga.

The Games and the Games' Sport Convenors for Equestrian events have maintained constant communication with Primary Industries and Resources South Australia (PIRSA) since the outbreak of equine influenza in NSW in August. Sport Convenors for the Games' equine events have assessed the level of risk in running the events to be significant and will therefore comply with the PIRSA recommendation that all equestrain events be cancelled or postponed until further notice. The Games fully support the Sport Convenors in this decision and thank them for their diligence and professionalism in dealing with this matter. The Games and each of the sports involved will work tirelessly to ensure that participants affected by this decision have all queries and issues dealt with appropriately.

Participants registered in Games Equestrian events wil receive refunds of their entry fees. The Games request the understanding of registered participants in the processing of refunds which will occur immediately after the completion of the Australasian Masters Games. Equestrian participants registered in other events in addiiton to equestrian are requested to contact the Games office on (08) 8202 0000.

Comments on Marburg EI Meeting 27.9.07

There was a meeting at Marburg in Queensland yesterday evening at which about 250 people attended. This event was put on by Peter and Penny Toft, which in itself is interesting, as one would have hoped that any number of organisations might have put the meeting on, rather than two individuals. The meeting was designed for people who currently have infected horses.

Two private vets told the meeting what was happening from their point of view with advice about how to deal with EI.

The DPI sent along a vet from Taroom who had offered his services to the DPI for a month, talk about a cop, out poor fellow. The DPI failed to send anyone who was actually involved in the day to day details, maybe because they understood that there is very considerable disquiet about the way they are dealing with this in Queensland.

We, for instance have twelve horses infected, reported it to some fellow on the DPI's 13 number on Sunday since when we have heard zero. We do not know if we are in quarantine, we have not been sent the much touted information package and everyone in our district (Fernvale) has infected horses. In short it is an absolute shambles caused by a total lack of communication, and beaurocratic evasion based on the privacy laws which have been entirely counterproductive in fighting this outbreak.

Two politicians,one State one Federal, experts at converting dog poo into cheese soufflés, were also there. We were promised meetings with everyone both State and National, re-examination of funding criteria, acute sympathy, help to set up a new organisation-- etc etc etc

The press was there in force, with I think three or four TV stations.

Several stories of acute hardship from the floor, virtually none covered by the current funding arrangements.

Seems to me that everyone involved in this debacle needs to keep a very detailed diary of what they are doing and spending, because if the subsequent enquiry finds negligence there will be a class action and details are really important.

As I write this the diesel delivery truck has driven up, ignored the sign on our gate, driven into our infected property and will now no doubt deliver to many other places today, not clever.

So what needs to be done is to keep the momentum going by setting up some organisation that represents the "Performance and Pleasure" horse industry and gives us some voice nationally. It is important, I think, not to call our industry the "pleasure horse" industry as that implies no loss of income and that the participants have horses entirely for pleasure which in most cases is not correct.

Toby Crockett

Victorian Situation Report at 1800 hrs on Thursday 27 September 2007

Click here to download the PDF Document

NSW DPI Equine influenza daily update - 27 September 2007

SITUATION UPDATEThere are currently 2526 Infected Properties (IPs), 326 Dangerous Contact Properties (DCPs) and 371 Suspect Properties (SPs).

Two facts, among others, encourage optimism for the prospect of eradicating EI:
1. All State Disease Control Head Quarters (SDCHQs) have been advised that, to date, almost all spread in the Australian EI outbreak after 25 August 2007 has been at the local level. There is no evidence of widely dispersed continuing infection, new IPs are largely confined to areas of existing infection where horse population densities are high, and statewide and regional epidemic curves are showing promising declines in the numbers of new IPs.

2. The most recent epidemiological advice provided to SDCHQ states that the 1986 outbreak in South Africa was similar in many respects to the outbreak Australia is currently experiencing. The South African outbreak was severe and extensive, yet was eradicated in circumstances much more difficult than Australia is facing.

The important factors that appear to have driven recent spread are density of horse populations combined with local airborne spread and nose-to-nose contact between horses over fences in these areas. There are still many instances where EI has been spread by people and via objects. To counter this local spread, suspect cases, particularly in Control Areas, need to be reported, and high standards of personal biosecurity maintained.
Industry Liaison representatives worked with SDCHQ and Local Disease Control Centre (LDCC) staff to find a way for a produce merchant in the Northern Sydney area at risk of closing down to continue operating. They ensured appropriate biosecurity arrangements were in place and the business is able to operate in accordance with relevant quarantine requirements.

Vaccination is planned to start this weekend once the vaccine arrives in Australia this evening. All vaccinations will be used for the eradication campaign only, and there is currently no proposal for any general vaccination of horses. Vaccination other than with the approval of the Chief Veterinary Officer remains illegal.

Buffer zones are being established. The first area targeted by the vaccination campaign is the southern buffer zone. Most horse owners in this region have been contacted and have responded positively to the eradication strategy. Once vaccinated, horses will show immunity within 2 weeks. We ask that you remain patient during the next 2 weeks in the interests of the successful control and eradication of this influenza outbreak.

Many people from the non-racing sector are concerned that decision making is favouring the thoroughbred racing and breeding sector. The focus of the media on the Melbourne Cup and the Victorian Spring Carnival tends to confirm this concern, but the need to vaccinate racehorses is driven by the fact that the cessation of racing is a major cost to the economy.

Horse flu vaccinations to start on weekend

Queensland's Department of Primary Industries (DPI) says its equine influenza vaccination program has been amended following the discovery of new cases in previously virus-free areas in the Darling Downs and Lockyer Valley.

Read more.

Horse restrictions eased

The ACT Government has eased some of the restrictions on the movement of horses caused by horse flu.
Canberra has been declared a green zone, meaning people can move horses within the ACT or into neighbouring green zones in New South Wales, as long as they have authorisation.

Read more.

Williams warns on vaccinations

LEADING owner Lloyd Williams last night cast doubt over whether his best horses, Efficient and Zipping, would be able to compete in races such as the Cox Plate and Melbourne Cup if Victorian horses were inoculated for equine influenza, as planned, from next Monday.

Read more.

Racing chiefs should act to save carnival

THE spring racing carnival is under threat — make no mistake, all it will take will be for one equine influenza case to be detected in Victoria and the quarantine restrictions and standstills will be activated.

Read more.

We Need More Press Coverage

Every day when I pick up the paper there is something in it relating to racing and how EI is affecting the industry. ONLY ONCE have I seen any sort of article relating to any other horse discipline. In the Courier Mail site on the article where our new Premier had a few words to say about EI and the racing industry, the comments were fairly split with some giving the racing industry a real serve for crying hard done by.

We need to get our side of the argument into the public arena. If we can achieve that well enough to get people talking about what in my opinion seems to be unbalanced, unethical and morally wrong treatment being dished out at present then just maybe some enterprising investigative reporter who isn't in love with one section of the industry might put together the facts for all to see.

I would love to see those making some of the decisions in this war against EI justify things like the difference in the cost per day of feeding and keeping an eventing horse v's a racehorse, justifying the distribution of vaccine, and while they are at it maybe they could tell us where we would be if this had been an outbreak of foot & mouth amongst the cattle industry and handled in this fashion. Maybe they could check out just why the thoroughbred industry appears to have so much clout when they comprise less than a third of our horse population. Oops temporary lapse there forgot they bet on them and of course they claim that as their industry too. Ah the good old dollar what a trump card beats ethics every time ! Now get busy write to your local paper tell them the facts see if they will publish the daily payments as prescribed, get them to ask some questions, point out what you feel is wrong and unjust, see if they can get some answers for you. Just get it out there for all to see and who knows what could happen it sure can't make things worse than they already appear to be ! While your at it check out the racing Qld webb site, They keep it up to date and there's some interesting reading in the following links. Racing Qld is doing some good things - like-

Did you know that $10 of each horses daily chap payments is reserved for preserving industry capacity and preventing loss of skills in areas such as, farriers, jockeys ,riders ,apprentices and other industry critical areas to be determined in consultation with the commonwealth government.
http://www.queenslandracing.com.au/

http://www.queenslandracing.com.au/racingnews/270907chaps.asp

http://www.queenslandracing.com.au/documents/pdf/EI/QRL_CHAPS_Guidelines.pdf
Max

ROAR DON'T WHISPER

Well guys another day and a nother few hundred horses infected by EI, but that shoulden't worry us because the recreational racehorse clan are tucked up in there warm beds with their $50 a day per horse everything is FINE!!!!!

All l am hearing is people complaining about their suituation for gods sake do something about it!!

Contact me angela@stockhorse.com.au we are organising something big bigger than you have ever seen before at the moment the TV channels we are going to them, they will be falling over themselves getting to us.

We need email addresses and name contact so you can be advised as to what is happening. This is BIG so big it will change the way the media racing and goverment looks at our industry. But we need YOU to make it work HAVE A VOICE ROAR I SAY ROAR.
Ang

GOVERNMENT DO NOT CARE

There is now no doubt who is driving the whole EI response and directing the DPI here in Queensland. One only has to see the immediate response by the state government once the race horse industry became directly affected by EI. Within 24 hours the state government had declared an emergency and assistance started for the racing industry.
Those of us who have horses and do not create or provide an income stream for the state government mean absolutely nothing to the government and DPI .

It is up to us to make them realise that we will not be treated like second class people and that we are passionate about our horses and their health.
Contact your local member, send emails to the DPI demanding answers and send e-mails to the premier ThePremier@premiers.qld.gov.au (Please make sure you give your name as they will not recognise anonymous)

IF WE DO NOTHING THEY WILL CONTINUE TO DO NOTHING TO HELP US

Kind regards
Phil Aikenhead