Govt buys 500,000 more EI vaccines

Australia has bought a further 500,000 doses of horse flu vaccine, bringing the total number to 750,000.

Federal Agriculture Minister Peter McGauran said the extra doses meant a total of 300,000 horses could be vaccinated against equine influenza by the end of the year.

"The majority of the vaccines will be used in NSW and Queensland, which remain the only states with confirmed cases of EI," he said.

"We are now in a position to move to the vaccination of competition and show horses, to get the industry back on its feet as soon as possible."

Read more.

Hi all!

What’s going on people?? I’ve been reading the blog on my lunch breaks and the majority of the read is just to be critical of someone or anyone.

I, personally, get annoyed at those who bag the race horse people (I being a trainer myself!) and inferring that we treat them like a “market” or whatever other lovely adjective they can come up with. Might I remind you, we (the majority) are horse lovers and whilst I think it stinks that not ALL horses can be vaccinated (and yes, mine have been) it appears that what is available is going to those who keep a portion of the economy going (be it the race horse). Unfair? Hell yeah, but it’s the way it is all the same. Tell me, all of those that are complaining because they don’t get the vaccine, would you still complain if you WERE one of the few given the vaccine?? I’m guessing no, so why condemn us? Do you seriously think we are going to knock it back??

I might also add that not all of us are racing. I have been in lockdown, with the rest of the horse population since 25th of August and my horses were racing at the time, they are now enjoying a holiday, getting fat and having a great ol’ time! I can only speak for Brisbane but it was only on course horses that were racing when they were allowed to and NOT the rest of us that agist or have the luxury of our own places. I still can’t drive out my front driveway! I, fortunately, don’t solely earn a living from racing horses, it’s just my passion, however I do work 2 jobs so I can achieve my dream of training that elusive “champion”, like all the others out there from the dressage competitors to the jumpers to the pony club kids that are striving to win their first ribbon.

The DPI and the Racing Industry are being slaughtered by most out there. Do any of those critics have any idea of how to fix this problem? Do they have anything positive to offer?? I feel for those who have sick horses and those who have been unfortunate to loose them, it is absolutely tragic, but it’s a crap card we have been dealt and finger pointing and blaming is not the answer, it will not fix the problem.

Good luck to all, I hope we find a solution and a light at the end of a very dark tunnel, and all those that have not had their vaccinations will do soon.
Kerrie

Tasmania 5pm Wednesday

The ban on non-racing events involving 10 or more horses has been eased.

In short, events will be allowed by permit only and, to get a permit, event organisers must use the biosecurity plan template and demonstrate they have the capacity to implement that plan on the day(s). The template and other papers we’ll be loading onto our website tonight. If you are organising an event, please keep checking the website for the latest version of these papers, as there’s a chance they may be fine tuned as the situation develops. ·

We have been working with the Longford and Flinders shows today in anticipation of the non-racing event ban being lifted. The biosecurity bar will be set high, for obvious reasons. Some events will probably meet the required standards with ease, others may not.

We’ll have staff at the control centre tomorrow (Thursday) who’ll be able to answer any queries you may have in relation to the biosecurity at any specific event you may be planning. We expect to be flooded with permit applications, queries etc now that the go ahead has been given, so please be patient!!

I'll load the permit application form onto our website tomorrow(Thursday)

· The commonwealth government has ordered another 750,000 vaccine doses. Minister Llewellyn has formally requested that Tasmania gets enough of these to vaccinate 7000 horses. The decision-making process over vaccine usage and distribution is too complex to describe in a few words but, somehow, it works quite quickly! The key point is that Tasmania cannot make its own decision to vaccinate.

Cheers Barry
CalderbankCommunications

Equine Influenza awareness - Albury

Horseland Albury are conducting an Equine Influenza awareness meeting tomorrow .

Venue: Horseland Albury, 592 Hume St Albury NSW DPI and and Local Vet will and Centre link Rep will be on hand for questions.
It will be a very informative evening.

Biosecurity guidelines apply, please shower beforehand, no dirty farm shoes and please bring a chair.

EQUINE INFLUENZA CRISIS COMMITTEE

Liz Buchanan, Wednesday, 17 October 2007

a letter to all members from the new Equine Influenza Crisis Committee.
16th October 2007

Dear Performance and Pleasure Horse Industry Member,
EQUINE INFLUENZA CRISIS COMMITTEE

We wish to advise and seek your support and commitment to a new united representative committee, elected at an industry crisis meeting held at the RNA showgrounds on Sunday 14th October 2007.

Read more.

EFA NSW

Good news and the Challenge!

The EFA paid $821,000 of the Federal Government’s CHAPs funds into accounts of EFA members and other applicants from the entire non-racing horse community yesterday.

“There have been a few administrative hurdles to conquer, but now the show is on the road and our members and all other horse people we are looking after can be confident that we will maintain our service to them and keep the payments flowing.” said Chairman, David Lawrence.

Yesterday, David and Judy Fasher attended a meeting with the NSW Minister for Primary Industry, Mr Ian Macdonald. Since last week’s meeting we had with the minister there have been significant negotiations between the DPI and the EFA NSW consulting vet, Dr Derek Major. This has resulted in all of our squad horses, both National and NSWIS, being vaccinated with their first shot of the live canary pox vaccine.

This is the preferred vaccine because, through blood tests, it is possible to establish whether the horse has suffered EI or been given the vaccine. These horses were all micro chipped at the same time they were vaccinated. In two weeks they will be given a follow-up injection which will be followed by a booster within three months. There is agreement between the DPI, the government and the consulting vets that the disease now needs to be controlled with the aid of vaccination.

Minister Macdonald has allocated 3,000 doses of the live vaccine for use in the Red and Purple Zones of the state. This is to ensure that within the zones all competition horses will have either had the disease or have been micro chipped and vaccinated. Derek Major is tasked with the accreditation of vets to administer the live virus and the distribution of the vaccine.

Figures to date indicate some 600 horses in the purple zone remain uninfected and need vaccination. The EFA NSW has just gone through the daunting task of contacting all performance card holders in the zone to establish the numbers for vaccination. Derek Major reports that the graph of the disease in the Purple Zone peaked on 19th of September and seems to be subsiding now. This is encouraging, but means that in order for us to get competitions up and running we need those horses that have remained disease free to get the vaccine and hopefully remain so.

There is now the challenge of those horses in the Amber and Green Zones. Many of our members are calling for vaccination of their horses in order that competitions can get underway. The Minister has asked us to ‘make a bid’ for the numbers of vaccine doses we would need to vaccinate on a user pays basis in these areas. In order to do this the EFA office is looking to establish a means of direct communication on line between our members and the office. Please keep watching this site for details and tell everyone who might be interested, but as we are very busy on the phone with the Purple and Red Zone issue could we ask that you avoid calling us just yet if you are in the Amber or Green Zones. We will get to you.

Minister Macdonald has called on the EFA NSW to provide a “Roadmap to Recovery” which means a schedule of when we might begin competitions. Infected horses in the Purple Zone are slowly coming back into work. Derek Major intends to begin the vaccinations of the horses still uninfected in the first two weeks in November. If second shots can be given before the end of November this should mean that the vaccinated horses can compete midway through December. The EFA NSW is considering “Back in the Saddle” events, in conjunction with the National EFA’s initiative, before Christmas……….These will involve all three Olympic disciplines and a pre-Christmas party. The details are still on the drawing board and are of course dependant on the vaccinations being carried out.

The EFA NSW Board and the office staff are very well aware that this is a confusing and testing time for all our members. Be assured that every effort is being made to assist you in getting back on track following this devastating crisis.

Our office resources and our staff are absolutely committed to assisting in everyway possible and we would ask you to please co-operate in providing us with the information we need in order to kick on and get going.

$10 Correction

Correction
A REPORT on equine influenza
in The Courier-Mail on Monday
referred to a proposed $10 levy on
sport and performance horse
owners. The levy is not proposed
by the Department of Primary
Industries, but is being considered
by the Federal Government under
the Emergency Disease Response
Agreement.
back
Ref: 30591789
Copyright Agency Limited (CAL) licensed copy

DPI Qld.

Wednesday 17 October: There are currently 1291 infected properties in Queensland. The infected cluster areas have remained static at 2766 sq km. Equine Influenza is still contained to the Red Zone in the State's South East. Vaccination, as part of DPI&F program of containment and eradication is continuing.

Equine influenza strategy.
Queensland has in place a strategy of eradication for equine influenza. This is to be achieved through a combination of strategic vaccination, rigorous movement restrictions and good biosecurity practices.
The strategy has been approved by the National Management Group (NMG) overseeing the equine influenza response after review and endorsement by the national technical advisory group, the Consultative Committee on Emergency Animal Disease (CCEAD). All activities undertaken as part of the eradication strategy in Queensland meet the terms of the Australian Veterinary Emergencies Plan (AUSVETPLAN).

Download report.

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Register your horse online and/or subscribe for the EI e-Newsletter update
Register your horses and contact details and receive an email update on the equine influenza outbreak in Queensland.

Farmers voice concern over DPI's horse flu handling

The owner of a property near Temora, in southern New South Wales, where equine influenza was found, wants to know why the Department of Primary Industries (DPI) has not been there to investigate its cause.
Eddie Blachut of Gidginbung says it took numerous calls and a personal visit to the department before the horses were tested, and then it was slow to inform the public.

He says the DPI knew the test was positive on Thursday, but did not change the zoning to red until yesterday.

Mr Blachut says he was relying on the department's expertise.
"We're not doctors or veterinarians or anything, we're just old broken down farmers," he said.

"We don't know how to treat this. We do know that there should have been some investigations because where is it now, no-one has come and interviewed us to find out who was on the property when it was in the incubation period."

Read more.

Sensible solution?

Finally Someone Who Can Offer a Sensible Solution to the EI mess.

Dr Elizabeth Woolsey Herberts blog on the Horse Deals site yesterday is the most logical and sensible solution to current EI mess. She speaks from experience, there is no doubt why the veterinarians in the USA are ‘shaking their heads on the current eradication plan’ in place in Australia. All countries outside of NZ and Iceland live and compete with EI, it has not desecrated their equine industries as the powers to be try tell us in Australia. At the moment the total equine industry is suffering, testament to this is the hundreds of individual blogs on this site. The financial ramifications on the current strategy will be felt for many years to come unless a sensible and logical solution is implemented.

Woolsey Herberts solution of letting the economic forces solve the problem is sensible, the cost of vaccination would be just another normal operating cost of horse ownership, why not provide horse owners with the choice to vaccinate or not. The argument of future flu outbreaks does not gel, if those who want to travel, compete and generally care for their equine companion choose to vaccinate at their cost like our counterparts overseas do now, just like we do here in Australia for tetanus and strangles. Those who wish not to vaccinate take the risk. The argument if another flu outbreak occurred ‘one would never know when an event of series of events will be cancelled’ – well that’s exactly what we have now, if we were given the choice to vaccinate then responsible horse owners would be able to compete and events would not be cancelled. If a horse did become ill of course the owner would not compete with that horse just like we do now if our horse has the common cold – what is the difference?

The current situation of vaccination for some and not for others, does not give the horse owner ‘freedom of choice’, it does not allow those who genuinely care for the equines the opportunity to safeguard the health of their animals, why are the ‘Chief Veterinary Officers’ of each state holding horse owners to ransom, crippling entire equine industry, and meantime sending vets out in space suits to vaccinate those who are the fortunate ones. Could you imagine if the same scenario occurred with vaccination of mans best friend our companion dogs, the uproar of dog owners across Australia if the Chief Veterinary Officers of each state chose that ‘Bindy’ the poodle could be vaccinated but ‘Rover’ the kelpie working dog couldn’t against a parvo outbreak. There isn’t a difference. The time has come to stand up and be counted bombard state ministers, state chief veterinary officers, dpi officers, and anyone who can help our cause - if the current strategy continues we may not have an industry to save.

Michelle Williams NSW

Changed wording sees businesses miss out on horse flu grants

The Australian Horse Industry Council says a change in wording about criteria for horse flu business grants has excluded many people from applying.

It says it has been contacted by a number of people told they do not qualify for the grants because it requires a downturn in their income and an increase in their costs.

When the grants were first announced it was one or the other.
The Australian Horse Industry Council's president, Barry Smith, says people financially affected by the horse flu outbreak should contact their local Centrelink because they may qualify for a different grant.

Read more.

Uninfected horses in red and purple zones

It is really hard to make some planning decisions in the control of EI because we have no accurate figures of where horses are. It's ok to say we should have a national database - the reality is we are having to control a complex disease with imperfect information.

We are now analysing the data received from the AHIC on properties still uninfected in red and purple zones. Many thanks to everyone who replied. We repeat - this is not a register of horses that require vaccination. We wanted to identify areas where there are pockets of uninfected horses and approximately how many properties and horses are involved. We can then estimate the requirements of staffing and vaccine for the next stage of our control program.

There were 1782 properties in the database with about 13,000 horses uninfected. We are currently going through the data to remove duplicated entries. We are not sure why some people entered their properties up to four times. The owners with uninfected horses who did not register will have just as much right to have their horses vaccinated as those that registered.

There are some big pockets of uninfected horses and we are putting together teams to start vaccinating all horses in these areas. The DPI wishes to vaccinate all uninfected horses in red and purple zones at the expense of the control program. This will take some weeks so we are having to schedule vaccination priorities. This will be a big job - all horses will have to be microchipped. The vaccinating teams are going to have to use strict biosecurity to prevent spreading infection - these horses are uninfected and need to remain so.

The highest priority will be to vaccinate uninfected horses just inside the existing buffer zones to strengthen the buffers. Secondly, we will target high risk, high value horses. Some of these will be where horses are used in businesses or in studs. Others will be performance horses - the EFA is identifying and vaccinating their horses. DPI and EFA will be liaising so that there will not be multiple visits - we plan that the EFA teams will do all eligible horses when they visit eligible properties. Multiple visits by vaccinating teams increases the risk of transfer of infection.

Vaccine supplies permitting (and we have ordered more ) we plan to vaccinate all horses in red and purple zones.

Rod Hoare

Industry Liaison

Response to Vaccinating race horses is fair - for some like us!

Since the inception of EI, I have frequented the Horse Deals blog site and empathised with many that have posted comments. I like many, have found the blog site a great source of honest information, people telling it like it is and not what the powers to be think should be told. EI is such an emotive subject and when you read comments like the one that you posted, emotions continue to divide. When I read your blog, I could not believe that someone could be so shallow and write that her NEED to have her horses vaccinated FIRST and FOREMOST was above paddock bashers.

Well luvy, I guess my ‘ponies’ fit into ‘paddock bashers’, and I hate to be the one to give you a little bit of reality, but I, like many others would like my horses vaccinated as I have no desire to see them unwell, not because I view them as a commodity and my bank balance will suffer. My paddock basher will still be paddock bashing in MY paddock long after your ‘product’ has made somebody’s puppy happy at the dining table.

My paddock basher was partly the source of income for a trainer, like yourself, and that trainer also has a property to maintain, also has a child to care for, also has groceries, medical expenses and mortgage. Many trainers associated within your category of ‘paddock bashers’ or the more politically correct ‘pleasure/recreational horse’ do not have your luxury that they CAN CONTINUE to train.

As for your comment that ‘you guys are still able to work’, uuummm, time to wake up luv and smell the roses, are you not seeing what people are writing or are you choosing to only see what you wish? Many within the industry, unlike you and your partner, do not have a skill that they can just go out and get a job, their skills lie within the horse industry by providing a valuable service, sharing their knowledge and contributing sometimes at the detriment of their own bank account to share that knowledge. I have witnessed first hand the devastation that EI has inflicted on the ‘pleasure/recreational/paddock bashing’ industry and your narcissistic view that YOU should be placed above all is insulting to horse owners regardless of THEIR chosen speciality field.

My husband is self-employed and in the past has suffered at the hands of an industry, yet he was not entitled to any ‘handouts’ from the government. It is a requirement of him being licenced that he has income protection insurance, maybe this is an area that you should look into.

The saddest thing is that none of the trainers that I know would ever dream to put pen to paper and insult an industry that is already divided. It is one thing to express the hardship that you COULD endure, but not at the detriment of being discourteous to others.
Therese

NSW EI Vaccinations.

The DPI survey that we sent to the Australian Horse Industry Council for the unaffected horses in relevant zones did not have anywhere on the form,'only for EFA members' !!

I feel disappointed to have read in the DPI updates today ,the survey was basically for, quote " all members with horses with performance cards in the purple and red zones so that we can be sure we have included everyone."Im not an EFA member & would not have bothered to send in the 'inquiry'.

There is only a small quantity of vaccine so horses not in a buffer or hold a 'card' with the EFA, sorry you can elect to have the vaccine & pay for it yourself.

The racing Industry has payed for their own to be vaccinated. Not everyone can afford to pay this. Dont forget the $10 levy that we will have to pay for the Virus escaping out of Government Quarantine in the first place.

Organized chaos!

Yep, talk about the LUCKY COUNTRY, EVERY MAN FOR HIMSELF !!!

J.Curry
A Disappointed voter in the soon to be infected purple mess.

Do some horse owners wear tin foil hats?

Reading this blog the last few weeks has amazed me.

Where do all these conspiracy theories come from?

Are people going stir crazy and have too much time to think?

It is obvious EI entered the country because someone stuffed up at the airport quarantine or the eastern creek quarantine centre.

The state governments have been starving the agricultural branches for money for years.
If it weren’t for the drought they would have been shut down totally by now.
So they are running flat out to clean out the federal govt mess.

It is not rocket science – or maybe reality is too boring for some people


Joan

NO NEW INFECTIONS?????????????????

Well we have no new infections except in purple zones according to DPI. Wont the people in the Temora District be happy to know that. Even though test have confirmed EI and the DPI have change the local government area to reflect this. Well where are we up to ? Who knows.

Here is a personal invitation for Mr Rod Hoare to address a public meeting on Thursday at the Australian National Days. He can name the time. Please let us know early so we can let all the bloggers know. As for staff at the field day addressing the questions we have, all I can say is Frog Shit. No hand outs, no info kits, they couldn't even find the bloke who supposedly had the answers.

One last thing
WHERE ARE YOU ROD?

Peter Roughley
Molong NSW