Equine influenza daily update - 19 November 2007

Overall progress

Despite a couple of new spots in the Grenfell area the progress towards eradication is on track. Areas previously red are converting to amber and some more amber zones are turning green. The laboratory continues to test up to 1,000 samples per day and there are about 10 properties coming up as positive daily. Nearly all these are inside vaccination buffers. See a report here: http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/agriculture/livestock/horse/influenza/epidemiologyThe testing for freedom from EI continues in the North-east of the state today with several areas approaching adequate testing levels to progress with rezoning from amber to green within the next few days. Clearance testing for Temora, Mudgee, Barmedman and Cooyal red zones is well advanced with those areas looking to be down graded to amber in the very near future.

To read more Follow this link.

Victorian DPI Situation Report - November 19

Follow this link.

Camera surveillance aims to stop horse flu spread

Camera surveillance will be installed at crossing points between New South Wales and Victoria to prevent the spread of horse flu.

Victoria is free of the virus, but equine influenza has been detected north of the border since the outbreak in August.

The state boundary is already patrolled by security guards and Victorian government agriculture staff.

The Government says its 24-hour night vision cameras will be installed at undisclosed locations.

They will be in place by early December.

EI Buffer zone extended in State’s south to prevent disease spread

19 Nov 2007

The buffer area surrounding infected properties in the Forbes and Temora districts has been extended to enable more vaccination and prevent further spread of equine influenza (EI), chief veterinary officer Bruce Christie said today.

Mr Christie said the extension had enabled the creation of one large buffer region, within which strategic vaccination efforts would continue this week.

"This extended buffer will enable us to vaccinate more horses in the vicinity of an infected property and further reduce any additional spread of the disease in this part of the State," he said.

"The extended area now includes the town of Harden along with some smaller villages, and enables vaccination to take place in support of the other control efforts.

"Again, we urge people whose horses may be in this buffer to contact either the Forbes or the Temora vaccination centres and register their horses.
"Registered horses within some parts of this larger buffer zone will be vaccinated at no cost to their owners.

"We understand there are a large number of standardbred horses in the southern part of this region, and urge owners to register these animals so we can help protect them.

"We also remind people of the ongoing importance of good biosecurity to help us in controlling the EI outbreak.

"Simple things such as practising good biosecurity when handling horses, and adhering to movement restrictions, will make a huge contribution to us eradicating EI."

"Vaccination of uninfected horses in the buffer is a vitally important part of the strategy to contain the spread of the extremely contagious EI virus," Mr Christie said.

The Forbes Local Vaccination Centre can be contacted on 6850 2929 and the Temora centre on 69 773 333.

HOW ABOUT THE HORSES

EI that is what is happening to our Industry!!!

What about the horses, TRUE the EI EPIDEMIC is affecting people, but it is the people who own horses that should be considering how it affects
their horses well being. For gods sake it can ruin their respituary system
for the rest of their lives or they can die from EI.

So plese stop complaining that you cannot get to PONY CLUB OR TO SHOW JUMPING OR ANY OTHER HORSE EVENT. Parents should be explaining to their children it is in the horses best interest why there is no Pony club etc.

Let the Racing industry be the a....holes, not the rest of us.

There should be no horse movement at all if we are to beat this VIRUS.
PLEASE stop complaining that you cannot go for a pleasure ride or show your horses.

PLEASE think of how the virus affects our horses.

REMEMBER the vaccine does not stop horses form getting the virus ,and they can still infect other horses.

Jayne Hammnd

Warm & fuzzy

Feeling all warm and fuzzy about the thought of all those stranded sport and recreation horses finally being able to come home from the EI wilderness via the Werribee Park quarantine centre?

Think again, Pollyanna!

Yesterday one of my Victorian client's rang the DPI about bringing home a Riding Pony broodmare - currently stuck in the NSW Green Zone more than 400km from the nearest case of EI - via the WPEC.The quoted cost was $3000 to $4000!

Holy crap ... are they going to be stabled in suites at the Werribee Mansion?Someone, somewhere, must be laughing all the way to the bank!

Back when he announced Werribee Park's recruitment as EI quarantine centre, Victoria's ironically named premier, John Brumby, gave the impression this was en equal opportunity iniative.

“Victorian horses stranded in NSW by the equine influenza outbreak will be given priority at the Werribee quarantine site, with interstate horses wanting to compete in Victorian races to follow,” he said. But who can afford to advantage of that much-feted "priority"?

Considering most owners are having a fit of the vapours at the prospect of shelling out $300 per horse for microchipping and EI vaccination, how many people outside the Thoroughbred industry do you reckon would be able to afford $3000 plus in quarantine fees?

Let's not kid ourselves kids - the Werribee Park EQUESTRIAN Centre is not being locked down like the crown jewels for the benefit of the pony-clubbing, horse showing, obstacle jumping masses.I suspect this is about finding a way to get valuable thoroughbred broodmares home from their hot dates in the Hunter Valley, not to mention a few hundred NSW-based yearlings down to pump up the Melbourne Premier Yearling Sales.Racing horses too, will be quequing up for the Werribee portal, although it's all come a bit too late for the connections of one-time Melbourne Cup hopeful Leica Falcon.

It seems even the Thoroughbred Industry has its own cast system determining who get priority treatment and small fry from the sticks need not apply!

Perhaps the Government and the DPI could stop offending the intelligence of the non-racing populus by trying to make us believe they really are looking after the interests of all horse owners - regardless of their tax bracket.Be warned, my fellow sport and leisure horse massochists; if you're feeling warm and fuzzy it's can't possibly be from the caring, sharing concern of the DPI and co.

There's more chance we've peed in our brushed cotton jods.

Jodi Allen (show horse breeder/trainer with too much time on her hands)Manorvale Stables, Jerilderie NSW.

Man charged with illegal horse movement into Victoria

A Canberra man has been charged with illegally moving two horses across the NSW border into Victoria.
Police allege the man jumped the border late at night on 28 September via a back route near Bombala taking two riding ponies to a property at Heyfield, 200km east of Melbourne.
The man has been summonsed to appear in Queanbeyan Local Court on 3 December.
Victorian authorities are also investigating related offences in Victoria.
Deputy chief veterinary officer Ian Roth said the man was traced by Rural Crimes Investigators following a report of the movement which included number plate details.
“The movement resulted in a Victorian property being placed in quarantine, the testing of horses for equine influenza and the controlled return of the horses to the Canberra property,” he said.
Meanwhile, charges relating to an illegal horse movement in the North-West of the State during September were mentioned in the Inverell Local Court yesterday.
Magistrate Gordon Lerve adjourned the matter for hearing in the Boggabilla Local Court on December 5.
Police allege a 47-year old man moved a horse during the horse standstill imposed by NSW Department of Primary Industries following the outbreak of equine influenza.
He was charged with having breached a control order issued under the Exotic Disease of Animals Act 1991.
Police Rural Crimes Investigators continue to investigate a number of potentially illegal horse movements.
“Horse owners can get up-to-date information on horse movement restrictions in NSW by calling the EI Hotline 1800 675 888,” Mr Roth said.

NSW Equine Influenza hotline: 1800 675 888
Website: www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/equine-influenza

16 November 2007

Woman dies after being kicked in chest by horse

November 18, 2007 05:04pm

A WOMAN has died after being kicked in the chest by a horse while riding with a group of friends in Victoria.
Police said the 44-year-old woman was riding with six friends on a private property off Forest Road, Paraparap, 107kms south-west of Melbourne, when the accident occurred at 2.30pm (AEDT) today.
The group had dismounted and were lining up to let their horses drink from a dam when one horse got too close to another and kicked out with both its rear legs, hitting the woman who was standing behind.
She suffered chest injuries and, despite efforts of ambulance officers to resuscitate her, died at the scene.
Police will prepare a report for the coroner.

Safety record defended after champ killed at 33

Article from:
By Robyn Ironside November 19, 2007 01:00am

THE National Rodeo Association said yesterday there was nothing more it could do to make the sport safer following the death of the "number one cowboy in the nation" Greg Meech.

The 33-year-old Caboolture father-of-two was performing at the Brother's Leagues Club rodeo at Ipswich Saturday night when his bull threw him to the ground and trod on his chest. Although he managed to stand up immediately afterwards, Meech collapsed at the side of the ring and was rushed to Ipswich Hospital with severe internal bleeding.He died a few hours later, about midnight.
Jason Hall from the National Rodeo Association yesterday said "no one knew the dangers of the sport better than Greg" who was a rider of at least 10 years' experience.
"He actually broke his neck about three years ago on a bareback horse. He wasn't supposed to come back but he did, and he won the all-round title this year," Mr Hall said.
"The whole rodeo community is a little bit shocked.
"You see similar things happen every weekend. It was just bad luck I guess."
Meech wore a helmet and a protective vest.
Mr Hall said the ground surface at the club was also well within safety requirements.
"It is a dangerous sport we all know that, but we have all the safety in place. You don't expect someone to die," he said.
However Mr Hall admitted it had been a "tough year" for the rodeo with two other national champions in serious accidents. Four times national bull-riding champion Saras Ramsay spent a week in a coma after his spleen was ruptured by a bull's horn, and 2006 bareback champion Heath Wallace lost part of his kidney when he was thrown from a bull.
Meech's partner Shelley Harrison was yesterday too distraught to speak about the accident. The couple have a one-year-old son and Meech also has a daughter, 8, from a previous relationship.
"He was very hard-working and very dedicated to the sport. He was a fairly well-liked guy around the scene," Mr Hall said.
Another National Rodeo Association event planned for the Beenleigh Showgrounds this weekend would still go ahead.
"I guess a lot of people will have a look and think about why they're doing it and what the consequences are, but I don't really expect anyone to pull out," Mr Hall said.

NSW racing industry to recieve $40 million taxpayer-funded compensation for Papal visit.

Randwick receives $40 million

THE New South Wales racing industry will receive a $40 million taxpayer-funded compensation package for the use of Randwick racecourse for Catholic World Youth Day in July.

Prime Minister John Howard said yesterday that the Federal Government would provide $20 million to the industry, while NSW Deputy Premier John Watkins indicated the State Government would match that contribution.
Under the agreement, horses and trainers will be relocated to Warwick Farm and Rosehill, with infrastructure at both venues to be given a $10 million upgrade.
A further $7 million will go towards upgrades of facilities at Randwick while the Australian Jockey Club will receive a $3 million payout and a 50-year extension of its lease at the track.
Randwick trainers whose businesses are affected by the move will be given $10.8 million in reimbursements through Racing NSW. A contingency fund of $10 million will be set aside to ensure there are no disruptions to the 2008 spring carnival.
"This is a substantial and comprehensive package of measures that not only secures Randwick for World Youth Day but will see a lasting benefit for the racing industry through investment of the three premium venues here in Sydney," Watkins told NSW parliament.
The agreement on compensation ends the dispute between the AJC and the Catholic Church over the use of the venue for the papal visit.
Watkins reiterated that Randwick was the only suitable venue in Sydney to hold the event.

AAP November 16, 2007

A MAJOR rift has erupted within the Australian breeding industry

A MAJOR rift has erupted within the Australian breeding industry as Victorians fight to prevent interstate yearlings crossing the border for March's Premier Sale.
Thoroughbred Breeders (Victoria) is lobbying the racing and health ministers and Racing Victoria Limited to prevent EI-affected yearlings coming to the sale. In NSW, commercial breeders are campaigning to lift the restrictions in the Hunter Valley so their yearlings can attend.
TBV president Mike Becker has written to Racing Minister Rob Hulls, the Minister for Health and RVL to urge them to retain the current protocols on horse movement restrictions to ensure interstate yearlings did not put Victoria at risk by crossing the border.
"William Inglis planned to have 600 yearlings at the sale, but 40 per cent of them are currently from NSW and, of those, 80 per cent are in the purple zone and should not be allowed here," Becker said.

"We are concerned about pressure being applied by prominent NSW commercial breeders, and William Inglis, to force change to the existing protocols regarding EI restrictions.
"People in NSW are doing a great job to revive the industry there and are working on a slogan of Road to Recovery. We just want their road to be confined to NSW.
"We don't have a problem with EI in Victoria, and we want to keep it that way. Why risk everything simply because people across the border want to sell their second and third-string horses at our sale?
"This is a wonderful opportunity for Victoria to showcase our yearlings. We have EI-free yearlings from EI-free stallions and EI-free mares."
William Inglis & Son spokesman Peter Heagney said the decision was up to the Department of Primary Industry "which has the expertise to determine whether horses should be allowed to cross the border".
"The chief veterinarian officers met on Friday to discuss the issue," Heagney said. "However we have a catalogue to put together and we will need a decision this week. If approval is not given then, it will be too late for interstate yearlings to come."
Becker said Victorian breeders believed yearlings should be sold in the state they reside.
"NSW can put on as many sales in NSW as it likes - just stay out of Victoria," he said.
"Inglis says it is making its decision about selling interstate yearlings here after consultation with the breeding industry. Well, I haven't spoken to one Victorian breeder who has been consulted. And every local breeder I have spoken with wants NSW yearlings kept out of this state."
William Inglis & Son is in Japan this week to promote the Premier Sale, which takes place at Oaklands Junction between March 4-6. If interstate yearlings are not allowed, the sale will revert to a two-day event.
Rod Nicholson November 18, 2007 12:00am

THE spring carnival is over but equine influenza is still here, writes Matt Stewart.

Complacency is now the biggest risk with this lingering threat.

The impending yearling sale season, which has been reshuffled because of EI but will still go on, poses a far greater risk of the disease spreading than the more high-profile racing season.
The Victorian Department Of Primary Industries must make a huge decision this week on interstate representation at the Melbourne Premier Yearling Sale in March.
Remember, Victoria is EI free. Much of New South Wales and southern Queensland isn't.
The painfully long-winded inoculation process is under way but will not protect the entire thoroughbred population at least until May.
Its effect on foals, mares and racehorses will not be fully known for at least three years.
While EI has generally been portrayed as low impact -- lethargy, snotty nose, over it in three weeks -- many horses, particularly foals, have become extremely ill in the Hunter Valley and other areas.
There have been casualties.
The spring carnival survived but the need to keep EI out of Victoria is as desperate now as it was before September.
Horses bred interstate, particularly in the EI-ravaged Hunter, represent almost half the proposed 600-strong catalogue of yearlings.
Yearlings bred in the Hunter, particularly by major farms such as Arrowfield and Coolmore, are generally at the top end of the Melbourne sale.
From a strictly commercial point of view, William Inglis and Son would be desperate to have these yearlings in Melbourne in March.
The DPI must decide this week whether to bow to pressure from Hunter Valley breeders, relax the EI protocols, and allow NSW and Queensland yearlings to travel.
William Inglis and Son must print its catalogue this week.
Inglis says it will agree with whatever strategy is outlined by the DPI -- it has no choice -- but hopes, of course, for a relaxation.
Thoroughbred Breeders Victoria president Mike Becker hopes the DPI does not take its eye off the ball just because the racing season survived.
"That's my fear. The mingling of sellers, buyers, breeders and horses who have come from EI areas means the yearling sale would be a very dangerous place for the spread of EI," Becker said.
"It has had a devastating impact interstate. There is a massive risk of spread via yearling sales. Even if the horses don't come, the risk of spread through people at the sales, given their movement on farms etc, would be enormous."
Becker said the sensible solution was that NSW yearlings being prepared for Melbourne should instead be tacked on to one of the upcoming NSW sales.
Inglis spokesman Peter Heagney said the Oaklands Junction sale venue would be subject to strict EI protocols.

Still, you hope officials are as gung-ho about EI now the racing is over and the spotlight has shifted. Time will tell.

What the hell is happening to OUR industry???

What the hell is going on with a Horse Industry!!!

We have people having to shoot horses as they cannot afford to feed them.

We have people who are so depressed they are having to see councillors.

We have pony club children sad and crying, depressed and even starting harm themselves (attempted suicide) - YES THAT"S CORRECT- as they cannot visit their horse, attend Pony Club or enjoy a ride with their friends.

We have people who have suddenly became so financially stretched that they are not sure what their future holds.

We have people who have spent years peaking horses in their performance disciplines to now have those horses standing in paddocks, yards or stables idle.

We have Equestrian centres being "taken" over and used as quarantine stables affecting all in their close vicinity.

What the hell is happening to our industry we love with a passion so much?

Is our industry being destroyed before our eyes?

Are you all taking this in?........And what if it happens again?........Do we STOP and slowly DIE for another 11 MONTHS. They are saying June 2008 for NORMALITY......

What the hell is going on? This is a FREAKING JOKE!
Tracy Stead Equestrian Services

EI Inquiry: Matrix of confusion

SYDNEY – Bureaucratic language used by Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service management obscured rather than advanced the basic day-to-day jobs of staff, Commissioner Ian Callinan said yesterday.

The inquiry has heard of a “matrix style of management” with layers of hierarchy and that the managers would not necessarily have any practical knowledge or experience of quarantine protocols in live animal imports.
Callinan interrupted testimony by Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service (AQIS) national program manager David Ironside saying the language used masked the issues.

"I have the impression that there is a whole lot of language that's used that tends to mask or to diminish the understanding or the thrust of these things.

A lot of business-type, corporate-type language which doesn't seem to have any particular role to play in public administration," Commissioner Callinan said.

Ironside had given evidence that the station manager at Sydney's Eastern Creek quarantine centre, Greg Hankins, expressed concerns at the lack of hard copies of work instructions when he took up the appointment earlier this year.

Read more.

EI Inquiry: Maitland event key to EI spread

SYDNEY -The Ausvetplan -- a contingency plan for an Equine Influenza outbreak – was in draft form at approval stage with Animal Health Australia when the crisis erupted on August 17, the Callinan inquiry heard this week.
The inquiry heard that 40,000 horses were infected in NSW within nine weeks.

James Gilkerson, senior lecturer in veterinary microbiology and head of the Equine Infectious Diseases Laboratory in the Faculty of Veterinary Science at the University of Melbourne, said it was most likely that the first infected horses co-mingled with other horses at a Maitland equestrian event on August 19.

Gilkerson gave some 80 media interviews and agreed he could have spoken to a reporter at the Tasmanian Times and stated that the most likely scenario was escape of the virus through someone coming into contact with an infected horse at Eastern Creek Quarantine Station and then going to Centennial Park.

However, Gilkerson said his comments were made before the epidemiological importance of the Maitland event became very apparent.
He said it was more likely the trace-back was to the Maitland event and the Centennial Park horses were not necessarily the first horses infected outside Eastern Creek.

Read more.

Forget the horses and pick a winning traine

EQUINE influenza has no end date. Nobody knows how long it will affect thoroughbred racing. Days, months, years, decades - who knows?

At best, people are guessing. At least there is a schedule of NSW race dates. Not perfect, but it's something.

With it, though, punters face another stern test. Finding winners at meetings restricted to horses from certain zones is hard yakka. Horses that haven't been to the races for months. Horses that are racing out of their grades and over unsuitable distances. Horses that have had official barrier trials or unofficial jump-outs.

Read more.

ONLY A CLOWN WOULD ALLOW EI INTO ALBURY

An update on the Protest at the Albury Wodonga Equestrian Centre (AWEC) Meeting, Saturday 17 November

As the owner of Horseland Albury, like many other business owners and horse enthusiasts, am very concerned about what is going on in the fight against EI, even more so when I received an email from the AWEC secretary, Thursday morning inviting me to attend a meeting at the Equestrian Centre to discuss the use of the centre as a quarantine station.

The news was also plastered across the front page of the local paper, confirming that the decision to use Albury’s wonderful facility as a quarantine station had indeed been made, and that a meeting was to be held at 12 noon on Saturday to discuss the contract.

Confusion abounds as it does not seem clear what sort of meeting this is, however I received an email, and am not a member of the centre, so of course it must be a public meeting. I contacted the secretary to ask a few questions and she said that this is what the meeting was for, and that I should attend.

So attend I did, I promoted it as a protest and along with me, over 100 or others turned up at this meeting.

Upon the realisation that this meeting was not what the president, Mr Ross Spalding, had anticipated, he begun by claiming that the meeting was intended for committee members only to discuss the quarantine station, which he announced had not been finalised. He then read out the contract. He stated, because it was only a committee meeting and there were so many people in attendance, that he would allow questions at the end of the meeting from financial members only, and (if there was time) questions from others.

Before attending the meeting however, I did my homework, some of the following bits of information are quite interesting:

· I contacted the DPI NSW Chief Veterinary Officer Dr Bruce Christy and the Deputy Chief Veterinary Officer, Dr Ian Ross, who gave me a 99.9% assurance that the centre will not be used as it is not an ideal location and due to the public interest.
· NSW DPI’s Kathy Drury-Cline, who contacted me when she was working tirelessly to house horses in the Albury area that were stranded at Condobolin, came up against a brick wall when she approached the AWEC. It seems at the time, the committee of the AWEC was quite OK with the agistment of horses from Condoblin, however the president, Mr Ross Spalding refused and it was reported by the secretary that he “Would not budge” on this issue.
· The Victorian DPI has stated that the contract cannot be signed until a public meeting has been held;
· The Victorian DPI was unaware that the STABLES at the AWEC did not have automatic watering systems, and that the stables themselves are small, dark and VERY, VERY HOT. The stables at the AWEC were not designed for use over an extended period.

The meeting itself proved not very useful, as only selected questions were answered and the more technical ones such as:

· How can a 100 metre exclusion zone be acceptable, compared to the usual 8 km buffer zone, as adopted right across NSW?
· What sort of horses will be allowed through this quarantine process at a estimated $4,000 per horse (some were wondering just what sort of market this is aimed at, it does not sound like it is within the average domestic horse owner’s means)
· How are they going to manage the bio-security process?
· Why can’t it be held well away from a large regional area, on a cattle or sheep property?
· Who is liable if things go wrong, and EI does find its way to Albury?
· Don’t you think that this topic is beyond the jurisdiction of the AWEC committee, should it not be open to public discussion?
· When will you hold a public meeting?

These questions were not answered. The president claimed that he does not yet have enough information to answer them, yet the notice of centre closure has already been forwarded advising that horses will commence their stay at the centre from the beginning of December.

Amidst this atmosphere, was a young pony clubber from Police Youth Pony Club who made a tearful plea to Mr Spalding, asking to be heard. She just wants to go to pony club, without having a quarantine station right next door. (PYC pony club leases land from the AWEC, and was not formally notified of the Quarantine Station).

I would like to again state that I WAS invited to this meeting by the secretary, and along with me, over 100 other attendees had to sit it the sun in 35 degree heat, whilst the committee sat under the shade of the verandah on chairs. All along the large clubroom behind them remained empty.

Due to the fact that the committee claim they do not need to hold a public meeting, I have taken it upon myself to organise one. It will be at Horseland, Albury, 7:00pm Thursday November 22. Bookings are essential.

Come on Albury, what is going on??

Marg Barwood,
Horseland Albury