Authorities confident EI contained

The future is finally looking brighter for the Australian racing industry with government authorities announcing on Wednesday they are confident the equine influenza (EI) virus has been contained.
Dr Andy Carroll, Australia's chief veterinary officer, reported that less than 1,000 properties were now considered infected premises adding that there had been no new outbreaks of EI since December 22.
"Since reaching a high of some ten thousand infected premises in October/November last year, we now have less than one thousand infected premises indicating that our strategy in combating the disease has been highly successful," Dr Carroll said.
"This success will increasingly allow non-risk horses to move more freely around Australia and combined with the use of vaccination, to participate more freely in horse sales and other events.
"This is a great development in getting our horse industry and horse sports back on track."
Officials from Biosecurity Australia and the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service (AQIS) are continuing negotiations with several countries, including Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand and Singapore, to re-open Australia's horse export market.
However, Dr Carroll warned horse owners still needed to adhere to the biosecurity and horse movement restrictions in place.
"We are winning the battle against the disease and we are increasingly optimistic that horse flu will be eradicated much earlier than previously expected," he said.
"But it only takes one person to do the wrong thing and we could face a major setback."
The first case of EI in Australia was confirmed on August 23 in a stallion housed at the Eastern Creek quarantine centre near Sydney.
The subsequent outbreak of the virus in NSW and Queensland virtually shut down racing in both states for more than three months, costing the racing and breeding industries millions of dollars.
Racing finally returned to metropolitan centres in Sydney and Brisbane on December 1.