EI-free breeders push for national vaccine

Thoroughbred breeders are calling for an industry-wide vaccination program to ensure equine flu never breaks out again, after New South Wales was this morning declared free of the disease.

The State Government says its program of vaccination and restrictions on the movement of horses has paid off, with no new cases confirmed since December 21.
Forty-one-thousand horses were infected at the peak of the outbreak, which began last August, bringing the state's racing industry to a standstill just before the breeding season.
NSW Primary Industries Minister Ian Macdonald says it is a remarkable achievement.
"In many countries that have fought to eradicate EI, it's taken them up to two to three years," he said. "And then there have been many countries who've failed to eradicate it at all."
Thoroughbred Breeders Association president John Messara says the industry cannot afford to have a similar outbreak again.
"It probably means the adoption of a vaccination policy like they do in every other country where this disease has been - they adopt a continuing vaccination policy for their racing and performance horses," he said.
"It's just common sense. I know that Government authorities see it as some sort of defeat but i don't think it is a defeat, i think its a practical solution."
Mr Macdonald says authorities will continue to test horses to make sure there are no isolated pockets of the disease left.
"We're taking a precautionary approach as required under international protocols to make sure there's no evidence of the disease existing outside of our knowledge," he said.