Inquiry continues, but official end of EI crisis in sight

AS THE Federal Government inquiry into the equine influenza outbreak continues in Sydney, it seems likely Australia will be declared provisionally free of the virus by mid-March, three months earlier than projected.

Information released yesterday by national thoroughbred breeders' group Aushorse said there had been 10,700 completed tests for EI with no positive results since December 22.
Aushorse chairman John Messara said Australia had "made excellent progress at combating the disease", with major factors being the implementation of zones and the success of the vaccination program in NSW and Queensland.
Messara said the results since the full-scale resumption of racing in NSW also proved there had been no long-term effects on the performance of horses.
The acting chief executive of Racing NSW, Brian Judd, said that from December 1, 2007, until January 31 this year there had been 124 races at 17 metropolitan meetings with 77 of the winners, or 62%, having recovered from EI. "Whilst we only looked at a relatively small sample over two months, the figures are encouraging in terms of post-EI performance of horses," Judd said.
Racing in NSW and southern Queensland ground to a halt after the highly contagious EI was identified at Eastern Creek quarantine centre near Sydney on August 25 last year and spread through leisure horses and then racing stables, although emergency bio security measures kept it out of Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia and Tasmania.
The inquiry before Ian Callinan has revealed breaches of protocol at the Eastern Creek quarantine centre and in quarantine procedures at Sydney airport.
Messara said it was also encouraging that export of Australian horses to Hong Kong was about to resume.
He said the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department had given the green light and there were two batches of thoroughbreds in quarantine in Melbourne awaiting shipment.