Quarantined horses cleared of equine flu

Weekend tests on 10 American horses at a New Zealand quarantine facility have found they do not have equine influenza, biosecurity officials said today.

DNA testing of samples from the horses, which had tested positive for equine influenza, indicated the results were "false positives", Biosecurity New Zealand spokesman Clive Gower-Collins said.

The horses were imported from the United States on March 23 after testing negative for the disease - but they tested positive five days after arrival in New Zealand, with the results becoming available at the end of March.

The Karaka site where the horses were being quarantined was locked down as a precaution on Friday, with no horses allowed to leave or enter the site, and no visitors allowed.

"The whole testing regime is based on an early warning principle... The first set of tests could probably be described as veracity tests - they're the ones that say you think you've got a reason for concern," Mr Gower-Collins told Radio New Zealand today.

"At that point, we began to get some anomalous test results that made our folks scratch their heads a bit. Further testing started to reveal that most certainly whatever we're dealing with here, it's not an equine illness."

Mr Gower-Collins, MAF's import standards group manager, said the 10 horses at the centre of the scare were in "robust good health".

He said earlier that it took very little to skew the results on such a sensitive test - "we may have had contamination from somebody with a cold in the lab".

The test results were crucial because an equine influenza outbreak would put at risk New Zealand's place as the only significant horse-racing nation free of equine flu.

Australia has just wrapped up an inquiry into its own billion-dollar outbreak last year when equine influenza first detected in August spread quickly among horses in New South Wales and Queensland states.

Horse movements were stopped, and some Australian racing halted at a cost estimated at $A1 billion ($NZ1.17 million).

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McGauran takes reins in sport of kings

FORMER federal agriculture minister Peter McGauran, who came to the rescue of the racing industry with a $217 million relief package, is set to become the chief executive of Thoroughbred Breeders Australia.

Mr McGauran follows at least four other Howard ministers in accepting employment in areas where they worked closely in government.

The Australian understands Mr McGauran, who on Friday announced his resignation after 25 years as the Nationals member for Gippsland, will announce his new job this week and take up the post next month.
News of Mr McGauran's post-retirement plans came as senior Liberals dismissed suggestions that Peter Costello might remain in parliament as a leadership "insurance policy", with one former close supporter of his prime ministerial ambitions labelling the claims as "bunkum".
Former health minister Michael Wooldridge was criticised when he joined the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners as a consultant after leaving politics, as was former defence minister Peter Reith for his government relations consultancy with defence and technology giant Tenix.
Former children's affairs minister Larry Anthony joined the board of childcare giant ABC Learning after losing his seat in 2004, while former communications minister Richard Alston advised Austereo on digital radio.
At the time of last year's outbreak of equine influenza, which is reported to have cost the industry $1 billion, Mr McGauran was described by racing officials as the industry's saviour for delivering the $217 million assistance package. It included payments for workers from farriers to transport operators who lost their jobs, as well as $45 million for businesses and $44 million towards professional riders.
It is expected that the inquiry by former High Court judge Ian Callinan QC will hand down damning findings about the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service, which came under Mr McGauran's portfolio, when it delivers his report into the EI outbreak later this month.
Mr McGauran would not officially confirm the appointment last night, but told The Australian he did not believe the role posed a potential conflict of interest.
"I would not accept a position with an organisation or industry body that benefited directly from any decision I made as minister," he said.
"The EI assistance package was distributed by Racing NSW and Queensland Racing, together with government agencies such as Centrelink.
"I had a lifetime interest and involvement with the racing and bloodstock industries, and my ambition has always been to work in them after politics."
He denied that the package was delivered in part to court the racing industry. "Retirement was the last thing on my mind," Mr McGauran said.
Racing NSW boss Peter V'Landys said yesterday that while Mr McGauran "was a help to us in dark times", the package did not directly assist breeders.
"There was no funding whatsoever for the breeders while he was in government," Mr V'Landys said.
Mr V'Landys denied it would be in any way inappropriate for Mr McGauran to take up the position with Thoroughbred Breeders.
"To be fair, he started off in the racing industry," he said.
The Nationals hold Mr McGauran's seat of Gippsland by a margin of 6 per cent. However, Coalition sources described recent party polling in the electorate as "challenging".

NZ Retesting EI-Positive Samples From US Imports

MAF Biosecurity New Zealand announced it is "retesting samples taken from horses imported directly from the US to the Karaka quarantine facility (in Auckland) due to conflicting test results". Ten horses imported from the US on March 23 "have had conflicting tests results for equine influenza: they tested negative prior to export in the US but positive when in quarantine in NZ". All the horses "appear healthy & are not showing any symptoms of disease". MAFBNZ's Import Standards Group Manager Clive Gower-Collins warned: "There is a strong indication that cross-contamination in the laboratory was the reason for the positive results. The laboratory will be conducting further tests over the weekend to confirm this is so. Further investigations will also be made to ascertain how the tests in NZ became contaminated." As a precaution MAFBNZ moved quickly to "lock down" the Karaka facility & "no horses will be allowed to leave or enter the site & no visitors will be permitted entry". The horses have been in quarantine since their arrival from the US in a secure facility "so there is no risk to the NZ horse population." NZ Racing Board chief executive Graeme Hansen added: "The horses in question were picked up during standard quarantine procedures & we are pleased MAFBNZ has moved quickly & taken every precaution in the protection of our industry."

McGauran to take top horse industry job

Former federal agriculture minister Peter McGauran is this week expected to announce that he has accepted the top job at Thoroughbred Breeders Australia.

Mr McGauran, who last Friday announced his resignation from parliament after 25 years as the Nationals member for Gippsland, will announce his new job as chief executive this week and take up the post next month, The Australian reported on Monday.
As agriculture minister, Mr McGauran spearheaded the government's $217 million rescue package for the Australian horse industry devastated by the outbreak of equine influenza (EI).
Mr McGauran would not officially confirm the appointment Sunday night, but told The Australian he did not believe the role posed a potential conflict of interest.
"I would not accept a position with an organisation or industry body that benefited directly from any decision I made as minister," he told the paper.
"The EI assistance package was distributed by Racing NSW and Queensland Racing, together with government agencies such as Centrelink.
"I had a lifetime interest and involvement with the racing and bloodstock industries, and my ambition has always been to work in them after politics."

US horses test positive for EI in NZ

Ten horses imported into New Zealand from the United States have tested positive for equine influenza, biosecurity officials say.

The quarantine site in Karaka, in New Zealand's North Island, has been "locked down".
No horses are allowed to leave or enter the site and no visitors are allowed.
The test results put at risk New Zealand's place as the only significant horse-racing nation free of equine flu, and raises the spectre of multi-million dollar costs for the nation's racing and sport horse sectors.
Biosecurity New Zealand says it is retesting samples taken from horses imported directly from the United States to the Karaka quarantine "due to conflicting test results".
The horses were imported from the United States on March 23 after testing negative for the disease - but they tested positive on arrival in New Zealand.
All the horses appear healthy and are not showing any symptoms of disease, according to Biosecurity NZ, which is an arm of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry.
"There is a strong indication that cross-contamination in the laboratory was the reason for the positive results," a ministry spokesman, import standards group manager, Clive Gower-Collins, said.
"The laboratory will be conducting further tests over the weekend to confirm that this is so.
"Further investigations will also be made to ascertain how the tests in New Zealand became contaminated".
Import standards require horses to undergo 21 days quarantine before departure for New Zealand, including testing and vaccination, and a further 14 days in post-arrival quarantine in New Zealand, where they undergo further testing.
The horses have been in quarantine since their arrival from the United States in a secure facility, which Mr Gower-Collins said meant there was "no risk" to the New Zealand horse population.
"The New Zealand horse population is not at risk as any virus would be contained within the Karaka quarantine facility and allowed to run its course.
New Zealand Racing Board chief executive, Graeme Hansen, said: "We are pleased that MAF have moved quickly and taken every precaution in the protection of our industry".

Commissioner prepares horse flu inquiry report

The head of the Federal Government's horse flu inquiry, Ian Callinan, will spend the next three weeks writing his report into how the EI virus entered Australia, after public hearings ended in Sydney.
The Commonwealth is already on notice that its entire quarantine system needs a shake-up, with the Commissioner saying public confidence in the performance of AQIS and Biosecurity Australia is at an all-time low.
On the final day, Counsel Assisting the Inquiry, Tony Meagher, urged the Commissioner to find that the virus escaped from the government's Eastern Creek station, after Japanese horses were imported to Australia on the 8th of August last year.
He submitted Australia's quarantine system had failed and there were no adequate lines of communication.
The six-month inquiry also heard evidence that AQIS's management structure was fragmented, that senior bureaucrats were often blase about the risk involved in the importation of live horses, and quarantine facilities were rarely audited.
The Commonwealth has already flagged its resistance to Mr Callinan's draft report, suggesting some recommendations have not been costed and may not sit comfortably with existing government policy.
Meanwhile, the racing industry is praising Peter McGauran's handling of the horse flu outbreak as Agriculture Minister, saying he responded quickly and generously.
The industry also says that Mr McGauran gave assurances the industry wouldn't have to pay for the outbreak, if it was proved the Quarantine Service was to blame.
That's pressuring the new government, in the light of suggestions a new levy could be imposed on the horse industry.
Racing New South Wales chief executive, Peter V'landys, says the industry will lobby the new Agriculture Minister to keep Mr McGauran's promise.
"Look, we're waiting for Callinan's report and we will certainly be lobbying very hard to Mr Burke that the Government honour the previous government's commitment to pay for the cost of erradication and containment, because we had no part in it," he says.
"It wasn't our negligence, we were just a victim."