EI: first horses cross the border into Victoria

Sixty-six NSW horses will cross the Murray River into Victoria later today, 114 days after equine influenza (EI) was detected at stables in Sydney’s Centennial Park, Minister for Primary Industries, Ian Macdonald, said today.

“Today marks another milestone in our battle against EI and our efforts to get the State’s horse industries back on their feet,” Minister Macdonald said.

“The horses will be transported by truck from a William Inglis & Son quarantine facility at Newmarket this afternoon to a quarantine facility in Victoria, arriving early Tuesday morning.

“This is the first legal movement of horses into Victoria since the outbreak and more will follow, not only thoroughbreds but horses from other equine disciplines.

“We will continue to work closely with the entire horse industry including the leisure, equestrian and racing sectors, to ensure things get back to normal as quickly as possible.

“This group of 66 horses is the first to meet tough new inter-state travel biosecurity protocols.

“Their movement is in line with policies from the national consultative committee on exotic animal diseases and is consistent with the national campaign to control and eradicate EI.

“Each has previously been infected by horse flu, developed full immunity to the disease and has made a successful recovery back to full health.

“There are strict nationally-agreed-to protocols for horse movements from NSW to Victoria, which these animals have met.”

This means that each horse has:

• Been tested at a NSW DPI laboratory to confirm they don’t have the disease;
• Is from a property now scientifically proven EI free through resolution testing;
• Have returned blood tests with strong anti-bodies, showing immunity exists.

Also, each truck will be decontaminated twice in Sydney before the horses are loaded.

Minister Macdonald said that as an extra measure, the animals have been under tight quarantine in NSW and will be placed under quarantine at Oaklands in Victoria when they arrive, before being sold.

In NSW the number of properties infected with EI has dropped from more than 5,000 to 2,554 and an end to this outbreak is in sight.
 
More than 45,000 doses of horse flu vaccine have been used as part of the State Government’s control and eradication campaign.

However, Mr Macdonald called on all NSW horse owners to remain vigilant practising sensible biosecurity and abide by movement regulations.