Hunter Valley EI vaccination progress

The number of horses vaccinated against equine influenza (EI) in the Hunter Valley has now reached 10,000, NSW deputy chief veterinary officer, Ian Roth said today.

“More than 2000 of those horses have also received a second injection to further increase their immunity to EI and the second round should be completed by mid January,” Mr Roth said.

“These numbers include horses in both the buffer around the purple zone and uninfected horses within the purple zone.

“The objective in the purple zone is to build immunity in all horses, whether by vaccination or natural immunity in horses which have recovered from EI.

“Owners of horses within the purple zone should contact their local veterinarian to register for free vaccination.”

Mr Roth said there had been no outbreaks of EI in new areas of the Hunter Valley for more than a month, which indicated the containment strategy was successfully controlling the spread of the virus.

“Movement restrictions, good biosecurity and vaccination have all helped control the spread of EI,” he said.

“Horse owners throughout the Hunter Valley have cooperated well with the control program and the NSW Department of Primary Industries vaccination teams.

“I would like to thank Hunter Valley horse owners for their help and cooperation over the past four months and remind them that we must continue the battle despite the hardships if we are to eradicate EI.”

NSW equine influenza hotline: 1800 675 888

More information: www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/equine-influenza