DPI&F Biosecurity Queensland

Equine Influenza Update

Update No. 23, Wednesday 7th November 2007

Situation report for Wednesday 7th November, 2007

There are currently 2177 infected properties in Queensland an increase of 19 since yesterday. This trend of a slowing of the infection rate has been experienced over the last three weeks.

It's important to maintain decontamination procedures and remain vigilant.

It is still a legal requirement to notify the DPI&F on 13 25 23 of any horses that show clinical sign consistent with EI.

In addition to the on-going vaccination program in the outer and inner buffer zones, an extra 410 horses were vaccinated during the past week in the Samford area to reduce the chance of spread to other districts.

See the breakdown of infected premises by shires

Equine Influenza Update from the Qld Chief Veterinary Officer

DPI&F veterinary specialists are increasingly confident that the spread of Equine Influenza in Queensland has peaked and is now trending down.

Click the link to view the 5-day rolling average of infected premises graph which shows the spread of the infection based on the date of onset of clinical signs of EI.

The dotted line on this graph shows the total number of infected premises (IPs) reported on a '5 day rolling average'.

The peak number of infected premises was around 1 October 2007. Since then there has been a consistent decline in the number of premises reporting clinical signs.

But the infection rate can still accelerate and this is no time for complacency.

Biosecurity precautions including showering, washing, disinfecting footwear and vehicles, changing into clean clothing, and not touching other horses are still vital.

While this graph shows that at the end of October there were about 1900 IPs, many of the very early IPs have now passed the 30 day period since the last horse showed signs of EI, and horses on these premises are no longer infectious.

It is still critically important that we stop the disease from spreading to new districts.

People are still the greatest risk of spreading the disease to new areas so please maintain good biosecurity and decontamination and continue observing the movement restrictions in the Red Zone.

Vaccination Myths - Qld Chief Veterinarian Dr Ron Glanville corrects mis-information

The equine influenza horse industry liaison officers have been doing a great job by providing feedback on policy issues, running horse industry meetings, and assisting in the production of various communications resources like fact sheets and biosecurity checklists and posters for horse owners and horse-related businesses.

This week as one of their many tasks, they compiled a list of common issues and circulating on various horse websites and blogs and they have asked me to comment on these (see below):

• Vaccination will guarantee my horse does not get equine influenza

  FALSE - there are very few vaccines for any disease in any species of animal (including humans) that provide 100% protection from a disease. The Genetically Modified Canary Pox vaccine being used is Queensland was selected as it rapidly produces immunity and because it is possible to distinguish between infected animals and vaccinated animals.

  Vaccinated horses can still be affected by equine influenza infection and still shed the virus for a short period. The signs of disease are usually milder than those in non-vaccinated horses.

• Vaccination does not have any side effects

  FALSE - in a very few cases a small swelling may be noticed at the vaccination site.

  As with any vaccine, the EI vaccine can cause a severe and potentially fatal reaction called anaphylactic shock. However this is extremely rare and it is one of the reasons why the vaccine should be administered by a vet.

• A vaccinated horse cannot infect other horses

  FALSE - a vaccinated horse can still shed virus, albeit normally for shorter periods. Spread can still occur to other horses, or a person can transfer the virus to other horses on their hands, hat, boots and clothes.

• Vaccination of horses will cure the Equine Influenza disease outbreak

  FALSE - vaccination of horses is not the cure for equine influenza. The disease must be contained and will burn itself out if it is stopped from spreading. Vaccination does considerably reduce the amount of virus that horses produce. The less virus in and around the infected areas, the less chance of the disease spreading.

• If all horses in the Red Zone were vaccinated, the disease problem would be fixed forever.

  FALSE - vaccinated horses can still spread the disease. It is better to keep horses disease free and allow infected horses to recover and develop strong natural immunity.

Once horses are vaccinated they can move freely in the red zone

FALSE - vaccinated horses cannot move freely in the red zone. The regulations for horse movement apply to both vaccinated and unvaccinated horses. However we are working closely with industry on protocols to free up movements as the EI epidemic wanes. Vaccination status of horses is one of the considerations in developing these protocols.

Report from horse industry liaison officers (ILOs)

In order to control, contain and eradicate this outbreak of Equine Influenza the DPI&F needs to know a) where horses live and b) where the virus is currently. This is vital information that the DPI&F can use to track where the virus is spreading and take steps to contain it (such as using strategic vaccination). All horse owners have to act responsibly and help the DPI&F as much as possible.

It is a legal requirement to register your property where horses are located with the DPI&F and above all, it is the right thing to do. It is also important (and a legal requirement) that horse owners report any suspect cases of EI. Waiting for two or three days to report a suspect case is unwise. It is better to be over cautious and report it early than turn a blind eye and allow it time to spread further. The sooner the better for the good of our industry.

Not all reports of suspect EI will be investigated by the DPI&F especially if they are located near existing infected clusters. It is however, very important that all suspect cases are reported to monitor the speed and direction in which the virus is spreading. Advice on biosecurity and decontamination is provided and a decontamination kit is available.

Veterinary visits are only usually made to new outbreaks of infection in high risk areas.

As Horse Industry Liaison Officers we urge all horse owners to act responsibly. We, like you, are either horse owners, competitive riders, social riders, horse business owners, and/or event managers and understand the absolute need to eradicate Equine Influenza from Australia so that we can all go back to our former way of life. We are convinced that we are winning this battle and urge everyone to get behind the fight to rid Australia of EI.

Please visit the DPI&F website www.dpi.qld.gov.au/horse-registration to register your horse property and phone the DPI&F hotline on 13 25 23 to report any suspect cases of EI.

There are some new fields on this registration form - including check boxes to determine horse use, and a new feature for multiple LotOnPlans. Please ensure that your LotOnPlan details are accurate and follow the correct format. For example Lot 1 on RP12345 should be recorded as 1RP12345 (do not use spaces and do not use the word Lot or L etc) and do not include other words like Parish or PAR or Country or other numbers inside < > brackets. Many people have failed to include the Lot number and only supplied the Registered Plan (RP) number. This needs to be fixed please by clicking on the UPDATE EXISTING horse registration link.

If you do not have internet access, you can register your property by ringing the DPI&F hotline or by picking up a registration form from your local Community Resource Centre. See the DPI&F website for locations and phone details for the DPI&F EI Community Resource Centres.

SPREAD THE WORD - NOT THE DISEASE!

(Horse Industry Liaison Officers)
Jane Myers, Tamborine
Nicole Magoffin, Gold Coast
Karen Herald, Caboolture & Sunshine Coast
David Finch, Toowoomba
Adele Godsall, Capalaba & Redlands
Rex Walker, Gatton

Curtail equine influenza now or face the costs

Equine influenza remains containable and eradicable, Minister for Primary Industries and Fisheries Tim Mulherin said today.

"And that has to continue to be our aim or the annual costs to industry would be enormous," Mr Mulherin said.

Mr Mulherin said the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics estimated that the current direct costs resulting from the EI outbreak at about $3.94 million per day nationally.

As DPI&F ramped up its vaccination program and beefed up its buffers, Mr Mulherin said experts remained increasingly confident that under the current strategy the disease would burn itself out.

"Their optimism is inspired by the infection still being restricted within the South East Queensland Red Zone, as well as better availability of vaccine which will allow us to more aggressively contain the infection within the existing areas. The strategy is working.

"I know there are those who say the horse standstill is too difficult for many people and we should just stand back and let horse flu run its course.

"But if we let that happen, horse owners could face the recurrent costs of two or three injections per year."

Read the full media release

While every care has been taken in preparing this eNewsletter, the State of Queensland accepts no responsibility for decisions or actions taken as a result of any data, information, statement or advice, expressed or implied, contained in this eNewsletter.