# Equine Influenza



## Horsy (Aug 27, 2007)

It's getting pretty scary. Yesterday there was only 2 cases in Warwick (not far from where I live) and today there are over 60 in Warwick. Plus hundreds of cases across 3 states. It's spreading so fast and can be deadly. I'm very worried for my horses. My mate was at the Warwick show on the weekend and now her horse is stuck up there. Horses aren't allowed to leave their properties for 72 hours - now they say it might be til the weekend - not even for a trail ride. I hope people abide by these rules and I hope they can get this under control though I was told it is also spread by mosquitos so this could potentially be very devestating.


----------



## junglepython2 (Aug 27, 2007)

I didnt think it was generally deadly?


----------



## Radar (Aug 27, 2007)

Agreed-it sure is spreading-......but......
Having a little bit of knowledge about these sort of illnesses, I would say it has been around for a while and is just getting noticed now (hence the seemingly exponential increase in the number of cases). People only find something like this when they go looking for it.........

But yeah, it is getting bad atm, just gonna have to wait and see what happens in the next week or so, I hope your friends mount misses out on it.


----------



## Horsy (Aug 27, 2007)

A mate said she heard that 2 horses in Warwick have died and I rang up the hotline to get info about it and they said that it scars the lungs and is particulary bad for racehorses because when they gallop they can't breathe properly and can die, same goes for eventers.


----------



## Horsy (Aug 27, 2007)

rednut said:


> Agreed-it sure is spreading-......but......
> Having a little bit of knowledge about these sort of illnesses, I would say it has been around for a while and is just getting noticed now (hence the seemingly exponential increase in the number of cases). People only find something like this when they go looking for it.........
> But yeah, it is getting bad atm, just gonna have to wait and see what happens in the next week or so, I hope your friends mount misses out on it.



Yeah I remember reading about it last year in America. A few years ago it killed heaps of horses because it was a very nasty mutation of the influenza and a few racing studs got shut down because they lost most of their horses.


----------



## Horsy (Aug 27, 2007)

I'm reading some news articles and they say this strain right now can be fatal but is quite rare so thank god for that. I wonder if that scarring thing is true.


----------



## GEARJAMMER (Aug 27, 2007)

good tucker for the dog:lol:


----------



## Midol (Aug 27, 2007)

I doubt it has been in Australia before, it is an incredibly fast moving infection and increadibly easy to transmit. There has not been a single case of it here before.

I saw some idiots moving horses today. I just felt like shooting them.


----------



## mysnakesau (Aug 27, 2007)

I hope the Birdsville races are still on, I have planned to go there this weekend.


----------



## spilota_variegata (Aug 27, 2007)

What amazes me are the losses some are claiming for stud fees. One person stated they were losing $220,000 per stud fee, which amounted to $40,000,000 a year. I asked a mate of mine who is heavily into horses and he knows of a person who charges $440,000 a service. That equates to $80,000,000 for stud fees for one horse... I was gobsmacked. Got to sell my snakes and buy horses


----------



## Midol (Aug 27, 2007)

They wont be imo.

I am betting that a 30 day ban will come down.


----------



## lauraschram (Aug 27, 2007)

im a veterinary science student - our university/vet hospital is giving us a lecture on it tomorrow so ill fill you guys in with the official gossip tomorrow night if you like?


----------



## Horsy (Aug 27, 2007)

It's because of all the huge international studs have just arrived in australia, some worth $500 mill. They've brought the flu with them.


----------



## Horsy (Aug 27, 2007)

That'll be great laura! Thanks.


----------



## Hetty (Aug 27, 2007)

$500 mil? How on earth can a stallion be worth $500 mil? they said the combined value of two stallions in quarantine was $170 mil, that I can understand.. but $500 mil is crazy.

Especially when you consider Makybe Diva's progeny will be sold for $4-5 mil each..


----------



## Radar (Aug 27, 2007)

I cant even understand 2 being worth $170 million between them.....imagine how many starving kids you could feed with that? HOLY *****. Still, I guess thats market forces for you.


----------



## AnteUp (Aug 27, 2007)

Dang it. I was meant to have a horse prac at uni tomorrow. Now it's cancelled and we're stuck in the labs. Fun. Thanks Equine flu, you just stuffed my day.


----------



## Helikaon (Aug 27, 2007)

AnteUp said:


> Dang it. I was meant to have a horse prac at uni tomorrow. Now it's cancelled and we're stuck in the labs. Fun. Thanks Equine flu, you just stuffed my day.


 

haha the horse pracs at gatton are boring anyway.  what course ya doing?


----------



## Horsy (Aug 27, 2007)

thenothing said:


> $500 mil? How on earth can a stallion be worth $500 mil? they said the combined value of two stallions in quarantine was $170 mil, that I can understand.. but $500 mil is crazy.
> Especially when you consider Makybe Diva's progeny will be sold for $4-5 mil each..



Sorry I mean't 500k! I still had the figures about the stud post before where someone was saying they could lose 80 mill in stud figures.

EDIT:// Scratch that, 500 mill was right. This is the news clipping, but it's not for one stallion, a bunch of them together.

Some 40 international stallions have been quarantined in Australia and the New Zealand government has closed its borders to horses from Australia, including dozens of top American, European and Asian stallions worth an estimated $500 million.


----------



## Hetty (Aug 27, 2007)

Yeah, big difference between one horse being worth $500 mil and 40 horses with a combined worth of $500 mil


----------



## Horsy (Aug 27, 2007)

Yeah I just got my ends mixed up. One of the stallys was 500k. My bad


----------



## AnteUp (Aug 27, 2007)

Helikaon said:


> haha the horse pracs at gatton are boring anyway.  what course ya doing?



Wildlife Science


----------



## Jonny (Aug 27, 2007)

Equine Influenza is similar to Influenza (flu) in humans.

High morbidity but low mortality meaning a high number of horses exposed to the virus will become infected but not many will die. Foals and animals that are already immunocomprimised may die from it, as like in humans with the elderly and young children.

This is the first time that Australia has ever been infected and all horses are naive to this virus. It is easily spread thru fomites ie horse handlers, trainers, buckets, saddles etc

My friends horse has come down with it at Centennial park and one horse has died there showing convulsions before death but the cause was not confirmed as influenza.

We have been studying this within the last week at uni and most of the vets being quoted on tv and in the papers have been giving us lectures. Last Friday one of the vets gave us the inside goss b4 the proverbial hit the fan


----------



## JasonL (Aug 28, 2007)

mysnakesau said:


> I hope the Birdsville races are still on, I have planned to go there this weekend.



I don't think a lack of horses will stop the Birdsville races, they will just find something else to race


----------



## rodentrancher (Aug 28, 2007)

I read that the Birdsville Races are still on as all the horses are up there already??


----------



## Dragoness (Aug 28, 2007)

Horsy, keep a close eye on your little rescue case (cant remember his name) if any of your horses are going to be affected, it will be more serious for him. As mentioned above, its rarely fatal, only to horses with immune deficiences (young foals and aged horses usually) and 99% of horses recover without any side effects. The problem lies more in bringing horses back into work before they are fully recovered, this leads to further problems down the track.
So far I have gotten away with it. I had my girls at the ranch ODE near maitland where about 50 horses caught it, so I was very lucky that my girls are fine (touchwood)
I still cant believe it when I see people with horses in floats, know of a few people that have been reported to the DPI, its idiots like that that think it doesnt affect them that are spreading it! ggrrrrr.

Cheers


----------



## Tatelina (Aug 28, 2007)

Jonny said:


> My friends horse has come down with it at Centennial park and one horse has died there *showing convulsions before death *but the cause was not confirmed as influenza.


:shock: Poor things.. 

How could the quarantine (sp?) not have cleared any chance of this outbreak with all the international stud horses coming in? Bah! Stupid eager humans.


----------



## Magpie (Aug 28, 2007)

Birdsville horse race has just been canned.


----------



## Midol (Aug 28, 2007)

SMH has the NSW Minister for Primary Industries saying that the virus is the H3N8 strain. Which is the one that jumped to dogs in America, then spread from dog to dog. In that outbreak there was apparently a 5-8% mortality rate in dogs.


Exact same virus which is responsible for a lot of dog deaths. I bloody hope they manage to contain it.


----------



## Australis (Aug 28, 2007)

Magpie said:


> Birdsville horse race has just been canned.



I also heard this on the radio, although the party will still be on!! haha


----------



## Radar (Aug 28, 2007)

The same thing happened in Towsnville, canned the Amatures on the weekend but still had the party, LOL


----------



## Whisper2 (Aug 28, 2007)

just wondering if anyone else actually depends on this sort of thing for their lively hood though?
i work at the track and this is my full time job, i only get paid for what i do so now that we arnt allowed to do general work they have set off a heap of workers. my income for my horses is gained from this job and i am lucky to only be in a small stable so my job is pretty secure but imagine all the others that are stuck now. 
bel : )


----------



## Mystery (Aug 28, 2007)

I hadn't realised it was so serious. Haven't had time to watch the news. I was planning moving some horses over the next week or so until a lady told me today that it won't be lifted until early September. Is that correct? She's a breeder so I thought she would know.


----------



## Dragoness (Aug 28, 2007)

Mystery, it is true, the ban is indefinate atm, so you wont be moving your horses anywhere for awhile yet.

Cheers


----------



## mr_muesli (Aug 28, 2007)

Did anyone listen to Hamish and andy yesterday at 4pm???? LoL, they were calling it the "Horsey Flu".....

Sorry to anyone that has horses with symptoms of the Influenza, good luck
Imagine if the melbourne cup is cancelled, how much money the betters will lose 0_o


----------



## Helikaon (Aug 28, 2007)

see we arnt allowed to import a burmese python but they allow the importation of infected horses ......shakes head.


----------



## Horsy (Aug 28, 2007)

They didn't know they were infected but. 

I'm sure glad I got my brumby down last week before all this happened. We had a horse at the agistment center become very stiff and sore yesterday and was lame on all four legs plus wincing everytime you touched his neck and back. I read muscle stiffness was a sympton of the influenza. They think he just foundered though because he's old and fat. Hopefully that's the case. They had a vet come out yesterday so I'll find out tomorrow.


----------



## Jonny (Aug 28, 2007)

Helikaon said:


> see we arnt allowed to import a burmese python but they allow the importation of infected horses ......shakes head.



I'm sure if the trade and breeding of burmese pythons was worth tens of millions of dollars to the Australian economy then there would be no problem in importing them


----------



## Helikaon (Aug 28, 2007)

Jonny said:


> I'm sure if the trade and breeding of burmese pythons was worth tens of millions of dollars to the Australian economy then there would be no problem in importing them


 

ah but they'd still enforce the 4 months quarantine they obviously didn't do that for the horses. hahah so much for million sof dollars af all the horses get a disease that kills them. i doutb we'd find such a lax with importing cattle form an area that has had mad cow disease. 

but thats jsut my opinion


----------



## Jonny (Aug 28, 2007)

Jonny said:


> I'm sure if the trade and breeding of burmese pythons was worth tens of millions of dollars to the Australian economy then there would be no problem in importing them




ooops apparently horse industry is worth $8 billion dollars to the Australian economy. Whats a couple of billion dollars when you're working in those figures


----------



## shamous1 (Aug 28, 2007)

*The first care of Equine Influenza*

Heard on the radio this monring that they spoke to the owner of the farm where the first case of Equine Influenza came from.

His name was Jeff McDonald and he was from a farm in North East NSW.

When they spoke to him and told him that he started the Equine Influenza also know as E.I.,
All the old McDonald the farmer could say was...................wait for ...................................................................................................EI........EI................OH:lol::lol::lol:

Heard that on triple M this morning


----------



## Vicmorrow (Aug 28, 2007)

Some stallions Redoute's Choice (270k) and Encosta De Lago (230k) have huge service fees.
Those two alone will serve 100 mares in a season.
Do the maths.
I'd like a share.


----------



## Helikaon (Aug 28, 2007)

Vicmorrow said:


> Some stallions Redoute's Choice (270k) and Encosta De Lago (230k) have huge service fees.
> Those two alone will serve 100 mares in a season.
> Do the maths.
> I'd like a share.


 

yep huge service fee's adn these horses are sitting their doing nothing losign the owners money becuase people put money before the health of their horse. and not only are they losign money because of it they have brounght the whole industry in australia to a stop. they knew that japan was already in the grip of an outbreak and yet they still allow a horse over. it seems like peopel just got greedy to me.


----------



## Midol (Aug 28, 2007)

Vicmorrow, they can do more than that.

De Lago (I thought it was 220k) can do 5 a day, and a breeding season is 50 days... that is a lot more than 100 

Everyone, I'll reitterate, horses are NOT the only animal this can infect. Dogs HAVE been effected (it mutates?) in America and unlike horses, in dogs it has a 5-8% mortality rate.


----------



## cris (Aug 28, 2007)

They would sure want to have good insurance :shock:


----------



## PhilK (Aug 28, 2007)

Whisper2 said:


> just wondering if anyone else actually depends on this sort of thing for their lively hood though?
> i work at the track and this is my full time job, i only get paid for what i do so now that we arnt allowed to do general work they have set off a heap of workers. my income for my horses is gained from this job and i am lucky to only be in a small stable so my job is pretty secure but imagine all the others that are stuck now.
> bel : )


 
I hardly think they'll be laying off workers.. Because then when the flu is gone and horses can be moved/raced again, they won't have any workers and will have to re-hire.

We have a horse prac on Friday for uni out at Gatton, and we need to fully disinfect etc before and after to make sure nobody's brought it with them from horses at home. Uni also screwed up and brought dead horses in yesterday for prac without thinking.. They tested them and called the DPI and stuff, so it's OK but could've been terrible!!! Dunno what we'll do next week when we need fresh horses but..

It'll work out. And it *generally* isn't deadly. Though it certainly can be with complications (much the same as human flu)


----------



## Saz (Aug 28, 2007)

Have just found out that a horse on the property next to where Jack is kept has just been tested after showing symptoms. Apparently it was taken for a lesson at Mindon sometime over the last week. Will find out in 2 days whether the horse has it or not. If it does it will certainly run through our stables.
Up at Warwick the vets are actually trying to infect all the horses as quickly as possible as it's so contagious they will all get it, and they want to get it out of the way quickly, rather than dragging it out.
Horsy, what was the hotline number you called?


----------



## GraftonChic (Aug 28, 2007)

I heard today that no horses will be allowed to be moved until there is no confimed case for 28 days.


----------



## nuthn2do (Aug 29, 2007)

What's the fine for moving horses about ? Saw a big yeeha horse float pulled over north of Scone yesterday by the coppers


----------



## Vicmorrow (Aug 29, 2007)

Thanks for the correction Midol.
My post was just a broad statement to give people a rough idea why the stallions are so valuable.
And at 220k a service I would still love a share.


----------



## Dragoness (Aug 29, 2007)

nuthn2do, the fine is $44,000, though in a press release given by the police, it was stated that most people are just given a warning and are either sent back to where they came from OR were told to go straight to where they were going!!! ***!!!! You DONT want them to get to where they are going you twit, thats hows its spread!! Honestly....
Graftonchic, that sounds about right, its a 30 day quarantine once the last horse in the affected area has had it. I know lots of our NSW eventers are stuck at Warwick for at least the next 30 days, so Id say it would be 30 days after the last affected horse is reported to the DPI
Saz, I dont have the number on me (they called me, I didnt have to call them), have it written down at home, but go to the Dept of ag NSW website and all the info is there.

Cheers


----------



## Midol (Aug 29, 2007)

In QLD its a 150k fine and 2 years jail


----------



## PhilK (Aug 29, 2007)

Helikaon said:


> haha the horse pracs at gatton are boring anyway.  what course ya doing?


My horse prac this Friday got cancelled as well out at Gatton (vet). Thank you equine flu, for allowing me to sleep in!!!
They've found a case or two around Kenmore/Pullenvale in Brissy now apparently. Spreads like wildfire.


----------



## cris (Aug 29, 2007)

PhilK said:


> My horse prac this Friday got cancelled as well out at Gatton (vet). Thank you equine flu, for allowing me to sleep in!!!
> They've found a case or two around Kenmore/Pullenvale in Brissy now apparently. Spreads like wildfire.


At least some good has come from it, I guess it could also help sort out some of the brumbies too...


----------



## PhilK (Aug 29, 2007)

cris said:


> At least some good has come from it, I guess it could also help sort out some of the brumbies too...


Except that it normally isn't fatal, and they'd spread it even further as they can't be contained to a property.. And they'd act as reservoir hosts (much like buffalos with TB)... So, we'd wanna hope they don't get it.


----------



## motman440 (Aug 29, 2007)

The Catlle industry within australia uses NLIS tags to track all head of cattle within australia. This means that if an animal came down with say Foot and Mouth. Then the industry has the ability to trace ALL beasts the infected one had been in contact with can be tracked down and quaratined or destroyed.
does the equine industry have anything like that?
does anyone know?
any comment woud be great.


----------



## PhilK (Aug 29, 2007)

motman440 said:


> The Catlle industry within australia uses NLIS tags to track all head of cattle within australia. This means that if an animal came down with say Foot and Mouth. Then the industry has the ability to trace ALL beasts the infected one had been in contact with can be tracked down and quaratined or destroyed.
> does the equine industry have anything like that?
> does anyone know?
> any comment woud be great.


Nah equine industry doesn't have that as they aren't production animals, so disease outbreaks aren't regarded quite so disasterous (before flaming: I only mean to the country's economy, like exports etc).
Also most horses are owned by people who ride them for pleasure, and only own one horse, as opposed to 1000s of cattle that need to be ID'd correctly for the farmer to get paid.


----------



## motman440 (Aug 29, 2007)

true
thanks for the insight
just seems like such a simple thing that could prevent disaster.
to the economy i understand it isnt the same. but the money that will be lost by big studs and the racing industry in general will be gargantuous.


----------



## slip_phreak (Aug 29, 2007)

god i hope this puts melbourne cup day a week late or something.. simply because i dont want to miss out on my works free drink-up as i will be on a weeks leave in surfers for that week.. alothugh i cant have my cake and eat it too i guess.


----------



## PhilK (Aug 29, 2007)

Yeah but you'd have to install scanners at every race track, every show ground, scan every horse, get its details and movement plans... Logistics are huge!
With cattle, they have a scanner at an abbatoir, at a feedlot, maybe at a transfer point.. and that's it, all cool and easy.


----------



## motman440 (Aug 29, 2007)

you talk some good sense PhilK
im not really thinking straight.
im just pissed that something like this could happen


----------



## PhilK (Aug 30, 2007)

They might have to cancel the horse part of our prac exams because they can't get any dead horses into the uni!!!! That'd be AWESOME hahaha. So many conflicting emotions..


----------



## sockbat (Aug 30, 2007)

Stop Bringing In Horses From Overseas And We Wont Have A Problem


----------



## mama croc (Aug 30, 2007)

anyone who wants to know the latest about the horseflu should try www.dpi.nsw.au/equine influenza. There are now 16 restricted areas - unbelievable how this can happen. I personally will be in big trouble if they don't lift the movement bans soon. I need to move my horses and get back to work


----------



## Dragoness (Aug 31, 2007)

mama croc, if you're not in a restricted area, just apply for a movement permit and you shouldnt have any trouble moving your horses.
I got a call from the DPI yesterday, we are now in a 50 day quarantine, no unauthorised people allowed on the property, everything has to be disinfected everytime it leaves the property etc. Luckily none of our horses are sick, but I was at the comp near maitland, and everyone who attended is in quarantine. The 50 days means the event of our competition season however  I would rather that though than sick horses.

Sockbat, that is never going to happen! Apart from racehorses, there are lots of performance horses that travel overseas on a regular basis, Im fairly sure that when our performance people go OS to events ilke the olympics, they will want to bring their horses home afterwards...

Cheers


----------



## nuthn2do (Aug 31, 2007)

I'm staying across from Randwick racecourse tomorrow night. Hope i don't wake up Sunday feeling a little horse


----------



## Camo (Aug 31, 2007)

Being in the racing game myself, i have heard so many stories now. They reckon there has now been a few that have actually died. One thing is for sure it is deffinately getting scary for us horse owners. If i hear anything i will keep you all posted.

Cheers

Cameron


----------



## PhilK (Aug 31, 2007)

Camo said:


> Being in the racing game myself, i have heard so many stories now. They reckon there has now been a few that have actually died. One thing is for sure it is deffinately getting scary for us horse owners. If i hear anything i will keep you all posted.
> 
> Cheers
> 
> Cameron


 
Once again, the disease itself isn't that scary. The majority of cases get depression, nasal discharge, a cough, elevated temperature. The problem comes (as in humans) from complications such as pneumonia. Also, excessive coughing can scar lungs and race-horses are useless with that. So unless they're good enough to breed, *bang*. Many of the deaths probably were from putting horses down, not from dying of influenza


----------



## shamous1 (Aug 31, 2007)

*Lol*



nuthn2do said:


> I'm staying across from Randwick racecourse tomorrow night. Hope i don't wake up Sunday feeling a little horse



Maybe you will wake up hung like a horse instead:lol:


----------



## Whisper2 (Aug 31, 2007)

hey guys

have you head about all the people now who dont have jobs?
thats what i was saying...... so many have been layed off in syd as seen in the papers.
Gold Coast is also being hit with some reductions but obviousally nowhere near as bad.

and they would put the horse down if it was dying from influenza........ 

lol might get some prac horses out of this.... not may other positives yet.

also does anyone no if the tests in towomba were really positive? 

bel : )


----------



## nuthn2do (Aug 31, 2007)

shamous1 said:


> Maybe you will wake up hung like a horse instead:lol:


If thats a side effect i think i've already had a good dose of it when i was a kid


----------



## shamous1 (Aug 31, 2007)

*Unfortunate*



Whisper2 said:


> hey guys
> have you head about all the people now who dont have jobs?
> thats what i was saying...... so many have been layed off in syd as seen in the papers.
> Gold Coast is also being hit with some reductions but obviousally nowhere near as bad.
> ...



That is an unfortunate part of any working life. Think about all the poor guys at Ford that got stood down recently. 

All I can say, and correct me if I'm wrong, there is a vaccine available. Why then did our Racing Industry and all other relevant parties concerned not vaccinate against this? Because of our isolation they thought we were too far from any dangers. Well I guess this bit them right on the bum


----------



## Whisper2 (Aug 31, 2007)

that true shamous1...... 
would love to no also about the vaccine... any ideas?

bel : )


----------



## coxy (Aug 31, 2007)

shamous1 said:


> That is an unfortunate part of any working life. Think about all the poor guys at Ford that got stood down recently.
> 
> All I can say, and correct me if I'm wrong, there is a vaccine available. Why then did our Racing Industry and all other relevant parties concerned not vaccinate against this? Because of our isolation they thought we were too far from any dangers. Well I guess this bit them right on the bum


There may be a vaccine but does it cover all the strains of it???
And not sure how true this is but i heard the racing industry saying if they vaccinated , it masks the illness so they don't know the horses are carrying it.


----------



## shamous1 (Aug 31, 2007)

*No*



coxy said:


> There may be a vaccine but does it cover all the strains of it???
> And not sure how true this is but i heard the racing industry saying if they vaccinated , it masks the illness so they don't know the horses are carrying it.



If they were to vaccinate now then they may not know if the animal has the virus or not but if they were to vaccinate prior to (as per say humans) then there would be a far less opportunity for thje virus to come about as it has done.


----------



## mama croc (Aug 31, 2007)

Dragoness said:


> mama croc, if you're not in a restricted area, just apply for a movement permit and you shouldnt have any trouble moving your horses.
> I got a call from the DPI yesterday, we are now in a 50 day quarantine, no unauthorised people allowed on the property, everything has to be disinfected everytime it leaves the property etc. Luckily none of our horses are sick, but I was at the comp near maitland, and everyone who attended is in quarantine. The 50 days means the event of our competition season however  I would rather that though than sick horses.
> 
> Sockbat, that is never going to happen! Apart from racehorses, there are lots of performance horses that travel overseas on a regular basis, Im fairly sure that when our performance people go OS to events ilke the olympics, they will want to bring their horses home afterwards...
> ...


----------



## PhilK (Sep 2, 2007)

I'm fairly sure if there was a vaccine, they would've used it... It definitily would've occured to them! Must admit I haven't heard of a vaccine, I'm just going on the assumption that if there was one, they wouldn't just forget/not be bothered to vaccinate their horses. Gotta be a reason.


----------



## Saz (Sep 2, 2007)

PhilK said:


> I'm fairly sure if there was a vaccine, they would've used it... It definitily would've occured to them! Must admit I haven't heard of a vaccine, I'm just going on the assumption that if there was one, they wouldn't just forget/not be bothered to vaccinate their horses. Gotta be a reason.



A vaccine is available in the UK. No idea about elsewhere.


----------



## shamous1 (Sep 2, 2007)

*EI*



PhilK said:


> I'm fairly sure if there was a vaccine, they would've used it... It definitily would've occured to them! Must admit I haven't heard of a vaccine, I'm just going on the assumption that if there was one, they wouldn't just forget/not be bothered to vaccinate their horses. Gotta be a reason.



The vaccine is available. Full stop. It's ignorance or arrogance by the powers that be that failed to see the correct measures taken. They feel that due to our remoteness we were not a threat and there for were irresponsible in setting aside the funds. It's called political knobjockies who are only interested in riding their own race and agenda.

When this all settles down I hope the animals get vaccinated properly. I am not a gambler but the racing industry is Australias 4 biggest industry, employing hundreds of thousands of people. I'd hate to see them lose their jobs and get stood down without pay for something that was out of their hands.


----------



## mama croc (Sep 2, 2007)

Hi -everyone - just to let you know they have declared the whole hunter tamworth area a restricted area. that means that we are all restricted for around 50 to 90 days. I am now officically stuck 500+ks from home and cannot return home with any of my horses and cannot earn an income until the movement bans are lifted. 
Shamous 1 is right about the vaccine. because a knobjockie with a few hundred horses didn't want to pay for their horses to be vaccinated they decided that because of the distance that we are safe. the sad thing is its not those people with the hundred or so horses who are suffering but everyone with horses but especially those with a only a few will probably suffer the most. Just think of all the charities etc that use horses for fundraising and the huge donations they usually get from the horse racing industry that won't be coming in now! I definately hope they have enough sense to vaccinate now.


----------



## Dragoness (Sep 3, 2007)

I dont think the vaccine is as simple as people believe. Not only does it have to be administered by a vet, but its a course of needles, not just one. Of course everyone in the performance/racing industry would do it, but would joe blow down the street? nope. Along with the fact that the virus is mutating constantly, therefore the vaccine you have given to your horse may not protect it anyway. AND.... if people were to start vaccinating now, (its a live vaccine, which causes the horse to show symptoms of EI) it would then be impossible to tell which horses actually had EI and which were just showing symptoms due to the vaccine.
We have never had an outbreak in Aus before, so of course noone is going to have had their horses vaccinated, it would be like telling every person in Aus to get vaccinated against malaria 'just in case', it would never happen.

Cheers


----------



## Horsy (Sep 3, 2007)

Amen, Dragoness.

At my agistment center, there was this huge debate about how it got in and how irresponsible people are and rah, rah, rah. Having big fights over this isn't going to turn back time and stop it from happening. It's here and all we can do is try to protect our own horses from EI and obey the movement restrictions. It'll be over when it's over.


----------



## shamous1 (Sep 3, 2007)

*True*



Dragoness said:


> I dont think the vaccine is as simple as people believe. Not only does it have to be administered by a vet, but its a course of needles, not just one. Of course everyone in the performance/racing industry would do it, but would joe blow down the street? nope. Along with the fact that the virus is mutating constantly, therefore the vaccine you have given to your horse may not protect it anyway. AND.... if people were to start vaccinating now, (its a live vaccine, which causes the horse to show symptoms of EI) it would then be impossible to tell which horses actually had EI and which were just showing symptoms due to the vaccine.
> We have never had an outbreak in Aus before, so of course noone is going to have had their horses vaccinated, it would be like telling every person in Aus to get vaccinated against malaria 'just in case', it would never happen.
> Cheers



If a human gets a vaccine it is generally done by a Doctor. If an animal needs a vaccine it is generally done by a Vet (pretty obvious). Quite often several courses of medicattion are needed to be administered, if you love your animal - you get it done.

Backyard horse owners would not have had to worry about it unless knobbies had done their job properly. If any animal is at risk they get quarantined - when problems arise it usually when procedures are not followed and breakdown.

The vaccine would have to be administered after all the effects of EI have subsided, which is also obvious.

We have not had an outbreak of EI before because our Quarantine process was followed. We have it now due to the simple fact that there have been major flaws in quarantine over the past few months. This will all come out fairly shortly.

As far as vaccinations are concerned we get them for a wide range of things and it is a precaution.


----------

