August 30, 2007

neigh-CHOOOOO The Royal Randwick Racecourse has been locked down. At least 8 horses have tested positive for Equine flu. It is predicted that 700 horses will contract the virus. [crossposted to mefi]

Transportation of horses has been restricted within Australia. It is likely that the spring racing carnival in NSW will be formally cancelled, with many concerned that even the Melbourne Cup will not go ahead. It is suspected that the virus was transferred from Japan, where racing has been halted after 20 horses tested positive for equine flu. In other rumours, a Sydney vet has been accused of allowing it to spread further. Importation of animals is a very strict process in Australia. Even a cat with a clean bill of health from a country considered disease-free can expect to be quarantined for 30 days. The fact that a disease such as equine flu has escaped and spread is a big shock for many. Not only has racing in Australia been affected. 6 NSW police horses have also tested positive. As for racing in other countries - the Phillipines and New Zealand are refusing to allow entry to any Australian horses - which is expected to affect both racing and breeding programmes.

posted by gomichild 17 years ago
  • Yeah, the place is in an uproar. Everyone is freakin' out about the Melbourne Cup. The whole country stops for that day.
  • As do most expat Australians.
  • Any excuse.
  • Yeah but what alternative event can we use as a reason to not work, get drunk and wear silly hats?
  • I thought it was just normal for us to do those things... (￣▽￣)ノ＿彡☆バンバン！
  • Poor horsies!
  • yes
  • That's a new one on me--I didn't realize NZ and Oz were clear of equine 'flu till now. I would have thought the quarantine measures would have been much more stringent for horses AND people given the number of horses in and out, tourists who bring their own equipment to go trekking, and so on. Well, guys, prepare to vaccinate. Not hard--I give my own. Up here I always give flu, rhino, tet, EV, WV and VV once a year. (pretty much standard) Equine Influenza (KY 97), Rhinopneumonitis Vaccine (KV,)Tetanus Toxoid, Eastern, Western, and Venezuelan Encephalomyelitis(KV) KY 97 is the type of virus, KV is killed virus. Some people do twice a year. Once a year will whack heck out of a C-note (per horse)and is enough for me. I also give strangles (Streptococcus equi) at least 2-3 years with a bulb spray to the nasal passages--or whenever there's an extensive outbreak. Most horses have a light case of strangles (colt snots) when they're young and have some immunity. The bug is everywhere. It's also suggested giving rabies, Potomic Horse Fever, and West Nile. Although they will kill or severely debilitate the horse, they're not that common, so I'll take my chances. PHF and WN is transmitted by mosquitoes, and I live in a reasonably mosquito-free area (it's desert with irrigated fields 1/4 mile away.) Although, the first recorded case of West Nile in the US occurred here in Elmore County (down on the river) and was reported by my vet. These three are "recent" diseases to vaccinate for, EV and WV used to be a horrible scourge. Rhino is most dangerous in breeding mares, because it causes them to slip their foals. It will make the males pretty miserable with the snots and knock them out of work for a bit. Tet is everywhere around horses, and a puncture wound from stepping on a nail or running into a fence or wooden stob is pretty common. I give tet toxoid once a year, and if I have a nasty wound, I give tet antitoxin as a booster. Nasty stuff, tet. People around horses should stay up-to-date with their vaccines. I have always given some vaccines, but I can remember when the cowboys never gave ANY shots. (I'm sooooo old.) I have had Pigeon Fever (dryland distemper) in one horse, and it's ugly. I would vaccinate for that in a bad year, but it's bacterial, and there's no effective vaccine yet. Everything except tet and rabies starts with a snotty nose (and cough), and here the dust and sagebrush can cause a snotty nose (and cough) too, but there's no sense to panic until they go off their feed. There's your lecture on horse care. I'm sorry there's no race this year. Attending the Melbourne Cup has always been a nifty daydream, even more so than the Kentucky Derby. You Oz people know how to party. Hmmm, I'm not feeling too hot myself. Sympathy pains, or... *coughs, heads back to the barn
  • Well we don't have rabies in Australia either. I think that's the main point - how did these virus manage to fall through the cracks of the extremely strict quarantine procedures?
  • No rabies?!?!?!?! *jaw drops Oh, well, there's all those nasty poison spiders, and the REALLY nasty poison snakes... I don't usually mind bugs and snakes, BUT!
  • Yeah, we're hot on all that customs shit, lady. Very strict customs. We're terrified of little insects or boll weevils creeping in, so Oz customs ask you all these questions: "have you got any soil on you? Have you got any bark? Any moss or lichen about your person? Do you live on a farm? Have you got any bees or beekeeping equipment? Have you ever groomed a goat?" then they root thru your hair and vacuum down your suit.
  • I seem to remember Lara commenting on sending some food item to Australia and hving it confiscated by Customs.
  • The customs guy in Sydney scolded me for not telling him about my cheesy crackers. I forgot I had 'em. He was so mean to me!! :( So I bit him and gave him rabies.
  • Oh man I would love to be a customs guy. You know I would be so corrupt.
  • /nasal Australian accent: "Did you ever leave a country gate sliiiiightly ajar???"
  • Shameless theft of joke from Bill Bailey
  • MonkeyFilter: We're terrified of little insects or boll weevils creeping in MonkeyFilter: have you got any soil on you? MonkeyFilter: Any moss or lichen about your person? MonkeyFilter: Have you ever groomed a goat? MonkeyFilter: they root thru your hair and vacuum down your suit Bawaaa haaa haaa haaa Each of these is so great as a stand alone tagline. Around here, gates are left closed when the cattle are off the allotment, and often need to stay open when cattle are moving back and forth between allotments, because they need to get to water. Ranchers get disgusted when someone closes a gate that should be left open, because it could mean the death of a calf or cow. It's always a worry for me, because, unless I know the area and the allotment, I'm never sure if some idjit didn't leave the gate open, and it's supposed to be closed. There's a sign on one of the gates up-country addressed to the military that like to take their mechanized toys out and play: Leave it how you find it, you bastards!!
  • Just posted this to all my equine friends, as well as to the lists of the national endurance organization (RideCamp)the regional (PNER) and the local (SWITDR) Thanks Gomi, for breaking news that will interest many horsefolk.
  • You're welcome honey. This story started for me here in the Japanese media when they were showing poor horsies with high temps and runny noses (all of the horses here recovered). It was a shock to then see it happening in Australia for the for time in light of the system there. And then to find out the connection.
  • Was just reading the reaction in the Blue to this post. For some idea how much a few nags with a cold can impact the economy, here's a good comment: This situation will effect [sic] a lot of people. The racing industry employs something like 45,000 people in NSW alone. At the top you've got your trainers and jockeys, and the vets that take care of them as well as your bookmakers. This goes all the way down to casuals who work in the industry as a means of supporting themselves. Jockeys and trainers and such have insurance preventing them from losing too much income in a situation like this - but your casuals and the other little people don't. The cancellation of the Spring Carnival (one of the busiest times of the year) means that these people will lose hundreds, even thousands, of dollars on income that they pretty much rely on during the 4-8 weeks of cancelled racing. The follow on will impact on other industries - lost revenue in gambling, fashion, and the many other industries that have an association with racing. Hell, I just heard a news reports about fears that people are going to turn to illegal online gambling as a result of the cancelled racing. There are also people that will lose their jobs as their employers will no longer be able to afford to pay their wages. This is no little hiccup, and the industry will be damaged for a while, and will take a significant period of time to recover. Several of the contenders for the Melbourne Cup are stabled at Randwick, and are now out of contention - this will have huge impacts on the quality of the race, as well as the willingness of overseas trainers to bring their horses across to race, having even more impact on the racing industry in Australia. /end rant. Disclaimer: I am a student who works as a casual in the industry - my shifts for next month have been cancelled, and I don't expect to get any for October. I am lucky in that I do have another source of income - but it is not a great feeling to know that this source is gone for the time of year where I really depend on it. posted by cholly at 2:43 AM on August 30 Additional commentators trotted out these good comments: there are lots of uses of horses in Australia other than horse racing. Police horses, horses on stations (ranches) for mustering, just general private ownership for riding. There are also ...a lot of feral horses out there. and it's never appeared in Australia before so all the horses are much more at risk in regards to no immunity and the vets having little experience with it. The feral horse population is a serious issue that I hadn't thought of. While there is a vaccine, eradicating the disease in Oz is the best possible outcome. This won't be a viable solution if the 'flu gets into the feral population. Not good.
  • It won't get into the feral population. Highly unlikely. Too much distance involved. Gotta remember most of Australia is not inhabited. Those ferals are out in woop-woop or outside stations in the middle of nowhere with little contact with horses from outside. We aren't breaking horses that come into contact with racing stock. If the virus gets into the stock horse population at the stations, there would be a risk, but I don't see that happening. I don't think the big stables are putting their neddies with the common nags.
  • Hank, I know the Bill Bailey routine to which to refer, love it. "Did you ever misdirect some hens to an incorrect location?" A colleague is going back to NZ whence she came, and she's having her car shipped over, and they will steam clean it and disinfect the wheel arches etc. That's NZ rather that AU, but you know.
  • Hank: Don't bet on it. Equine flu is extremely contagious, and all it would take would be some cowboy bringing in a stud horse to service his mares, and them then contacting one of the wild ones. Alternately, some trekker bringing in contaminated tack to ride the back country could spread it to tourist horses, then to the wild bunch. My girlfriend was allowed to take all her tack (including bit!) to ride in England without any cleaning proceedures. Some horses can be asymptomatic and be carriers. One of them going into the woop-woop* would do it. Stranger things have happened in terms of infectious disease spread. Generally it's spread by droplets and nasal secretions, but drinking out of the same tank or nosing feed from the same feeder or area will do it. Maybe it will take a while, but if they don't knock it out now, it will eventually be there. Viri are tenacious buggers. *love that term!
  • Hmmm.