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Australia Officially Free of Equine Influenza
30 June 2008
Australia’s Chief Veterinary Officer, Dr Andy Carroll, officially declared Australia’s freedom from equine influenza today.
“After six months of rigorous testing and surveillance, Australia has fully eradicated equine influenza from our horse population,” Dr Carroll said.
“No new cases of the disease have been found since the last infection on 25 December 2007.
“Comprehensive monitoring has taken place not only in New South Wales (NSW) and Queensland, but also in Australia’s non-infected states and territories.
“Since 25 December, close to 24 000 premises in NSW and Queensland were examined through several surveillance activities including laboratory testing and clinical examinations.
More than 78 000 individual laboratory tests were performed.
“Targeted surveillance was also conducted at horse events in high risk areas surrounding infected premises.”
A highly successful public awareness campaign on identifying signs of the disease and reporting procedures resulted in 600 premises reporting suspected cases in NSW and Queensland.
The public awareness campaign was also rolled out in Australia’s non-infected states, which resulted in the reporting and testing of 652 suspected horses. All tests showed no evidence of equine influenza infection.
“Feral horse populations in NSW and Queensland were also sampled and tested for the disease,” Dr Carroll said.
“Surveillance in non-infected states involved horses that may have been transported from NSW or Queensland before the outbreak, with 169 horses traced and placed in quarantine.
No infected horses were found.
“Eradicating equine influenza from Australia is a significant achievement. Australia is one of the few countries to eradicate the disease thanks to our robust response plans and the dedication and hard work of all involved.”
For more information: www.outbreak.gov.au
www.daff.gov.au