Horse Notes
June 2010 - Newsletter No. 3
Table of Contents
- Hendra Virus - the facts
- Back to Basics - horse biosecurity
- Horse Owners need PICs
- The Geriatric Horse
- Equne Influenza
- Guest article - dealing with another horse disease emergency
Editorial
This is the first "Horse Notes" in quite a while. Much has happened since our last issue. Hendra virus hit the headlines in Queensland in 2009 and 2010, and with an apparent influx of flying foxes into Victoria, has been hitting the headlines again.
And the spectre of equine influenza won't be laid to rest; the debate about whether to vaccinate or not has been resurrected.
Both of these issues are fraught with misconceptions and often with knee-jerk responses. It is hoped that this newsletter will provide some clarity.
Although neither hendra virus nor EI can ever be taken lightly, the risks of both occurring are often overstated. What is needed more now more than ever is vigilance and not panic.
Part of dealing with emergencies relates to how the response burden is shared. This is now gaining importance as the Australian horse industry grapples with shaping its own role in health emergencies. We welcome the guest article by Dr Mike Bond of Animal Health Australia which explains some of the issues involved.
HENDRA VIRUS - the facts
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Dr Laura MacFarlane-Berry, Chief Veterinary Officer's Unit, Biosecurity Victoria.
The presence of new flying fox (fruit bat) colonies in Victoria has brought about the need for another look at hendra virus disease.
Flying foxes are the natural reservoir of hendra virus, an organism known to cause disease in both horses and humans with an extremely high fatality rate.
Transmission of hendra virus to horses is an extremely rare event,[seeming to require] intimate and sustained contact between flying foxes and horses over long periods. This type of contact has presently only occurred in Queensland (and occasionally in northern New South Wales) where bat populations are exceptionally large and virus concentrations are maintained at a very high level. Hendra virus disease has only ever been diagnosed in Queensland and once in NSW.
Flying foxes do not transmit hendra virus to humans - all human cases have occurred via contact with horses.
As the disease progresses, the horse deteriorates rapidly; there is discharge from the nose and perhaps a swelling of the face.
Hendra virus disease is considered to remain unlikely to occur in Victoria - however, if you note the above signs in a horse recently arrived from Queensland, or that is known to have had very close contact with fruit bats, please call your veterinarian or DPI office immediately - or call the DPI disease hotline 1800 675 888 without delay. Close contact with the horse should be avoided until a diagnosis has been made.
BACK TO BASICS: horse biosecurity
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Dr Roger Paskin, Chief Veterinary Officer's Unit, Biosecurity Victoria.
Biosecurity simply refers to common sense measures taken to prevent the transmission of disease - either between animals, or between animals and man.
Practising good biosecurity helps ensure the health of both horses and their owners.
The following biosecurity guidelines are taken from a DPI Agriculture Note written some years ago by Samantha Forrest. Readers should download the entire publication and read it through (download from http://www.dpi.vic.gov.au - then click on Information Notes / Animals & Livestock / Horses / AG1360 - Equine Biosecurity and Best Health Practice for Equine Owners ).
Good husbandry practised on a day to day basis is the most effective way to reduce the spread of diseases. Horses should be checked daily to ensure they are healthy and not at risk of injury. Worming and vaccination programs should be implemented and records for each horse should be maintained.
Where horses are stabled or yarded it is important that manure is cleaned up twice a day and disposed of properly.
Keeping vermin and insects under control is also important in preventing spread of disease. Steps to deter insects and vermin can include having the manure pit emptied regularly, having feed in vermin proof containers, disposing of old and un-eaten feed and limiting spots for vermin to hide and breed.
Keeping equipment and tack well cleaned and washing and rinsing of feed and stable water buckets daily is also recommended. Water troughs in paddocks should be cleaned weekly.
Ensure prompt removal/ hygienic disposal of deceased stock.
Any horse that is suspected of being ill must be isolated immediately. Call your local vet. Do not handle any other horses until you have changed your clothes and washed your hands.
Wash and disinfect any gear and equipment including rugs, halters and leads, feed bins, water buckets, and grooming equipment that have come in contact with the horse.
It is also a good thing to ensure that visitors don't have contact with your horses unless they have to - and if they do, ensure that they are wearing fresh clean clothes, wash hands thoroughly before contact, and only use clean equipment. Keep a record of who visits and when.
Being careful now may help avoid a lot of trouble in future.
Horse Owners need PICs
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Dr John Harkin, Animal Standards Branch, Biosecurity Victoria
No, a PIC is not a tool for digging holes. PIC stands for Property Identification Code. Under Victorian legislation, all livestock owners are required to have a PIC.
The PIC data (stored on a database) provides DPI with up to date knowledge of Victoria’s livestock populations and contact details for livestock owners, which proves invaluable in responding to emergency animal disease (EAD) events and assists with emergencies such as bushfires. Following the equine influenza outbreak, it was agreed that Victorian horse owners would be well served by being incorporated into the PIC system. This idea had gained strong industry support, which was further bolstered by the Black Saturday bushfire event.
Having PICs for horses is an issue that has also been pursued at national level, and it has now been agreed that all horse owners throughout Australia should have PICs allocated to their horse-bearing properties.
As from 1 July 2010, it will be compulsory for all Victorian horse owners to have a PIC identifying the properties where they keep their horses.
Applying for a PIC is free of charge. An application form can be downloaded from the web, or mailed to you (ring 1800 678 779), or obtained from any DPI office - simply complete it and send it to DPI.
You will need to supply on your application your name, address and other contact details, and also the council property number or rates assessment number of the property at which the horseis to be kept (found on the rates assessment notice from the local council).
You must indicate on the form both that the property is used for horses, by ticking under "Horses" in the "Livestock Type" box, and entering the number of horses on the property. In the case of properties where horses are kept occasionally (e.g. showgrounds or pony clubs), simply indicate on the form (by a tick) that horses are kept there from time to time, but enter "0" (zero) for the number at present.
Applicants will subsequently receive a credit-card style card which details their PIC through the mail, sent out each month.
Certain scenarios arise with the requirement to have a PIC that may pose practical difficulties, given the difference between livestock production enterprises for which the system was primarily developed and what are most often companion animals. Additionally, unlike production livestock, no tracking of movement of horses between properties is envisaged.
a) Existing properties with PICs and horses. Already, the owners of thousands properties with PICs have indicated that they have horses. There is no need for properties that have an existing PIC to apply for another. If you are not sure, call the DPI Helpline on 1800 678 779 - if there is already a PIC, you can advise that horses are running on it.
b) Agistment on one property of multiple horses with different owners. It will be sufficient for the owner of the agistment property to apply and hold a PIC, although the owners of the agisted horses will need to satisfy themselves of this. It will soon be possible for PIC holders to view a list of Victorian PICs online, which will facilitate this process.
c) Race courses and training stables. Provided that each course and stable is covered by a PIC, which could involve a listing of all relevant council property numbers on one application, the obligation will be deemed to have been met. Alternatively, individual training stables and the course could have a separate PIC if desired.
d) Geographically separate parcels of land owned by one person. A person may apply for one PIC to cover all of the blocks that they own and run horses on. There is no need to apply separately for each block, as long as they are in the same locality.
To provide DPI with the most up to date information about the location in Victoria, and their numbers, horse owners need to regularly supply DPI with updates about their numbers and any changes to the parcels of land to which the PIC applies.
Further information can be obtained from the DPI Helpline on 1800 678 779.
The Geriatric Horse
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Dr Leanne Horstman, Animal Health Field Services
Generally we are referring to horses older than 20 years to be in the “geriatric” category. They are often struggling to maintain their weight- especially over the colder months. Classically these horses have dull coats and they often have stiffness at a walk and difficulty getting up after resting on the ground. Commonly, if still being ridden, these horses have gait changes and lameness issues. Some also have behavioural changes- less alert mentality- to the point of not interacting with other horses on the property.
Owners need to seek the assistance of a compassionate veterinarian who can monitor the quality of life for these elderly animals. Many improvements to their day to day health status can be immediately addressed. Teeth can be evaluated and dentistry may improve the body weight and lifespan for individual horses. Diet adjustments may be beneficial – based around high energy and easily digested food that is not necessarily expensive. Good foodstuffs include lucerne chaff, crushed/rolled oats, gumnuts, oil (maize oil –up to 2 cups per day) and commercial senior foods. However coarse hay and whole grains are less ideal. Remember the old saying “ a warm horse rug is worth a day's feed for a horse”.
Veterinarians can do simple on farm and full laboratory blood tests to help to diagnose serious chronic illnesses that are similar to those faced by elderly people such as diabetes, Cushing’s disease, kidney problems, osteoarthritis and inflammatory bowel disease. Medications are available to successfully treat such problems and enhance the elderly horses quality of life. Not the least of which is affordable everyday pain relief for generalised musculoskeletal pain.
Equine Influenza
Dr Andrew Cameron, Deputy Chief Veterinary Officer
Efforts by a small segment of the horse industry to have voluntary ongoing EI vaccination implemented are still ongoing, despite expert recommendations to the contrary.
An expert panel chaired by Mr Roger Beale found that pre-emptive vaccination of a segment of the Australian horse population would be both risky and expensive. The panel found that the best option would be maintaining enhanced quarantine arrangements, attempting to eradicate the disease in the event that it enters the country, and doing so in a way that, learning from the hard lessons of 2007, minimises the disruption to social and economic equestrian events. The Panel considered that pre-emptive vaccination should remain prohibited, but vaccine supply arrangements put in place to permit rapid vaccination in the event of an incursion.
Nevertheless, agitation for vaccination has continued. The situation is complicated by the fact that the Senate last year voted down a proposal for a horse industry levy that could be invoked in the case of a disease incursion where government-industry cost-sharing was required to finance a response. This leaves the industry outside of the Emergency Animal Disease Response Agreement with no recourse to a full emergency response in the case of another influenza event.
This vulnerability extends beyond equine influenza, however. With this in mind, the Primary Industries Ministerial Council has requested the horse industry to formulate a new and broadly acceptable proposal for an industry levy. Should this be achieved before the end of this year, the Council will not accept any proposal for EI vaccination.
It should be noted that any levy approved by the Senate would be zero-rated and no horse owner would be required to pay anything; the levy would only kick in should a disease emergency occur. Horse owners are encouraged to support their peak industry bodies in the development of an agreed levy mechanism.More is at stake here than just equine influenza - let us hope that this situation is soon resolved.
Dealing with another horse disease emergency
Dr Mike Bond
Chief Executive Officer, Animal Health Australia
The successful response to the 2007 equine influenza outbreak clearly demonstrated the value of quick, decisive action during the first few days of a disease incursion. Under the Emergency Animal Disease Response Agreement (EADRA), the Australian Government guarantees to underwrite the response costs, enabling rapid control and eradication measures to proceed immediately.
All the major livestock industries have signed the EADRA which is administered by Animal Health Australia. However to date, no horse industry body has signed the Agreement. It should be noted that more than a third of the 65 diseases presently listed in the EADRA, can affect horses.
Primary Industries Ministers from the Commonwealth and all of Australia’s states and territories have now stated that they won’t support a nationally cost shared response to any exotic horse disease incursion until there is a cost sharing agreement in place. Ministers have set 1 December 2010 as the deadline for the horse industry to reach agreement on a mechanism to allow it to meet its share of response costs.
After an emergency response that is managed under the EADRA, the Australian Government allows up to 10 years to repay an industry’s share of costs. Some industries have chosen to collect a levy regularly, and use the collected monies to establish a ‘fighting fund’ that can be used in an emergency but also for other purposes as that industry sees fit.
Another option is to establish a ‘zero-based’ levy arrangement, where no money is collected until an emergency actually occurs. When the emergency response is agreed, the levy is triggered and set to an agreed value. Monies are then collected through the agreed mechanism, and the response costs that are due to the Commonwealth are repaid once the outbreak has been eradicated or otherwise resolved. This option means that until an actual emergency disease incursion occurs, industry pays nothing. When there is an incursion, the Australian Government guarantees that it will meet the response costs immediately, and industry can pay back its debt over time.
There is considerable flexibility as to the method of collecting a levy, and various mechanisms have been suggested. The Australian Government has some guidelines that must be followed, including a requirement for simplicity and ease of collection. While such a collection mechanism(s) should be as fair and equitable as possible, it is generally accepted that whatever the methods used, it will never be possible to ‘capture’ 100% of horse owners.
Becoming a signatory to the EADRA requires a number of criteria to be met, the most important of which is a ‘watertight’ arrangement for the debt incurred by the Australian Government on behalf of the affected industries to be repaid within a reasonable time – generally up to 10 years. There are other obligations within the EADRA including the requirement of signatories to demonstrate biosecurity risk minimisation processes; an example would be the Horse Venue Biosecurity Workbook which is almost complete.
There now seems to be a general recognition of the benefits to all sectors of the horse community of signing on to the EADRA and enjoying the same level of protection as the major livestock industries. During the coming weeks, there will be a lot of discussion and consultation about the various cost recovery options, and it will be important that all horse owners take the opportunity to make their preferences known.
