Must voice my concerns regarding the horse flu outbreak. I feel deeply for all those involved in the entire horse industry and no, not all are filthy rich. Some are employees and some are involved simply for the love of horses. Their losses will be great.

The only positive thing that i can see is that it may test our actions and stratigies for when the dreaded Foot and Mouth virus reaches our shores. Let us hope we learn from this.

When we heard about this dreadful illness yesterday it made us think about the horrible economic ripple effect that it will cause.
As far as I knew quarantine laws have made it almost impossible for Australia to be blighted by foot and mouth disease so what makes you say WHEN it hits our shores.
I would have thought that those in power to prevent its' introduction into Australia would be positive in their actions.

Goddess,
Quaranteen was supposed to keep out the horse flu too!

People can either knowingly or unknowingly tranfer the F and M virus so with the ammount of air travel these days it is most likely to arrive. We just do not know when. Am also told that Indonesia has F and M, but maybe only on certain islands there. Am also told that Indonesian fishermen carry live animals on board to slaughter for food, and it has been known for them to stop off on our shores.

While the current horse flu virus will cost many a great deal, and I feel for them, an outbreak of F and M would be absolutely devastating. That is why I hope we learn from this.

Horses seem to have more value than humans.People can come and go in this country with no health checks.If the bird flu mutates to a human form,horse flu will be the least of our worries.

Arjay,
Nobody is saying horses are more important than people but the point being made here is that the ramifications of this thing are far more horrible than on the surface.
People who work within the racing or equine industries will be robbed of employment, right down to T.A.B clerks, groundsmen etc.
Worse still, we do not know if we have or are successfully contained this thing.
I know only a little about foot and mouth but I do know enough that it would be a complete disaster if it got into this country.
Apart from the economic aspect,at the end of the day there is animal suffering, something we should all take into consideration.

It is a big deal for me, how will I explain to my mates?
No races Saturday and I still have money in my pocket on Monday? no one will believe me.

good night

Arjays comments about bird flu reminded me about another way infectious diseases can enter Australia. By way of migratory birds. All these ways of diseases entry makes it virtually cetain that we will get these diseases at some stage.

Australia's isolation has, for a long time, kept us free of some of the diseases that have affected human. animal and plant life.

Every now and then there are calls to relax our quarantine restrictions to allow foreign products in. Recently it was for bananas and raw chicken meat.

We must not relax the quarantine restrictions in any way. This latest horse flu outbreak confirms this. We have a world wide reputation for having clean products and it is essential that be maintained.

Banjo, it is horrible for animals to suffer and so it is for humans.
If you would look at the total situation you'll find that we/animals have been living to clean.I mean with that, purify this and purify that, killing ALL bugs including the good ones. Animals like humans get vaccinations and anti-biotics not to forget fluorolisic acid in our drinking water, with the result our immune- and glandular systems are being overloaded or stuffed up.Whilst treatments like h2o2,bi-carb soda,magnesium chloride,coconut-oil,vitaminC and colloidal silver are ignored or outright banned from the medical scene we have to cope with poisoning ourselves and our belovered animals for the profit of big Pharms. To hell with them and their investors.

Well we've been told that our economy will go into a minor recession because of the demise of the gamboling industry.This is a wake up call for us all.What sort of economy runs on the whim of betting whereby nothing is produced that adds tangibly to the well being of it's population?We make less each day that contributes to our survival and intellectual prowess.We are not the smart country.

Perhaps the punters would be better off paying a bit extra off their mortages and credit cards.

One thing they haven't told us on the news is that 10 horses have died in NSW so far.