Horse Industry Unites to Face Disease Threat
African Horse Sickness Top of the Agenda
More than 250 delegates from all facets of the British equestrian industry have met to learn about emerging disease threats and discuss how best to work together to mitigate their effect.
African horse sickness (AHS) and West Nile virus (WNV) were top of the agenda at the day-long seminar hosted by The Thoroughbred Breeders Association and The Horse Trust in Newmarket, Suffolk today (June 23 2008).
“AHS is a devastating disease which almost invariably kills the horses it affects,” said TBA chairman Kirsten Rausing. “It makes no difference whether it is a child’s pony, a hardy native breed or a £ multi-million thoroughbred stallion – it poses a terminal threat to the £4b-a-year British equestrian industry and we are delighted to have worked with The Horse Trust to ensure that everyone is aware of the threat and how to deal with it.
”West Nile virus is no less a threat and, again, we can be confident that people now know more about it and how best to treat it should WNV appear in the UK.”
Paul Jepson, chief executive and resident veterinary surgeon of The Horse Trust and chair of the AHS Working Group said: “It has been a privilege to bring together such globally eminent, hands-on experts on these two diseases and to hear what they have had to say. Now we must maintain vigilance and be prepared to act.”
Notes for editors:
The African Horse Sickness Working Group, established and chaired by The Horse Trust, has brought together representatives of DEFRA, the Institute for Animal Health, British Horse Racing Authority, British Horse Society, Animal Health Trust, The Donkey Sanctuary, the insurance industry, British Equestrian Veterinary Association, Cambridge University Veterinary School, veterinary pathologists and other key interest groups from the British equestrian industries. This group is, in a ground-breaking step, working together to produce a control strategy for AHS in anticipation of a disease outbreak in the UK. The strategy reflects current EU and UK regulations and is undergoing final scrutiny before being passed to government lawyers for confirmation and publication. The next step will be to draft proposals for a revised control strategy for the whole of the EU, taking into account progress in veterinary science since the current rules were put together in the early 1990s.
The Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association represents the interests of Thoroughbred breeders in Great Britain, who account for more than 5,500 foals registered each year. The main objectives of the TBA are to promote British bred and raised bloodstock overseas, to provide a united voice for British breeders on national and international breeding and racing issues and to support veterinary research into equine reproduction, diseases and combative vaccines. The TBA also ensures British breeders’ interests are protected and promoted within national and EU Government policies, that the industry has an adequate supply of well trained staff and that the welfare of British bloodstock is maintained.
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