Special report: Equine influenza inquiry and response - two years on

The equine influenza outbreak from August to December 2007 was the largest animal disease emergency in Australia’s history. Over 10,000 premises and an estimated 76,000 horses were infected.

Australia formally declared itself free from equine influenza on 30 June 2008, having completed comprehensive disease control and surveillance programs. In accordance with the requirements of the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), Australia regained its equine influenza-free status on 25 December 2008, 12 months after the last case was reported.

Only a few countries have eradicated equine influenza, so—as the OIE recognised at its May 2008 General Session—this is a significant achievement. It was made possible by a national response involving the Commonwealth, the states and territories, the horse industry and the community.

The June 2008 report of the Callinan inquiry into the handling of the equine influenza outbreak made 38 recommendations, all of which the Australian Government has accepted.

As part of a comprehensive response that includes strengthening quarantine arrangements for horse imports, the department has implemented 26 of the inquiry’s recommendations and is continuing work on another 11. The remaining recommendation—for periodic reviews of the import risk analysis—applies after June 2010.

The recommendations we have implemented include appointing a senior officer in the department to be responsible and accountable for the importation of horses into Australia; upgrading facilities at the Melbourne and Sydney international airports and the Spotswood and Eastern Creek quarantine stations; establishing an expert group on horse importation and a horse industry consultative committee; appointing two independent experts, the Interim Inspector General of Horse Importation (Dr Kevin Dunn) and Professor Peter Shergold AC; and beginning an import risk analysis relating to the importation of horses.

The department engaged the services of Professor Shergold for two years (to June 2010) as an independent expert to report to the minister on the proper implementation of the recommendations. In his two reports in 2008–09 he advised that the department had continued to make good progress on implementing the government’s response and that its work had been of a high standard.

Dr Dunn submitted his report as Interim Inspector General of Horse Importation to the minister in April 2009. He noted that Biosecurity Australia and AQIS had done a great deal of work to improve the horse importation system since the delivery of Commissioner Callinan’s report, and that the effectiveness and integrity of importation arrangements had been substantially strengthened as a result.

Several of the Callinan inquiry’s recommendations were also considered by the independent review into Australia’s quarantine and biosecurity system chaired by Mr Roger Beale AO (the Beale review), whose report was released in December 2008. The government has accepted the report’s recommendations in principle, and is now working to implement them through reforms to further strengthen Australia’s quarantine and biosecurity systems. See ‘Special report: Review of Australian quarantine and biosecurity (‘Beale review’)’ for details.

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