Continued cooperation from Australian horse owners and horse industry workers in south east Queensland will help ensure that the equine influenza eradication strategy works.

Biosecurity Queensland’s Chief Veterinary Officer Ron Glanville said Queensland’s plan, which has been endorsed nationally, has successfully contained the disease within the Red Zone.

But continued vigilance is necessary in order to achieve the plan’s goal of eradication.

A key component of the science-based eradication strategy is building a 10 km wide buffer zone around areas of high concentration of the disease, and vaccinating horses in the buffer zone.

Dr Glanville said the eradication strategy was based on the pre-existing plan for this disease, in the Australian Veterinary Emergency Plan (AUSVETPLAN). The implementation is supervised by the joint Chief Veterinary Officers from each state