The NZEHA would like to recognise the discovery of an avian influenza pathogen on a poultry farm in the lower south island of New Zealand. It may seem unusual for the NZEHA, whose key focus is horses, but we do so because we know that strains of influenza have a tendency towards inflecting multiple species, and thus the importance of eradicating it from the chicken farm and New Zealand. Read the full article to find out more.

For horse breeders, August heralds the excitement of the beginning of a new foal crop arriving but sometimes the unexpected happens. Not all pregnancies end with a lovely, healthy foal. Irregularly, mares can abort or give birth to a stillborn or weak foals. In this article, we cover what to look out for when it comes to endemic equine diseases that can impact the health of your mare or foal and potentially even you, practical steps to manage the risk and give you an example of this in an actual situation.

Managing our biosecurity practices is an area of work that never sleeps for the New Zealand equine industry, and what more timely reminder of this than the gathering of the most significant sporting event in the world, the Summer Olympics. It is a great case study of the elaborate elements that come into play to ensure that all horses, many of whom converge from across the globe, are protected by the highest biosecurity standards. Read more to find out just how they do this!

As of March 2024, we have been provided the following report from MPI concerning the equine disease status of New Zealand for the period 1 April 2023 - 31 March 2024. This report indicates equine disease reporting to the World Organisation for Animal Health, so it does not include all equine infectious diseases but those we perceive to be the highest risk.

In March NZEHA signed an operational agreement that sees NZEHA and MPI work together on projects aimed at improving the equine sectors ability to efficiently and effectively respond to Equine diseases.

Stuart Anderson the Deputy Director General at MPI signed on behalf of MPI and Ivan Bridge, the chair of NZEHA signed on behalf of the industry. He reiterated that the NZEHA was delighted to be signing this second operational agreement for readiness under the Government Industry Agreement Deed.

As we move into a busy period of horse activity, remember New Zealand still has some nasty infectious diseases that we need to ensure we don’t spread through casual management.

Equine herpes Virus 4 (EHV 4) has reared its head across the North Island as a bug to be suspected in sick young horses. Read this article to learn more about how to protect your horses.

The NZEHA is always keeping its finger on the pulse with what is happening globally with equine infectious disease due to the constant import and export of horses in and out of New Zealand. Recently a key concern has been the discovery of Japanese Encephalitis in Australia, a severe neurological disease that has the ability to infect both horses and humans. The information gathered by the International Collating Centre for Equine Infectious Disease is one of the tools we have as an industry to understand what is happening at a global level with disease such as this.

Japanese Encephalitis is caused by a virus transmitted to horses via biting mosquitos. It affects the brain and while most horses remain well some may become very ill and a small number of horses do die. If a sick horse was imported into New Zealand it could not transmit disease to others as it is a ‘dead-end host’. Birds and pigs are the main reservoirs of the virus. Spread to horses or people requires a mosquito to transmit the virus from a diseased bird or pig. 

Consultation is open on new requirements for importing horses into New Zealand. MPI has notified the public that they are seeking feedback on their amendments to the import health standard (IHS) for horses with a specific focus on equine piroplasmosis. Their amendment is now available for external consultation.

Get caught up on the latest updates from the NZEHA including their exciting new project. Plus, understand how you can play your part to protect the equine industry by ensuring you have appropriate biosecurity measures in place ahead of time as we travel to events around the country with our horses.

Doing things “right” when you get a Herpes virus outbreak is still stressful but it works.

What is “right”? The New Zealand equine industry has adopted a Code for the control of Equine Contagious Diseases. In essence, it is isolate, separate, communicate, disinfect, investigate and test for freedom.

Doing things “right” when you get a Herpes virus outbreak is still stressful but it works.

What is “right”? The New Zealand equine industry has adopted a Code for the control of Equine Contagious Diseases. In essence, it is isolate, separate, communicate, disinfect, investigate and test for freedom.

As we head into a period of high risk it is a timely reminder to remain vigilant with your biosecurity measures.

As of the 9th May, 2021 new animal welfare regulations have been introduced.

The new biosecurity levy will come into effect on the 10th of September 2020.

On 2 September 2020, the OIE reported an outbreak of AHS in five horses on premises in Manir, Kuala Terengganu, Terengganu, Malaysia.

All results on all adult horses on the stud where piroplasmosis was found come back negative.

A positive piroplasmosis case confirmed in a horse in New Zealand.