It has never been the intention of this Blog to make comment on what's happening in the weird and wonderful industry that is the Thoroughbred Industry, rather it's a vehicle to communicate with our clients and friends on the day to day happenings with our equine residents.
However, the news coming out of the Enquiry into the Eastern Creek "Disaster" does warrent mention and the news on www.breedingandracing.com.au today is just CHILLING.
EI Inquiry 1: Grooms Signed Docs Without Reading
Retired High Court judge Ian Callinan's Inquiry into how Equine Influenza entered Australia heard yesterday how jet-lagged grooms signed documents without reading them on arrival at Sydney's Eastern Creek Quarantine Station. James Carey, a senior groom who accompanied a group of stallions from Coolmore in Ireland on August 8, said flight delays meant the trip took 40 hours & all he wanted to do was settle the horses & go to bed, noting: "I recall meeting (station manager) Greg Hankins & signing papers before being given a swipe card & gate key. After a 40 or 50-hour trip from Ireland, we had problems with the flight & I was very badly jet-lagged; at that point, the best thing you want to do at that time of night is get settled as quickly as possible." Gabriel Walsh, another Coolmore groom on the same flight, said he was too tired to read what he was signing & merely flicked through the papers. One of the stallions in that shipment was Encosta De Lago, subsequently the 1st horse diagnosed with EI on August 17.
EI Inquiry 2: Eastern Creek Log Book Often Not Signed
Coolmore groom James Carey also said a log book grooms were supposed to sign every time they left & re-entered the Eastern Creek station (administered by the Australian Quarantine & Inspection Service) was not always used because it could not be located. Carey explained: "The book that was supposed to be used for the grooms to sign in & out was kept in the common area of the grooms' quarter. There were 15 guys sharing the common room & the book might sometimes be near a cooking pot, then might be under 6 magazines & you might not see it for days."
EI Inquiry 3: Virus Spread From Encosta To Others
Coolmore groom James Carey also told the Callinan Inquiry that although he did not read the quarantine instructions at Eastern Creek carefully, he had spent 4 years in pre-export & post-arrival quarantine situations & knew what he should do, particularly hygiene requirements, specifically: "I always took showers before I left Eastern Creek. Our work is not the cleanest work & as a matter of general hygiene I don't wear dirty clothes when I go out." Carey told how at 7am on the morning the Coolmoore stallions had arrived at Eastern Creek, Encosta De Lago had "an elevated temperature of 38.6 degrees, a slight cough & a nasal discharge". However Carey explained he had no experience of EI in Ireland (where horses are vaccinated against the virus) & did not contemplate that was the cause of Encosta De Lago's illness. He told how, over the next few days, the horses in the immediate vicinity of Encosta De Lago also showed similar symptoms. Carey said temperatures of all horses at Eastern Creek were routinely taken twice a day & recorded in a diary, as well as in chalk on the outside of each stallion's stable door, but until the EI outbreak occurred, he saw no evidence of AQIS staff "taking interest in the temperatures recorded on the stable doors".
However, the news coming out of the Enquiry into the Eastern Creek "Disaster" does warrent mention and the news on www.breedingandracing.com.au today is just CHILLING.
EI Inquiry 1: Grooms Signed Docs Without Reading
Retired High Court judge Ian Callinan's Inquiry into how Equine Influenza entered Australia heard yesterday how jet-lagged grooms signed documents without reading them on arrival at Sydney's Eastern Creek Quarantine Station. James Carey, a senior groom who accompanied a group of stallions from Coolmore in Ireland on August 8, said flight delays meant the trip took 40 hours & all he wanted to do was settle the horses & go to bed, noting: "I recall meeting (station manager) Greg Hankins & signing papers before being given a swipe card & gate key. After a 40 or 50-hour trip from Ireland, we had problems with the flight & I was very badly jet-lagged; at that point, the best thing you want to do at that time of night is get settled as quickly as possible." Gabriel Walsh, another Coolmore groom on the same flight, said he was too tired to read what he was signing & merely flicked through the papers. One of the stallions in that shipment was Encosta De Lago, subsequently the 1st horse diagnosed with EI on August 17.
EI Inquiry 2: Eastern Creek Log Book Often Not Signed
Coolmore groom James Carey also said a log book grooms were supposed to sign every time they left & re-entered the Eastern Creek station (administered by the Australian Quarantine & Inspection Service) was not always used because it could not be located. Carey explained: "The book that was supposed to be used for the grooms to sign in & out was kept in the common area of the grooms' quarter. There were 15 guys sharing the common room & the book might sometimes be near a cooking pot, then might be under 6 magazines & you might not see it for days."
EI Inquiry 3: Virus Spread From Encosta To Others
Coolmore groom James Carey also told the Callinan Inquiry that although he did not read the quarantine instructions at Eastern Creek carefully, he had spent 4 years in pre-export & post-arrival quarantine situations & knew what he should do, particularly hygiene requirements, specifically: "I always took showers before I left Eastern Creek. Our work is not the cleanest work & as a matter of general hygiene I don't wear dirty clothes when I go out." Carey told how at 7am on the morning the Coolmoore stallions had arrived at Eastern Creek, Encosta De Lago had "an elevated temperature of 38.6 degrees, a slight cough & a nasal discharge". However Carey explained he had no experience of EI in Ireland (where horses are vaccinated against the virus) & did not contemplate that was the cause of Encosta De Lago's illness. He told how, over the next few days, the horses in the immediate vicinity of Encosta De Lago also showed similar symptoms. Carey said temperatures of all horses at Eastern Creek were routinely taken twice a day & recorded in a diary, as well as in chalk on the outside of each stallion's stable door, but until the EI outbreak occurred, he saw no evidence of AQIS staff "taking interest in the temperatures recorded on the stable doors".
Just Chilling.
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