AHS ISSUE 36_Jerkins feature.qxd 07/12/2011 13:29 Page 2
AHS
An industry held to ransom by African Horse Sickness
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The burgeoning South African thoroughbred industry is currently being held back by crippling quarantine measures due to outbreaks of African Horse Sickness (AHS) in recent years. There’s hope that a new diagnostic test may change all that. WORDS: DAVID THISTLETON PHOTOS: HORSEPHOTOS.COM
n 1997, shortly after Hong Kong had agreed to follow Europe’s example by allowing direct imports from South Africa, Alec Laird travelled to Sha Tin Racecourse with his South African-bred London News to win the Group 2 Queen Elizabeth II Cup. The South African thoroughbred industry’s impact on the international stage snowballed remarkably quickly from that memorable starting point and presently finds itself in a state of nervous optimism as a new diagnostic test for African Horse Sickness (AHS) that returns a “yes” or “no” answer within hours of a sample being taken could open their borders like never before. There has been an explosion of talent among South African thoroughbreds recently and, harnessed by the world-renowned trainer Mike de Kock and others, they would add value to the international racing stage if allowed to realise their full potential. Since the momentous date on which the EU ratified the South African Horse Export Protocol in 1997, temporary suspensions on direct travel have been put in place following outbreaks of AHS in the AHS Controlled Area in the Western Cape in 1999, 2004, and 2011. Despite the seasonal characteristic of AHS (absence of infection during winter), “temporary” in these cases meant a two-year shutdown, and the eventual lifting of the suspensions has on occasion also seen some
JJ The Jet Plane in quarantine prior to entry into South-East Asia
countries making rigorous changes to the previous export protocol. For example, after the 2004 outbreak, and with the 2008 Beijing Olympics and Dubai International Racing Carnival in mind, the entry conditions to both Hong Kong and Dubai were changed. They barred direct travel from South Africa and insisted that horses first spend 30 days in Europe, the EU having permitted
direct entry after the suspension was lifted. Therefore, London News’ relatively straightforward excursion can be seen in contrast to the epic journey of the South Africanbred J J the Jet Plane just over a decade later. The much loved “JJ,” trained by Lucky Houdalakis, began his travels on 1st August, 2010, when entering the AHS Free Zone in Cape Town for the compulsory 60 days pre-
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