Standstill and quarantine - what's the difference?

The following information has been supplied by Primary Industries and Resources SA (PIRSA) to ensure that people understand what would happen in the event of a suspect case or a confirmed case of Equine Influenza in South Australia.

Quarantine:
A quarantine is applied to a property or location. PIRSA will carry out random audits of horse events and, if a horse is checked during an event and considered to have symptoms that indicate Equine Influenza, an immediate quarantine of the facility will occur.

No horses, vehicles or people will be allowed to leave the grounds until processes are in place that ensure the infection can be contained. This might include decontamination of vehicles and people. In the case of horses, there will be no movement off the property unless the tests are negative.

Should tests on the horse prove it does not have Equine Influenza, the quarantine will be lifted. The time between quarantine being declared and lifted could be up to 72 hours.

Should the tests indicate the animal has Equine Influenza, the event could be under quarantine for more than six weeks. During this time all horses must remain on site. Access to the site would be restricted and people and vehicles would need to be cleaned and decontaminated prior to leaving the site.


Standstill:
A standstill is applied to the whole of the state. Where a horse with suspicious symptoms is assessed as likely to have Equine Influenza (similar to the recent case in Tasmania) or a horse with confirmed infection is detected anywhere in the state, a state-wide standstill will be implemented to reduce the spread of the disease.

Upon the declaration of the standstill, all horse movements are immediately prohibited. Horses will be confined to the property they are on at the time of declaration of the standstill.

Horses in transit must return to the property of departure or to the intended destination (whichever is the shorter journey).

A standstill would include horse equipment and vehicles.

A standstill may remain in place for days or weeks depending on the disease situation in the state.

Failure to abide by a quarantine or a standstill can result in fines of up to $20,000.

It is important to note that all costs associated with a quarantine or a standstill (ie, fodder, additional facilities for people or animals) will be paid for by the event organiser and owners.