Despite the fact that last case of AHS in India was recorded way back in
the 1960's, Indian horses were not allowed entry into Europe and other
countries around the globe as there was a lack of proper records on
disease surveillance and treatment in this country. This proved to be a
major stumbling block in attempts to set up protocols with the EU and
Singapore for importation of Indian horses into these regions.
An export cell was set up under the aegis of the National Horse Breeding
Society of India to prepare a case that would meet the protocol and
regulations laid down by the OIE - Office International des Epizooties
(French for International Epizootic Office, now known as the World
Organisation for Animal Health).
The hard work finally paid off with the OIE recently notifying the
Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India, that India has been
officially declared as being free of African Horse Sickness. Much of the
credit for this has to go to Mr. Zavaray Poonawalla of the Poonawalla
Stud Farms, fellow breeder Shivlal Daga and Dr. P.K. Uppal.
This recent notification by the OIE has far reaching consequences for
Indian horse racing and breeding.
Given below is the note issued by Dr. F.F. Wadia, President, N.H.B.S.I.
on the subject:
I am happy to inform you that the many years of efforts by the Society
have at last borne fruit, and that following the relevant protocol and
regulations of the OIE, they have notified India as being free of
African Horse Sickness.
We feel that this development is an important watershed in the
perception of India's equine disease status abroad, and that it will
make it easier to open doors for possible protocols with the EU,
Singapore etc., whereby Indian horses can enter those countries for
transit or competition.
The Ministry of Agriculture has been generally supportive of the effort.
However this result could not have been achieved had it not been for the
generous funding provided by Mr. Z.S. Poonawalla for consultation
charges, preparation of the detailed dossier for submission to OIE, and
the follow-up with that organization, including visits to Paris. The
Society owes him a debt of gratitude for helping the country get over
this long-standing hurdle, as also to his colleague on the Export Cell,
Mr. Shivlal Daga, for the time and energy he has devoted towards this
end. It also owes grateful thanks to its Technical Advisor, Prof P.K.
Uppal, for his help, guidance and hard work which saw the development of
over 1,000 pages of statistics and hard data which were mandatory for
obtaining OIE approval.
