IHSC Notes Progress on Key Projects

The International Horse Sports Confederation (IHSC) held a series of meetings at the Hong Kong Jockey Club on Dec. 9, and endorsed developments in several key projects which highlight the progress made on the important work of the IHSC, including as a result of its collaborative activities with the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE). Mr. Louis Romanet, also Chairman of the IFHA, was re-elected as IHSC Presdent for an additional two-year term during the general assembly meeting.

IHSC was also updated on three OIE-IHSC regional workshops involving movement to facilitate advancements in the temporary international movement of competition horses held in Johannesburg, Guatemala and Montevideo in 2017. Priority issues and collectively-defined actions have been agreed for each region which are being actively progressed, and which the OIE-IHSC Technical Committee will continue to monitor and support.  The IHSC has supported plans for further regional workshops during 2018.

During the technical meeting, reports on some research projects–conducted jointly by the OIE and IHSC–were covered, with significant progress being made on six scientific studies on African horse sickness, equine influenza and glanders since 2015. The IHSC has now given its in-principle agreement to support the development of a new African horse sickness DIVA (Differentiating Infected from Vaccinated Animals) vaccine.  It is anticipated that development of a polyvalent vaccine and immunity studies may be completed for a new vaccine within approximately 18 months. The IHSC believes that the development and production of an African horse sickness vaccine would be a major achievement, and would deliver a far-reaching positive impact on horse sports around the world.

There has also been progress in the development of equine influenza vaccination protocols, which will hopefully be part of the OIE Terrestrial Manural by 2019 and research work into the development of a serological diagnostic assay for glanders.