Received this in an e-mail today,
CVG horse quarantine area taking shape
This article first appeared in The Sunday Enquirer, Aug. 22, 2010. HEBRON – Motorists on Donaldson Highway might have noticed the cluster of large tents that have sprung up in the employee parking lot at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport.
The compound will serve as a temporary quarantine for hundreds of foreign horses that will be flown into the U.S. to compete in the upcoming Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games. The Games start Sept. 25 at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington and are the world championships for eight equestrian disciplines.
‘The purpose of this quarantine is to establish that the horses are in good health prior to releasing them to come to the Kentucky Horse Park,’ said Rusty Ford, equine programs manager in the state veterinarian’s office.
Airport officials, along with officials from the World Games 2010 Foundation and the Kentucky Department of Agriculture, worked with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to get CVG classified as a temporary port of entry. The regular USDA ports of entry are in New York, Miami and Los Angeles.
‘It’s really been a team effort to make this happen,’ airport spokeswoman Barbara Schempf said.
An estimated 500 horses are expected to pass through the CVG quarantine facility on their way to the Games.
The horses will be coming from Europe and the Middle East and will be flown non-stop from Belgium on jumbo jets. The first planeload of horses is scheduled to arrive Sept. 16. Ford said inbound flights will continue through Sept. 29 and that the first flight back to Belgium is scheduled Sept. 28.
About 50 horses and their human attendants will travel on the average flight, Ford said. Upon landing, the horses will be taken to the quarantine facility where they will be stabled for a minimum of 42 hours.
Horses from Central and South America will be imported through Miami. Los Angeles will be the arrival point for horses from Australia, New Zealand and the Far East.
‘What we’re doing is following the normal operating procedures importing horses from foreign countries,’ Ford said. ‘We’re simply doing it in Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky this year as opposed to normal permanent facilities.’
Ford said the CVG quarantine would be staffed with personnel from the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), the state veterinarian’s office and veterinarians with the Games.
‘We’ve got quite a team put together that has vast experience in this type of work,’ he said.
During their stay at the quarantine, Ford said the horses will be evaluated to ensure they’re eating and drinking properly and that their temperature, breathing and pulse are normal. Blood samples will be collected and tested for specific diseases. According the Kentucky Department of Agriculture, any imported horses suspected of having a communicable equine disease will be kept in the quarantine and not allowed to be transported to the horse park until the issue is resolved.
The traveling attendants will be allowed time to visit the quarantine to care for the horses, Ford said. All activity will be supervised.
‘It’s a high security area,’ Ford said. ‘We’re inside a double-perimeter fence and there will be security guards 24 hours a day controlling access into the facility. No one that’s not on the pre-defined list as having a need to be there will be allowed in.’
The employee lot was chosen as the quarantine site after other locations at the airport had been eliminated from consideration. DHL’s return to the airport ruled out use of its buildings. An increase in local passenger traffic took the long-term parking lot out of the running. Because fewer people are working at the airport, the employee lot offers adequate room.
The airport is not charging for use of the lot but utility costs from the quarantine will be repaid, Schempf said.
Airport police will assist with security as the horses travel from the airside, across Donaldson Highway, to the employee lot.
‘Really we’re playing a supporting role to make the process easier for all of those involved,’ Schempf said.
