A national equine identification and traceability system for emergency preparedness and response in New Zealand

An essential component of a timely response to a disaster event or disease outbreak is an accurate understanding of the population at risk, its location, and the owners' contact details. In equines, this can be achieved through individual identification, via microchipping, and the registration of these individuals in a centralised database. This review outlines the development by the New Zealand Equine Health Association (NZEHA) of a centralised database for equines in New Zealand, the National Equine Identification and Traceability (NEIT) system, which is built using Companion Animal New Zealand's (CANZ) database infrastructure. The utility of NEIT and the equine component of the NZCAR database in preparing for and responding to the health and welfare needs of equines during disaster events is also reviewed. Horses involved in the racing industry in New Zealand are required to be registered. There are also approximately 70 equine organisations, such as breed societies and those responsible for organising sport or recreational activities. Equines may be registered with more than one organisation, creating duplication. Few registers have mechanisms to ensure they are up to date. As such, information on these registers is unlikely to be sufficiently accurate to be useful in the event of an emergency response. In addition, they may lack the location of the equine and contact details of the owner, limiting their value as a response tool. Furthermore, many equines in New Zealand, including feral and domestic populations, may not be registered. These limitations, alongside biosecurity preparedness concerns, resulted in NZEHA leading the development of the NEIT system, enabled by CANZ.Microchipping has been selected over other identification methods for the New Zealand equine population. Microchips are a safe method of providing equines with a unique lifetime identification number. Further, the use of microchips in equines is already mandatory for horses bred to race in New Zealand (Thoroughbreds and Standardbreds), with some breed societies (e.g. the New Zealand Warmblood Association) requiring microchipping for registration. The microchipping of New Zealand equines aligns with local trends in traceability for companion animals and cattle and global trends for equines. Having equines registered on a centralised database enables the timely implementation of control strategies, especially in cases where vaccination is used. This review describes the pitfalls with current equine registers, and the need to develop a unified system of hosting applicable information as part of preparedness planning, ensuring increased efficiency of emergency response and recovery.Abbreviations: CANZ: Companion Animals New Zealand; EI: Equine influenza; ESNZ: Equestrian Sports New Zealand; FEI: Fédération Equestre Internationale; GIA: Government Industry Agreement; MPI: Ministry for Primary Industries; NAIT: National Animal Identification and Traceability system; NED: National Equine Database [UK]; NEIT: National Equine Identification and Traceability; NZCAR: New Zealand Companion Animal Register; NZEHA: New Zealand Equine Health Association; PICA: Person in charge of animal; RAS: Royal Agricultural Society; WOAH: World Organisation for Animal Health.