Japanese Encephalitis (JE) Precaution for Horses

Recently Biosecurity Queensland and Queensland Heath have issued alerts for Japanese Encephalitis (JE) following detection of cases at piggeries in Queensland, NSW, South Australia and Victoria.

What is Japanese Encephalitis?

Japanese encephalitis is an acute mosquito-borne viral disease that can cause reproductive losses and encephalitis in susceptible species. Disease occurs most commonly in pigs and horses but can also rarely cause disease in other animals.

Animals and people become infected through the bite of infected mosquitoes. The disease is maintained and spread through transmission cycles between mosquitoes and some wild and domestic bird species and pigs. There is no risk to humans from eating pig meat.

Japanese Encephalitis In Horses:

In horses, many cases are asymptomatic and most clinical disease is mild, however more severe encephalitis can occur which may be fatal. Signs include fever, jaundice, lethargy, anorexia and neurological signs which vary with severity of the clinical disease. Neurological signs can include incoordination, difficulty swallowing, impaired vision, and rarely a hyperexcitable form occurs. Disease has also been reported in donkeys.

Japanese Encephalitis in People:

Japanese encephalitis is transmitted to humans through infected mosquitoes. Most human infections of JE cause no symptoms or mild symptoms such as headache or fever. A person with severe disease may present with inflammation of the brain (encephalitis), characterised by sudden onset of vomiting, high fever and chills, severe headache, sensitivity to light, neck stiffness and nausea/vomiting.  Children aged under five years of age and older people who are infected with JE are at a higher risk of developing more severe illness.

Protections, Tips and Advice

• Make use of suitable insect repellents on all exposed skin and reapply every few hours.  Water based repellents may ineffective after becoming wet.
• Wear long, loose fitting clothing and covered footwear when outside and ensure accommodation where possible is properly fitted with mosquito nettings or screens.
• Where possible and safe, consider using vapour dispensing units (indoors) and mosquito coils (outdoors) or powered insect repellents in areas such as stable and barns.
• Consider where possible rugging horses to provide protection against mosquito bites.

Actions to take if you suspect Japanese encephalitis in your animals
Japanese encephalitis is a notifiable disease in Queensland. If you suspect Japanese encephalitis in any animal, immediately contact Biosecurity Queensland on 13 25 23 or phone the all-hours Emergency Animal Disease Watch Hotline (1800 675 888) and contact your veterinarian.

A copy of the recent Biosecurity Queensland Alert is available HERE.  A copy of the recent Queensland Health Notice is available HERE

ADVICE FOR CLUBS AND ORGANISATIONS
IMPACTED BY THE SOUTH-EAST QUEENSLAND EXTREME WEATHER EVENT

Dear sport and recreation colleagues

As you are aware, in recent days South-East Queensland has been impacted by a significant weather event, causing widespread flooding, with the emergency continuing to unfold in many areas.

As an agency, our thoughts are with all of those directly affected by this event both personally and across our sporting clubs, organisations, their volunteers and members, activity providers and staff.

Right now, the situation is evolving with impacts varying across the region and the full extent not likely to be known for some days yet. We have seen examples of the lengths you have gone to, in attempting to protect clubhouses, venues and equipment and while this is understandable, your safety and that of your volunteers and participants remains paramount.

We ask that you do not put yourselves under unnecessary risk as there will be time for damage assessments to occur across clubhouses, venues, lighting, fields, courts, amenities, and equipment once the immediate danger has passed and it is safe to do so.

When that time comes, we will be ready to utilise our vast experience in managing disaster response and recovery to provide assistance and support. This includes how best to record details of damage sustained to your facilities and assets and materials which will be crucial to support your claim.   

We suggest considering the following initially:

• Once waters have receded, contact your electrical supply company to ensure your supply has been safely reconnected.
• Check insurances and whether clubs, organisations and their facilities have flood cover. If so, contact insurers to receive advice on how to progress with a claim.
• Identify and capture clear images of tide marks or water heights in and around buildings and equipment.
• If there is significant damage such as ‘bellying’ or collapsing ceilings, do not enter until the building owners, engineers or SES have inspected.
• Wear appropriate PPE including gumboots, gloves etc when commencing removal of damaged equipment and surfaces.
• Ensure stormwater drains are clear and any debris removed in case of follow up rain.
• Document damage to items individually, including floor coverings, appliances, air conditioners, televisions and computers, capturing images and serial numbers of these items before discarding.
• Maintain any receipts associated with clean-up including for materials, PPE, mini skips or machinery, like dryers, required.

We understand that many of you are at a critical juncture with seasons already commenced or preparation underway. Similarly for those in the outdoor recreation industry that have providers currently delivering activities. Be assured that the department, your State Level Organisations, Industry Peak Bodies and Councils will work through this together as a collective.

As support options are being considered, we ask those affected to review their eligibility and current activations through Level 1 funding via the Sport and Recreation Disaster Recovery Program, with more detailed information available through the program guidelines. The program will be updated as more areas are declared under Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements. 

We also encourage eligible organisations to apply for support under the Active Clubs program which opened last week.

We will follow this email with further updates as information becomes available and it is our intention to have Sport and Recreation staff out in the field in the next week as we progress into the recovery phase.

We have worked together successfully in the last two years in response to the pandemic and we aim to work together in the same spirit to ensure a safe return to play as soon as possible.

Round 6 of FairPlay vouchers opens on Wednesday 19 January 2022.

QERA is a Registered Activity Provider for the program which provides eligible Queensland children and young people aged 5 to 17 (inclusive) who can least afford to join a sport or recreation club with a voucher valued up to $150 which can be used toward the cost of membership, participation and/or registration fees for eligible activities with registered physical Activity Providers. Round 6 will close when all available vouchers are issued or, if the voucher allocation is exhausted, the round will close on 23 March 2022.

Please click here to download a Fact Sheet.

You can view a Youtube Video explain the program here.

COVID-19 restrictions, requirements, key messages

Please find below a summary of the current COVID-19 restrictions and requirements impacting the active industry.

Current restrictions for the sport, recreation and fitness activities	Both vaccinated and unvaccinated people can still participate in many sport, active recreation, and fitness activities including indoor and outdoor events - state-wide. Indoor venues, activities and events are required to operate in accordance with the COVID Safe Checklist for Restricted Businesses and comply with occupant density limits apply. These organisations are required to collect contact information via the Check In Qld app - please note you are not required to collect contact information is the person is or appears to be a primary or secondary school-aged child and is a part of a group attending an activity organised by a school, sporting team or community group. However, all escorting adults must check in. Face masks are required in all indoor settings across Queensland including workplaces, indoor stadiums, sports arenas, sports centres, gyms and sport activities (exemptions apply). As always masks can be removed during strenuous exercise. It is important to note that organisations are able to self-impose additional restrictions for patrons and can decide to refuse entry to unvaccinated persons. If your organisation or one of your affiliates is looking to self-impose restrictions relating to vaccination status, we would encourage to seek legal advice. The Fair Work Ombudsman has also released detailed advice for employers around mandating vaccinations.
Aspects of our industry that are impacted by the restrictions whereby vaccination is a requirement of entry	Bowling alleys captured as indoor entertainment venues. Major Stadiums with more than 5000 patrons. High risk settings including education settings. Commercial recreation organisation operating tourism experiences. Hospitality venues such as cafe, clubs, restaurants and bars (licensed areas) that form a part of indoor sport centres, community halls and clubhouses - please note an unvaccinated person is permitted to enter to purchase takeaway and utilise amenities if they are a patron at the facility. Private hire is permitted however occupant density limits apply. Paid staff and volunteers working in this area are required to be vaccinated. Sport and Recreation are seeking further clarification around the multi-purpose use of Showgrounds, which are currently impacted by the restrictions.
Other restrictions impacting sport, recreation and fitness	From 1 January 2022 there are updated definitions and requirements for confirmed cases and close contacts. You are considered a close contact if you are a household member or a household-like contact of a diagnosed person. The definition of a household-like contact is a person who has spent more than four hours with the diagnosed person in a house or other place of accommodation, care facility or similar. The quarantine period is 7 days from the date the diagnosed person took the initial test that returned a positive result. From 9 January 2022, a close contact who is a critically essential worker can leave quarantine to their workplace provided the critically essential worker and their employer meet the requirements. Our current advice is that anyone involved in the delivery of sport, recreation and fitness does not meet the definition of a critically essential worker. From 31 December 2021, Queensland will no longer routinely list exposure sites in Queensland due to the widespread transmission we are currently experiencing. Queensland will only notify of major outbreak venues or super-spreader events. From 23 January 2022, mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations will be required for all people working or delivering a service at a school or early childhood education and care setting. This includes contractors, volunteers, regulators and auditors. Learn more about the vaccination requirements for workers in high risk settings. Activity Providers/Organisers who wish to attend schools to provide extra-curricular activities (e.g. community use of school facilities), within or outside hours, will be required to be fully vaccinated due to providing a service to or at a school. However, the participants in extra-curricular activities at schools can be regarded as visitors to the schools and therefore are not required to be vaccinated.
Key messages	Organisations should be familiar with current restrictions and potential implications for particular activities and be prepared to manage risks. It's important to develop communication to members highlighting key messages and practical steps being implemented to keep the community safe during this time. A key message we would like to highlight in communications to your affiliated clubs and members is that a condition of entry is to not have any COVID symptoms. Given the large spread of cases in the community at the moment, it needs to be clear to patrons that anyone with symptoms is not permitted to attend and will be refused entry. It's vital for our health response to ensure resources are available to those who need them most as we head towards the peak over the coming weeks. It's more important than ever to continue to promote the key COVID Safe measures - promotion of social distancing, wearing of face masks when required, maintaining good hand hygiene, staying home when you are sick, use of the Check In Qld app, vaccinations and boosters when eligible and COVID-19 testing if you have developed symptoms. Continued compliance is critical during this time. Restrictions under the Health Directions are enforceable; if a person is refusing to comply, you can call the police for assistance. A person who does not comply could receive a court-imposed penalty of up to $13,785 or 6 months' imprisonment. As Queensland is no longer listing exposure sites, you may not be aware of a positive case at an event or community organisation. It important you prepare/distribute communiques to members asking that they notify the clubs or association of a positive test result to ensure the facility can be appropriately cleaned. If your organisation has developed sport specific COVID safe material or Risk Management Plan, it is important you dedicate resources to update the guidance material to reflect the current situation. Whilst not imposed through restrictions, it may be beneficial to reconsider some common practices during this time to help slow the spread of COVID-19. For example: Online sign-on/registration or smaller groups numbers of pre-season training Limiting use of changerooms or interaction with parents Delaying school holiday camps or come n try days Implement strategies to reduce time people are present at the facility Live streaming of events to limit the number of spectators

Helpful resources and website links

The following websites include information regarding COVID-19 risk management strategies and plans, communication material, cleaning, and advice on responding to a positive COVID-19 case. Information contained at the links will provide valuable advice to support you during this time.

• COVID Safe Businesses - COVID Safe Checklist for Restricted Businesses and COVID Safe Management Plans
• TGA approved Rapid Antigen Tests
• Rapid Antigen Test - Positive Result Registration Form - you can also call 134268
• WorkSafe - Keeping your workplace safe, clean and healthy during COVID-19
• Safe Work Australia - how to clean and disinfect your workplace
• Fair Work Ombudsman - coronavirus and Australian workplace law
• Business Queensland - helpful resources including what to do when a business is affected by a COVID-19 case, COVID Safe Business planning and signage and communication materials
• TAFE Queensland COVID Safe for Business course - free module fully funded by the Queensland Government
• Public Health and Social Measures linked to vaccination status Direction - for specific details regarding the current COVID-19 restrictions in Queensland