Thailand is aiming to achieve African Horse Sickness (AHS)-free status from the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) by next year, a move that will benefit economic sectors in the country, including tourism, the Department of Livestock Development (DLD) said yesterday.
The last local AHS case was detected back in September 2020, and Thailand has been free of the highly infectious disease for two full years, said Chaiwat Yotakon, acting department director-general.
This qualifies the kingdom to be recognised by the WOAH as an AHS-free country, he said.
The last reported outbreak occurred on March 27, 2020, infecting 610 horses in 17 provinces, 568 of which died, he said.
With stringent and effective containment measures implemented, the outbreak was finally stamped out, and the last case was recorded on Sept 10, 2020, he said.
No new cases have been found since a surveillance programme for animal diseases was initiated, he said.
Ann-Susanne Munstermann, a WOAH adviser, is supervising local authorities to prepare a supporting dossier to be submitted along with the application for the AHS-free status by the end of this year, Mr Chaiwat said. WOAH approval is expected next year, he added.
AHS-free status will effectively serve as a passport to transport horses to and from Thailand, which will benefit the country's horse trade, exports and races, he said.
Horse breeders, operators of horse-related businesses and many others will also benefit from this as more jobs will be created and income generated, he said.
The expected boom in these business sectors will also contribute to the country's tourism promotion and eventually help spur the country's overall economy, he said.