The most salient finding was the extremely high prevalence of high psychological distress in horse owners and those involved in the horse industry during a serious horse disease epidemic; with just over one third (34%) reporting levels of psychological distress that might require some form of external intervention, and 40% of these (14% of the sample) reaching levels that may be considered indicative of 'caseness' for a DSM-IV disorder. The prevalence of 'very high' psychological distress in this sample was approaching five times the level reported in recent population health data for NSW [24] . Although this prevalence is very high, and there are some methodological reasons why this may be distorted (see study limitations section) it is certainly true that many of those impacted by EI, or the threat of EI, were subject to a wide range of acute stressors over a prolonged period, in a country where EI and such rigorous disease containment and control measures were previously unknown.