Stallion Owners:

This letter is to all clients that have brought stallions to me within the last three years, and any other clients with potential to have a stallion collected. I’m sure most of you are aware of the outbreak of Equine Viral Arteritis this last breeding season associated with a Quarter Horse farm in New Mexico. This disease can cause fever and respiratory signs but most importantly to us, it causes abortion. This disease has been present in the United States for a long time but has a low incidence in all breeds except Warmbloods and Standardbreds. This was the first time to have a major outbreak in the Quarter Horse breed, but all the other breeds are also susceptible at any time. I have included an article explaining the disease.

The most significant fact regarding the control of EVA is that it is completely controllable by vaccination. The stallions are the only ones that can carry the disease and therefore are the source of the outbreaks. If all breeding stallions were tested and vaccinated, the disease could be eliminated.

I am requiring all stallions that I collect this year for shipment to be tested and vaccinated. The EVA test is necessary to determine the current status of the horse. Once a horse is vaccinated, they will test positive and they can not be exported to other countries unless they have documentation of a negative titer before vaccination. If they are positive from the disease and not the vaccination, the semen must be tested for presence of the virus. If there are two negative semen samples the stallion can safely be used to breed. If the semen is positive for the virus, the mares being bred must be vaccinated prior to breeding.

All mares when vaccinated must be quarantined for three weeks staying at least one hundred feet from all horses that are negative or status unknown. Stallions will need to be isolated for four weeks after vaccination. This isolation can be done at your facility. If you do not have ability to isolate 100 feet from other horses, we will have limited space for quarantine. Because of the potential to shed the virus, any stallion that we vaccinate will not be able to be collected and the semen transported for four weeks.

By taking these precautions, we will be able to advertise to the client that we are sending semen to, that the stallion has been tested and is negative. If we find a positive stallion we will be able to take appropriate action to keep from spreading this disease.

Please contact our office or your veterinarian as soon as possible to make arrangements for testing and vaccination. If you or your veterinarian have any questions or need assistance finding the vaccine, please contact us.

I fully appreciate what a big deal this is for everyone. With the outbreak that occurred this spring costing millions of dollars, we would be remiss to not take this precaution.

Sincerely,

Lloyd H. Kloppe DVM, ACT

For more information about EVA go to this link:  http://www.aphis.usda.gov/lpa/pubs/fsheet_faq_notice/fs_ahequineva.html