Traveling with your horse?

1. State by State Requirements
2. Canadian Requirements
3. What to take with you ~ sugestions

AAEP Adult horse Vaccination recommendations "PDF"

May 4, 2010 - Intervet Schering-Plough has announced an urgent recall of all serial numbers of PreveNile® West Nile Virus vaccine for horses due to an increased number of adverse event reports associated with the use of these vaccines.

The recalled serial numbers include one-dose and five-dose vials of the vaccine. A list of the recalled lot numbers is available on the American Veterinary Medical Association's website at http://www.avma.org/news/wnv_vaccine_recall.asp?utm_source=animal-health-alerts&utm_medium=email
Veterinarians with any of the affected serial numbers in stock should contact their distributor to arrange for the product's return. Horse owners with questions should contact their vet.

LANSING, Mich. – Officials from the Michigan departments of Agriculture (MDA) and Community Health (MDCH) today urged Michigan citizens to be pro-active and have their pets and livestock vaccinated against rabies after confirmation that a two-year-old female dog in Oakland County tested positive for rabies.  The dog had never been vaccinated against rabies and was kept outdoors in a kennel.  While any mammal can be infected with rabies, the virus is typically carried in skunks or bats in Michigan.  Testing to determine the strain of rabies virus that infected the dog is ongoing.  

State law requires that dogs and ferrets be vaccinated against rabies by a licensed veterinarian.  It is also important to make sure cats, even those kept strictly indoors, be vaccinated against rabies. 

“Rabies virus is present in the saliva and brain tissue of an infected animal,” said Corrine Miller, state epidemiologist for MDCH.  “People can be exposed to rabies when they are bitten by a rabid animal.  Other possible routes for exposure include getting infectious material in your eyes, nose, or mouth, or on fresh cuts in the skin. Making sure pets are vaccinated and avoiding contact with stray or wild animals can reduce your risk of exposure to this potentially fatal disease."

The family of the rabid dog was not aware of any exposure to a wild or potentially rabid animal.  The family members and several of the veterinary hospital staff were advised to receive rabies Post Exposure Prophylaxis (PEP) as they all may have had contact with the rabid dog’s saliva.  Combined with prompt wound cleansing, appropriately administered rabies PEP is uniformly effective in preventing rabies in exposed individuals. 

Common sources of rabies are typically wild mammals like bats, skunks, raccoons, and foxes.  While bats throughout Michigan have the potential to carry rabies and spread it to pets and other animals, skunks have historically only been found to be a source of rabies in the “thumb” area of Michigan extending down to southeast Michigan. This appears to be changing as cases of rabies associated with rabid skunks have been identified in mid-Michigan.

“Pet and livestock owners must take steps to vaccinate against rabies even in these difficult economic times because of the possible human exposure to the disease from interaction with horses, cattle, dogs, and cats," said Dr. Steve Halstead, state veterinarian. "We don’t know the full extent of the spread of rabies in skunks in Michigan, but it’s important to remind people that rabies is out there, they need to vaccinate their animals – including horses and other livestock, and avoid contact with wild animals."    

For 2010, a total of six rabid animals, including this dog, have been detected in Michigan.  The other cases include three bats, one each from Kent, Clinton and Tuscola counties, a horse from Lapeer County, and a skunk from St. Clair County.

"It is important to make sure animals attending fairs, races, exhibitions, field trials or shows receive additional vaccinations to protect against diseases they may be exposed to in group housing or stressful situations. Owners should consult their private veterinarian to develop an appropriate vaccination program specific for their animals,” said Halstead.
 
For more information on rabies, please visit www.michigan.gov/emergingdiseases.

AHC’s State Horse Council Advisory Committee Fall Meeting
Hosted by the Pennsylvania Equine Council

            The 2009 AHC/SHCAC fall meeting was hosted by the Pennsylvania Equine Council at the Holiday Inn East Hotel in Harrisburg, PA, November 6-8, 2009. Several members of the Michigan Horse Council attended. Following is a summary of the program, and links to the issues and programs presented at this informative meeting.

2009 SHCAC Equine Issues Forum---"How Green is Your Farm?"

The Penn State University Equine Program and the Pennsylvania Equine Council (PEC) were the hosts for this year’s State Horse Council Advisory Committee’s Fall Issues Forum and the Pennsylvania Equine Council’s Annual Meeting at the Holiday Inn East Hotel in Harrisburg, PA on Nov. 6-8, 2009.        
The three day program began on Friday, Nov 6 with a tour of the Crescendo Training Center, LLC and M.H. EBY, Inc. headquarters located in Blue Ball, PA, followed by a social dinner at the Shady Maple Restaurant. 
Highlighting Saturday’s programs were educational presentations focusing on Equine Environmental Stewardship and “How Green Is Your Farm?”  The Environmental Issues Forum focused on several new nutrient management regulations that are now regulating the equine industry.  Other topics included pasture management, laminitis and manure resources, with discussions led by renowned speakers from across the country.  The day’s activities concluded with a reception and an American Horse Council update with Jay Hickey, president of the American Horse Council.
The Keynote address was given on Saturday by Dirk Vanderhall, DVM, PhD, chief of the Reproduction Section and director of the Hofmann Research Center for Animal Reproduction at the New Bolton Center, University of PA.  His interesting presentation covered the topic “The Latest in Equine Cloning.”
Sunday, Nov 8, consisted of the annual meetings for the State Horse Council American Council SHCAC and the Pennsylvania Equine Council.
The presentations from the 2009 Equine Issues Forum can be accesses by clicking on the presentation title: 

• A Equine Nutrient & Sediment Management Project for the Chesapeake Bay Tributary Strategy Team
• Drug Resistant Parasites...Wendy Vaala
  
• Equine Water Quality Regulations...Mike Brubaker & Frank Schneider
• Horse Keeping on Limited Acres...Got Mud Got Manure?...Amy Welker
• Keeping Horse Pastures Green and Productive...Donna Foulk
• Grasses, Sugars and Laminitis...Dr. Burt Staniar
• Horse Manure Compost the Renewable Resource...Dr. Ann Swinker
• Healthy Horse A Month to Month Guide...Suzette Truax
•  Nutrient Management Regulations in other states...Michael Harper

Rules Relating to NAIS on Hold

On March 18th and 19th, USDA-APHIS (United States Department of Agriculture – Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service) held a Forum on Animal Disease Traceability with State and Tribal animal health officials to discuss the new framework for animal disease traceability.  Approximately 120 State and Tribal representatives attended the forum.
During these discussions, USDA announced the State and Tribe Working Group (STWG) will provide input on the traceability performance standards, protocols for evaluating tracing capability, and compliance factors.
USDA also stated it will publish a new animal disease traceability section in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), which will only apply to interstate movement of livestock.  Within the regulatory changes, USDA plans to consolidate ID regulations for disease programs under the new traceability section, define traceability performance standards, and require official ID for livestock in interstate movement.
The STWG is scheduled to complete the content of the proposed rule in June 2010, and USDA plans to publish the proposed rule next winter.  There will be a 90-day public comment period, and the final rule is anticipated to be signed and published during the second quarter of 2011.  A compliance date to allow States, Tribes, and producers time to comply could be set some period (six to twelve months) after the final rule is published in the Federal Register.
All of the above information and additional documentation relating to the discussions and materials from the Forum on Animal Disease are posted on the USDA-APHIS website (http://www.aphis.usda.gov/traceability/forum/index.shtml).
The level of involvement and the implications for the equine industry are difficult to determine at this point in the process.  It should be noted that the focus of the discussions regarding the new framework for animal disease traceability centered on food livestock, and there was no specific breakout discussions on the equine industry.
The ESWG (Equine Species Working Group) submitted recommendations in 2006 pertaining to the former NAIS (National Animal Identification System) program, and those recommendations remain in effect pending any further developments on the new Animal Disease Traceability Program.
We will continue to follow any and all developments on the new Animal Disease Traceability Program, and we will continue to evaluate its costs and benefits to the equine industry as more information comes available.