Following the outbreak of Equine Viral arteritis (EVA) that significantly affected the Quarter Horse industry, some States are implementing and enforcing permit requirements with regard to shipped semen. One such State is Montana, which now requires a stallion owner to obtain a permit prior to shipment and use of semen shipped into that State. The permit application must be accompanied by a USDA-Aphis approved lab test result indicating that the stallion tested negative for antibodies to EIA (equine infectious anaemia) within the last 12 months prior to the application, and EVA within the last 6 months. If a stallion has been vaccinated against EVA, then proof of vaccination must be demonstrated. If the stallion has not been vaccinated, but has a positive titre for antibodies, then a virus isolation test of the semen must prove negative. Similar restrictions apply to the importation of stallions to Montana, although not if they are to be temporarily imported for competition. Importation and use of semen from positive and shedding stallions will not be permitted, and any veterinarian inseminating semen received without the requisite permit will be subject to sanction.

We at Equine-Reproduction.com always strongly support education of the breeding public about the issues surrounding EVA, but we do have concerns about the degree of restriction and lack of uniformity of the requirements of a permit such as that of Montana. Our concerns are:

* The USA does not restrict the importation of EAV-positive semen (”EAV” refers to the virus itself), and the disease is therefore present in the country as a whole. As the disease can be asymptomatic (present without visible symptoms) during its acute (infectious) stage, any horse - stallion, mare or gelding - could be infectious without signs, and yet with a permit such as Montana’s there is no restriction outside the breeding male or his semen. The effectiveness of such a permit restriction is therefore severely limited and will primarily be an inconvenience to breeders.
* Semen from “shedder” stallions can be safely used to breed mares as long as the mare has been previously and suitably vaccinated, or has been tested and shown as having sufficiently elevated antibody levels against the virus (possibly through previous exposure), and is kept quarantined for 21 days following the initial breeding. To prevent the importation and use of positive semen completely to the individual State when the disease is already present in the country is “overkill”, and will be a significant issue for breeders who have an unfulfilled prior breeding to a positive (shedding) stallion, and may represent a restriction of trade to them and others. Requirement of a mare vaccination and quarantine protocol would be more suitable than completely restricting positive semen import.
* As the enforcement is to be applied against veterinarians only (it being impractical and likely outside jurisdiction to apply it against lay persons), mare owners inseminating their own animals may still be able to import and use infective semen, which means that the restrictions applied against veterinarians are unreasonable, and again may represent a restriction of trade.
* As each State has the potential to enact its own regulations regarding importation permits for semen, the stallion owner/manager is left in the untenable position of having to contact all 50 State Vet Boards and/or Departments of Agriculture to ensure current regulations. It would be more workable if individual States worked with USDA-Aphis to create a permit that could then be obtained from USDA-Aphis and be valid for all States. The alternative is to rely on better breeder education by the State Vet Boards, rather than requiring permits with significant failings.
o We recommend that stallion owners have a clause in their breeding contracts requiring mare owners to notify them of any State permit requirements by the mare owner resident State in a suitable period prior to the anticipated shipment date, allowing the stallion owner sufficient time to obtain those permits.
o We also recommend that all stallions be blood tested for EAV antibody presence prior to the beginning of the breeding season, and vaccinated if such vaccination is deemed suitable.
+ Note that annual revaccination is required to ensure protection and that proof of that revaccination should be required as part of the permit requirement, and requested by mare owners prior to breeding.

Washington State is a good example of a State that is using a combination of permit requirement, workable restrictions and breeder education. Washington State does allow importation of “positive” semen, but requires their permit and an accompanying statement that the mare owner has been notified of the “positive” state of the semen; agrees to follow certain recommendations regarding breeding with “positive” semen; and that they will accept the semen. One of the required recommendations is that the mare be vaccinated prior to breeding and undergo quarantine following breeding. Details of Washington State’s permit requirements are available on the Washington Government web site.

This article is from the news on my favorite equine reproduction website.: http://www.equine-reproduction.com/index.shtml

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