Horses returning to the UK from areas of Europe at high risk in relation to equine herpes virus (EHV-1) should be isolated, British Showjumping (BS) has announced.
Owing to the current EHV-1 outbreak, which has caused international competition to be suspended in 10 countries, BS has put measures in place for returning showjumpers.
All horses returning from France, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Italy, Austria, Poland, the Netherlands, Germany and Slovakia should be isolated from others who may attend BS competition and training. BS strongly advises they are also separated from all other equines.
The same applies to horses who have travelled through these countries on their way to the UK.
Isolated horses must be kept in a building physically separated from other buildings housing horses, by the equivalent of a public road, and cared for by riders and staff not in contact with horses at other, non-isolated, premises.
Strict biosecurity measures must be in place, including facilities to sanitise hands between handling individual animals, foot dips outside every stable, and coveralls changed between caring for different horses. Each horse must have its own tack, equipment and buckets, and there must be facilities for disinfecting mucking-out equipment.
“British Showjumping expects members’ local veterinary surgeons to verify these standards are in place on the isolation premises,” a BS spokesman said.
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All horses on the premises must be monitored, including those who have not recently travelled in Europe, with temperatures kept twice daily and recorded, with records available to be reviewed by the vet.
All horses on the premises will be excluded from BS, and all other British Equestrian member bodies, training and competition.
These measures will apply until either all horses on the premises have been free of clinical signs for at least 28 days since the last horse returned from the areas above, or lab data showing all horses are free from disease is provided to BS. For details of this data, and the current views on vaccination, visit the BS website.
BS will continue to advise members as the European outbreak progresses.
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Eleanor is an experienced journalist who spent over eight years working for local and national newspapers before joining H&H as news editor in March 2016. Passionate about equine welfare and exposing the truth, Eleanor has reported on all aspects of the industry, from Brexit to anti-bullying campaigns, and from dressage rules to mules. Her sport of choice is showjumping, in which she competes her own horses, and she also enjoys reporting at local jumping shows through to international championships.
