It has become necessary to expand the quarantine of EVA affected premises in Utah. There are currently 7 quarantined premises (August 8, 2006). Thirteen premises have been removed from quarantine. The quarantine originally applied to premises containing horses exposed to the New Mexico stallion, Dash ta Fame, or his semen. With the development of many clinical cases of EVA on multiple premises it becomes necessary to quarantine any premise where there are horses exhibiting clinical signs. Clinical cases should then be verified through testing. Veterinarians should report all suspected clinical cases of EVA to the State Veterinarian. The quarantine for each individual premise will than be issued from the office of the State Veterinarian if indicated. The revised Quarantine Notice is as follows:

NOTICE OF QUARANTINE

As a result of the detection of several clinical cases of Equine Viral Arteritis (EVA) in horses bred to an infected stallion in New Mexico, it is necessary to quarantine the movement both in and out of all premises which currently contain horses that exhibit clinical signs of EVA or horses that were exposed to a known infected animal or to the stallion (Dash ta Fame) or his semen. The quarantine is necessary for the following reasons:
1. The outbreak of the disease involves interstate movements of animals.
2. There is evidence that clinical disease has been introduced to the state of Utah.
3. This disease may result in up to 50% abortions in pregnant mares.
4. EVA can be readily spread through respiratory channels.
5. EVA is not an endemic disease in Utah.

A plan detailing appropriate actions and interventions to be implemented for the prevention of spread of this disease should be developed for each involved premise and presented to the state veterinarian. Guidelines for the control of EVA may be found in the Equine Viral Arteritis, Uniform Methods and Rules, Effective April 19, 2004, which is available at: http://www.aphis.usda.gov/vs/nahps/equine/eva/eva-umr.pdf . The quarantine will be released only when it is determined that there is no threat of further transmission. Penalties for violation of this quarantine can be extreme (up to $5,000 per occurrence).

EVA OUTBREAK INFORMATION

• The premises that are currently under quarantine are larger horse facilities located in Salt Lake and Utah counties.

• Quarantined premises should not pose a threat because those animals are restricted from movement.

• A quarantine prevents movement both onto and from the quarantined premise.

• The owners of a quarantined premise should not allow horses to enter or leave the premise.

• The main potential for exposure to your animals would come from animals and premises that are unknowingly infected and therefore not reported and not quarantined.

• There has been a recent transmission of the disease which occurred at a show and which resulted in an additional 2 premises being infected and quarantined.

• There is an effective vaccine for this disease but the vaccine is in very short supply until October. Quarantine is the most effective tool that we have at this time to control the spread of the disease.

• We are NOT recommending that horse shows be canceled at this time, and will rely on owners to keep their horses at home if there is a chance that they have been exposed to the disease.

• Owners should evaluate the risks and make their own decisions prior to attending public horse events such as shows and rodeos.

Posted August 9, 2006