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Notification

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In the UK, EVA is notifiable by law under the Equine Viral Arteritis Order 1995. Under the Order, anyone who owns, manages, inspects or examines a horse must notify the local Field Office of the Animal & Plant Health Agency when:

  • they suspect the disease in a stallion, either on the basis of clinical signs or following blood or semen testing;
  • they suspect disease, either on the basis of clinical signs or following blood testing, in a mare that has been mated or artificially inseminated within the past 14 days.

The RVL's are based at the local Field Offices in England, Scotland and Wales and can be found on Defra's APHA website.

Under the Order, Defra may:

  • serve notices prohibiting the use for breeding of the suspect stallion and any semen obtained from it unless permitted under licence by the RVL of the APHA;
  • take samples or obtain information in order to establish whether disease is present and, if so, the extent to which it has spread.

Upon confirmation of disease, Ministers will publish this fact and the name and location of the stallion concerned, followed by similar publicity when the disease has been eradicated.

When statutory powers under the Order are invoked, Defra will nominate laboratories to undertake the testing of all the samples required for the subsequent investigation.

It is advisable for owners, or persons authorised to act on their behalf, to inform the national breeders' association if EVA is isolated.