Ensuring the safety of competitors and horses at US Equestrian Competitions is a top priority of US Equestrian. Below you will find tools available for use by US Equestrian Competition Management. Rules regarding competition safety can be found in US Equestrian Rule Book Chapter GR8.
ALERT VESICULAR STOMATITIS OUTBREAK
CURRENT SITUATION : VS Affected States and Counties (As of June 3, 2023)
California- Riverside, San Bernardino and San Diego Counties
Vesicular stomatitis (VS) is a viral disease of horses and other animals. Infection results in vesicles (blisters), crusts, and ulceration of the lips, muzzle, nose, tongue, ears, sheath, teats, and/or coronary band. Transmission is predominantly by black flies, sand flies, and biting midges. The virus is in the active lesion, thus animals with active lesions can transmit the virus by direct contact, shared feed/water sources, and other carriers contaminated by infective lesions, vesicular fluid, and/or saliva. The lesions are self-limiting and typically resolve within 14 days. Humans can be infected from exposure to this virus and have mild flu-like symptoms.
USEF supports continuing competitions in VS Affected States and competitions which include horses from VS Affected States provided the biosecurity measures listed below are implemented.
As we have learned over the last few years, we live in a world of equine infectious disease events which are outside of our control. Thus, we must make adjustments to best support competitions while protecting our equine athletes through the implementation of necessary biosecurity measures.
Critical Control Measures For ALL USEF licensed Competitions– Reporting of Vesicular Lesions
- All competitions to institute immediate mandatory reporting of horses with vesicular lesions to competition management.
- All competitions to require immediate isolation of horses with vesicular lesions or temperatures over 101.5°F.
- All competitions to immediately report any horses with vesicular lesions to State Veterinarian’s office in the state in which the event is held AND to the USEF Equine Health and Biosecurity Veterinarian Dr. Katie Flynn ([email protected] or 859-225-6991)
REQUIRED BIOSECURITY MEASURES FOR MANAGING EVENTS WITH HORSES FROM VS-AFFECTED STATES
In light of the current vesicular stomatitis situation, the USEF is requiring competition management to consult with a veterinarian to evaluate their situation related to potential introduction and spread of vesicular stomatitis and determine which of the following options would be most appropriate.
ALL USEF LICENSED COMPETITIONS MUST SELECT ONE OF THE FOLLOWING OPTIONS FOR EVENTS BEING HELD AFTER JUNE 1, 2023
Option A
- Restrict entries from USDA confirmed VS Affected States under the condition that notification is made to the Federation and all potential participants no less than five (5) days prior to the start of competition and the notification is published in an obvious location on the competition's website homepage and social media sites.
- Note: This option would apply if no horses from VS Affected States are entered in your event or expected to attend your event.
Option B
- Accept horses from USDA confirmed VS Affected States and implement ALL the following required biosecurity requirements:
- Timed Certificate of Veterinary Inspection issued within 5 days prior to the start of the competition which includes a VS Statement. TImed CVIs are required for any horse originating from any area within in a VS affected State.
- For example as of June 1, 2023, any horse from California entering an event venue for any reason (inlcuding schooling) in any state, including California would be required to have a timed CVI.
- Onsite Veterinary or their technician examination of all horses from VS Affected States for vesicular lesions at time of entry to venue. No horse will be permitted entry to stabling, schooling, or competition area without veterinary examination.
- Rejection of any horse or load of horses with suspect lesions.
- Separate designated stabling area for horses from VS affected states.
- Monitoring of horses from VS Affected States for the duration of the event. Stall temperature logs required to be completed with twice daily temperature recordings. (See resource section below to download temperature log template)
- Individual designated by competition management to directly observe horses originating from VS affected states for vesicular lesions daily.
- Immediate notification of State Veterinarian’s office and USEF Equine Health and Biosecurity Veterinarian of any suspect lesions.
- Implement Vector Control Measures on the premises including but not limited to encouraging the use of individual vector control of fly sprays, wipes, or protective covering and premises control measures to eliminate fly breeding areas.
- Timed Certificate of Veterinary Inspection issued within 5 days prior to the start of the competition which includes a VS Statement. TImed CVIs are required for any horse originating from any area within in a VS affected State.
Option C
- Cancel the event - In cases where the prevalence of disease is high and/or there is an inability to implement appropriate biosecurity mitigation measures to control or mitigate risk, the most appropriate decision to best protect our equine athlete may be to cancel the competition.
NOTE: ALLL EVENTS MUST SELECT ONE OF THE ABOVE OPTIONS AND COMPLETE ACKNOWLEDGEMENT FORM (SEE RESOURCES SECTION AT BOTTOM OF PAGE TO DOWNLOAD FORM)
For June events, the attached form should be utilized by competition management to notify the federation of which option they choose for their June events. The completed from shall be emailed to [email protected]. For events after July 1, 2023, please hold off completing this paper form as we expect to have an electronic version of the form on the USEF Competition Manager dashboard soon.
Importance of Biosecurity
Everyone’s focus is to keep competition horses healthy. However, traveling and commingling horses at a competition ground is not without risk. There is no way to eliminate all risk from a competition ground, but following core biosecurity principles significantly reduce the risk of disease introduction and spread. Competition staff can reduce risk by focusing efforts on the following:
Equine Health and Biosecurity Responsibilities To ensure equine health and healthy competition grounds, the United States Equestrian Federation has implemented the highlighted general rules listed below. For assistance with questions or concerns related to these rules contact USEF Sr. Staff Veterinarian for Equine Health and Biosecurity at [email protected] or call 859-225-6991.
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Licensed Competitions COVID-19 Toolkit for Competition Organizers & Participants - updated 12/09/22
includes the USEF COVID-19 Action Plan for USEF-Licensed Competitions
Biosecurity Toolkit for Equine Events
Equine Disease Communications Center