By Carolyn Oppenheimer, DVM
Most
horse owners know that historically, a veterinary examination and a health
certificate is required within 30 days of interstate travel. Likewise, many horse owners have
experienced the inconvenience of forgetting to acquire the health certificate
until the night before impending travel.
This usually makes for an interesting discussion with your veterinarian
as to why you “must have” an emergency examination at 10pm! A health
certificate is designed as a first line of defense to the spread of
disease. A physical exam should be
performed by your veterinarian to be sure that no overt signs of illness or
disease are apparent. Of particular concern are those diseases that are
reportable to the government which are often foreign or emerging, very
contagious or cause a high degree of mortality. This group of diseases includes: Strangles, EIA (Equine
Infectious Anemia), EVA (Equine Viral Arteritis), Equine Herpes Virus-1, Vesicular
Stomatitis, and Rabies.
Official
certificates of veterinary inspection (OCVI or better known as “health
certificates”) allow horses to cross state lines with the security of knowing
that, at time of examination, there were no signs of illness and that the
horse’s Coggins, which tests for Equine Infectious Anemia (EIA), was negative.
It is important to remember that just because a horse has a health
certificate does not guarantee that he is disease free. Incubation
periods of diseases vary and a horse can appear completely healthy on physical
exam before exhibiting signs of illness the following day. Therefore, if any abnormalities are
noted by the owner in the days or weeks after a health certificate is obtained,
the horse should be seen by a veterinarian again.
In
the past, health certificates had to be written within 30 days of crossing the
state lines. Recently, several options for extending the health
certificates from 30 days to 6 months have been introduced. The
Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services offers the Equine Event
Extension and Equine Interstate Passport Card. GlobalVet Link also has an
option called the GoPass.
All
three of these options are intended for horses that are involved in interstate
travel to shows or other equine events. The Equine Interstate Passport
Card and the GoPass have digital photographs and are accepted in these states:
Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina,
Tennessee, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Kentucky, Virginia and West
Virginia. A paper document called the Equine Event Extension is only
accepted in the following states: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia,
Louisiana, South Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia. These documents expire either 6 months from the date on the
OCVI or when the Coggins test expires, whichever is earlier.
After
a health certificate is obtained from an accredited veterinarian, either a
horse owner or a veterinarian may submit digital photos for use with the Equine
Interstate Passport Card. Before
these extensions may be used, the premise that houses the horse must be
registered with the State. For the Equine Interstate Passport Card,
the cost is $15.00 for the first horse and $5.00 for subsequent horses on the
same application. For the Equine
Event Extension, the cost is $10.00 for the first horse and then $5.00 for each
subsequent horse on the same application.
After the initial effort of
registering the premise and applying for the extension, this should make
shipping for interstate events more convenient.
If
you have any questions on equine health certificates in general, please email
Dr. Leann Kuebelbeck at lkuebelbeck@surgi-carecenter.com
For
information about health certificate extensions and details of how to apply,
you can also visit The Florida
Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services: The Division of Animal
Industry http://www.freshfromflorida.com/ai/main/equine_ecard.shtml
For
more information about the GlobalVetLink GoPass, please visit
http://www.globalvetlink.com
This article was originally published in Horse & Pony magazine in October, 2011 and is reprinted with their permission.