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been exposed to VS. North Dakota now requires
an entry permit on all horses entering the state.
Florida requires a cvi statement not only on horses
but even on slaughter cattle. We send a lot of cattle
to a slaughter plant in Florida and this is a problem
for those folks getting cvi's on a truck load of cattle
headed to slaughter.
At the international level, Canada currently has
a prohibition on Texas horses entering as does
As you have probably heard by now, Texas had
a case of Vesicular Stomatitis diagnosed in five
horses near Del Rio in late May. It had been five
years since this viral disease of horses and cloven
hooved animals was last diagnosed in Texas. We
did however, catch a horse infected with VS trying
to enter Texas from New Mexico in 2012, on a road
stop check point out in far West Texas.
The significance of the disease is twofold. At the
larger level, the U.S. does not want
this to become more established
because of the diagnostic dilemma it
poses for distinguishing against Foot
and Mouth Disease when found in
cattle. It is also a devastating disease
if introduced into a dairy, as the
vesicular lesions often occur on the
teat and udder making it impossible
to milk the cows. This can lead to
mastitis or permanent damage to the
animal's future production potential,
as well as costing the dairymen
significant financial losses.
From the Texas equine veterinarian
perspective however, there is a
different problem for you and your
clients. The presence of VS in a
state leads to immediate trade and
movement sanctions against the
state of origin equine and livestock
populations that are trying to move
interstate, or enter international
export channels.
There are currently 12 states that
have some kind of enhanced entry
requirements or prohibition against
Texas animals. Idaho, for example,
will not allow any horses to enter
that have been within 10 miles of the
infected premise. Vermont wants a
statement that any equine from Texas
and all surrounding states have not
vESICulAR STOMATITIS IN t e X a S
dEE ELLIS, dVM, MPa
ExECUTIVE dIRECTOR/STaTE VETERINaRIaN
TExaS aNIMaL HEaLTH COMMISSION
