American Horse Council members and staff met with the United States Department of Agriculture’s Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs Jenny Lester Moffitt, USDA-APHIS Administrator Kevin Shea, Deputy Administrator and Chief Veterinary Officer Dr. Rosemary Sifford and more last week to discuss the state of the equine industry and how USDA-APHIS is engaging with it.
White and dappled gray horses looking out from corral
Testing for communicable horse diseases, lack of testing protocols and discovery of disease trends pose threats to horses in the USA.
© 2010 by John Clark New window.
The issues that were introduced by the industry this year fell into four topics, USDA’s staffing shortages, equine import process concerns, unsanctioned racing, and several items that are “on the horizon”.
Given ongoing equine import concerns, the American Horse Council is continuing efforts to improve international transport opportunities while protecting the health of our national horse herd.
Concerns over the evaluation of animals who present a non-negative test result upon arrival into the United States continue, although this issue has been greatly improved by the USDA’s implementation of their 28 day testing protocol.
However the AHC is encouraging the United States Department of Agriculture to bring in external (to USDA) experts immediately at discovery of non-negative import horse to advise on steps forward for each unique situation.
These few situations arise because the Glanders and Dourine tests used are not utilizing the most recent technology available. While new testing is hard for the USDA to approve, they continue to hobble themselves by refusing to create and maintain a non-negative sample bank for development of new testing protocols and discovery of disease trends.
These issues are often halted because of the lack of funding available for investigatory efforts within the equine space. This is frustrating for stakeholders who are frequently told that their user fees are solely responsible for the support available to them.
The American Horse Council has requested an evaluation of the user fee system within equine surveillance and how equine health funds are/can be spent on import services as well as within the broader Veterinary Services program. While user fees have not been increased for many years, USDA costs have risen dramatically as the agency has increased what services are now billed for.
The American Horse Council continues to be concerned about the open trade relationship with Saudi Arabia as rumors have persisted that the country continues to experience cases of African Horse Sickness (AHS), a disease that would be devastating if introduced into the United States. Recently a Saudi Arabian report of AHS was published in an in-country journal. We encouraged the USDA to revisit their open trade status until our concerns can be addressed.
Concerns about unsanctioned horse racing
Unsanctioned horse racing has been responsible for, or attributed to, every recent case of Equine Piroplasmosis (EP) and the majority of Equine Infectious Anemia (EIA) in the United States. Illegal movement of horses from Mexico allows animals infected with these diseases to threaten the international freedom status we enjoy from EP and the hopeful eradication of EIA.
The America Horse Council has asked about what new steps are available to shore up this threat, and also what is the potential USDA response to the general threat posed by unsanctioned racing. The USDA is investigating the scope of the unsanctioned racing situation, but has not detailed any strategies in resolving this concern.
Press release by American Horse Council