EHV-1: Continued use of equine self-certification encouraged
Tuesday 13 April 2021
As reported on 7 April, the Equine Infectious Diseases Action Group (EIDAG) – who advise British Equestrian – has recommended that the EHV-1 risk level is dropping to a low/normal level, but as an endemic disease the risk it poses to the UK equine population is continuous.
As part of the measures put in place to mitigate the risk of the current European EHV outbreak reaching our equine population, British Equestrian and its member bodies introduced an equine health self-certification form on 18 March under the advisement of the EIDAG. The process was implemented at short notice and was mandated for all British Dressage, British Eventing and British Showjumping competitions up to yesterday, 12 April. Thank you to all the organisers, secretaries and competitors who readily embraced the process and made it work so successfully.
While the mandate to use these forms has now ended, British Equestrian and the EIDAG are recommending to member bodies and their organisers that a revised version of the form be introduced as an ongoing biosecurity measure to protect our equines and mitigate the risk of spreading infectious conditions.
EIDAG chair Celia Marr commented; “Recent events have shown what can be achieved when we work collectively to implement effective biosecurity measures such as self-certification. We actively encourage all member bodies, event organisers and horse owners to continue to make use of a self-certification process to ensure that horses coming to gatherings are as healthy as possible, in order to reduce risk of disease spread. Infectious disease management is a collective responsibility which everyone shares.”
With this in mind British Showjumping will continue to request the ongoing requirement of members submitting an Equine Health Self Declaration Form to show organisers 24 hours prior to their arrival on site. This will continue until further notice. For further information on the process please read the initial announcement regarding its implementation on the 18th March which can be found here.
Equine Health Self Certification Form
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