§ Lord Rowallanasked Her Majesty's Government:
How many equine viral arteritis (EVA) infected stallions or mares there are in the United Kingdom [HL1582]
§ The Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (Lord Donoughue)Equine viral arteritis is a notifiable disease in stallions and in mares served either naturally or by artificial insemination within the previous 14 days. There are currently two stallions either suspected or confirmed as 23WA infected in the UK and these have been published under the EVA order. There are currently no mares reported under the terms of the EVA order.
§ Lord Rowallanasked Her Majesty's Government:
Why there is no equine viral arteritis (EVA) test done on imported stallions and mares from other European Union countries; and [HL1584]
Why frozen horse semen is not tested for equine viral arteritis (EVA) when imported from other European Union countries [HL1584]
§ Lord DonoughueIntra-Community trade in horses and equine semen is subject to harmonised rules under Council Directive 90/426/EEC (as amended) and Council Directive 92/65/EEC respectively. These do not require post-import testing of stallions and mares or of semen for EVA.
Under Council Directive 90/426/EEC (as amended), an imported horse must show no clinical sign of disease at an inspection carried out less than 48 hours prior to departure and must not have been in contact with equidae suffering from any infectious or contagious disease during the previous 15 days.
Under Council Directive 92/65/EEC semen may only be collected from a donor stallion which during the 30 days prior to collection has been kept on holdings where no equidae showed clinical signs of EVA. The donor stallion must have had either a blood test for EVA antibody with negative results or a virus isolation test carried out on a sample of semen. These tests must be carried out at least 14 days after arriving on an approved collection centre in the case of a continuously resident stallion and at least at the beginning of each breeding season.
Semen may also be collected from stallions which are not continuously resident on a collection centre. In that case either the EVA blood test must be carried out no more than 30 days before semen collection or the non-carrier status of the stallion must be confirmed by a negative virus isolation test carried out on a sample of semen no more than one year before semen collection.
Alternatively, in the case of frozen semen, the EVA blood test or virus isolation test on semen may be carried out during the mandatory pre-export storage period for frozen semen and not less than 14 days after collection of semen, irrespective of the residence status of the stallion.
In addition to these controls, the Horserace Betting Levy Board codes of practice provide a framework under which the industry may protect itself against the introduction and spread of EVA virus from imported horses and semen.