The British Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) has published a 47-page document regarding control strategies for African horse sickness (AHS) should the disease ever be found in Great Britain.

In November David Health, MP, British Minister of State for Agriculture and Food, signed the African Horse Sickness (England) Regulations 2012 into law after they were introduced to the British Parliament in October. The regulations outline who must be notified if a horse in England is suspected of having AHS, steps to take once a horse is suspected or confirmed as having AHS, area AHS controls, and AHS vaccinations. The regulations also cover AHS guidelines for surveillance and management in equine slaughterhouses and in feral or wild horses.

"The African Horse Sickness (England) Regulations 2012 and The African Horse Sickness (Scotland) Order 2012 provide the legal powers to allow the control of African horse sickness (AHS); this control strategy describes how these powers will be used," the text of the newly completed control strategy reads.

The full text document is available online from DEFRA

Create a free account with TheHorse.com to view this content.

TheHorse.com is home to thousands of free articles about horse health care. In order to access some of our exclusive free content, you must be signed into TheHorse.com.

Start your free account today!

Already have an account?
and continue reading.