Equine Health: From Local Disease to National Disaster 

Animal health emergencies, and the tools for dealing with them, have changed dramatically in recent years. Recent events have demonstrated that sudden alterations in industry patterns as a response to a perceived or real risk, or the decision of a foreign government to stop importation because of a disease occurring in the United States, can all have a sudden and devastating effect on horse owners, the movement of horses and the activities and events in which they participate. Equine health emergencies include not only the origin of a disease but also its impact on the industry and the economy.

Effective equine health emergency management requires changing the traditional identification of “national” emergency management with the Federal government and of “local” emergency management with the state government as this inhibits the ability to coordinate actions at either level, particularly on a regional basis. Instead, a partnering approach must be developed where federal and state governments, the equine industry and veterinary industry work together to define the roles and responsibilities of each in an emergency. This allows for the use of a broader range of skills to handle emergencies and a greater opportunity to pool resources at a time when public funding for agricultural activities across the board is declining, increasing the need to rely on resources from both public and private entities.

The 2000 American Horse Council Convention, scheduled for September 23-26 at the Doubletree Crystal City Hotel in Arlington, Virginia, will review these issues to ensure the horse industry knows how to be prepared for the possibility of a national disaster