Increased worldwide movement of equids means increased potential for spread of horse diseases. The impact of a disease outbreak on the health of the animals in a country, as well as the health of the country's economy, was evidenced with the equine influenza outbreak in Australia in 2007 and 2008.

"Clinicians (veterinarians) can no longer afford to delegate their responsibilities for infectious and exotic disease control to national and international regulators," said Des Leadon, MA, MVB, MSc, FRCVS, Dip. ECEIM, European College & RCVS Registered Consultant/Specialist in Equine Medicine, head of Clinical Pathology at the Irish Equine Centre, during a WEVA presentation with Conny Herholz, DrMedVet, PhD, Dipl. ECEIM, of the Federal Veterinary Office in Bern, Switzerland. A co-author on the paper they authored for WEVA was Dr. med. vet. Heinzpeter Schwermer, MSCVEPH, also of the Federal Veterinary Office.

"All who practice clinical veterinary medicine–in the private sector, in referral hospitals, and in the institutions and universities–have a duty of care to update themselves on exotic disease recognition and current global incidence," they concluded.

In reality, they stated, the clinician is often the first line of defense against a foreign animal disease or disease outbreak