State Veterinarian Robert Stout, DVM, has banned all livestock and wild or exotic animals from Texas from entering Kentucky due to reports of vesicular stomatitis (VS) in horses in west Texas.

The order also prohibits the entry into Kentucky of any such animals that have been in Texas in the previous 30 days. It requires equids coming into Kentucky from states that border Texas to have a negative VS test within the 30-day period preceding their entry into the Commonwealth.

“State regulations prohibit the entry into Kentucky of livestock, wild, or exotic animals from a state where vesicular stomatitis has been diagnosed,” Stout said. “VS does not pose a danger to the food supply, but it can cause animals to suffer temporary lameness or stop eating because of sores on the mouth, and it is believed to cause flu-like symptoms in humans.”

The disease was diagnosed in three horses on a ranch in Reeves County, Texas, about 300 miles southeast of El Paso. The National Veterinary Services Laboratory in Ames, Iowa, confirmed the diagnosis on Wednesday