Officials closed the facility to new arrivals after a handful of horses quarantined there became sick. The center has been thoroughly cleaned and disinfected, but officials have not been able to identify the cause of disease. | Photo: Courtesy Dirk Caremans/FEI

The USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) will partially reopen the Miami Animal Import Center’s (MAIC) horse quarantine facility on March 11 after thoroughly cleaning and disinfecting the facility.

On Jan. 19, the facility was closed to new arrivals after a handful of horses quarantined at the facility became sick. At the time, veterinary experts suspected Salmonella as the cause of illness; however, subsequent testing has not identified any causative disease agent present at the MAIC. Officials with APHIS collected more than 180 environmental samples at the facility and all were negative for Salmonella