An infectious equine disease is bad news no matter what language you speak or which country you call home. But between countries, regulatory bodies, and animal health professionals, there often remains a difference in perspective when it comes to handling these diseases.

During a recent presentation in Lexington, Kentucky, Richard Newton, BVSc, MSc, PhD, FRCVS, Head of Epidemiology and Disease Surveillance at The Animal Health Trust, in Newmarket, England, provided a look at the European perspective on one potentially dangerous venereal disease: equine viral arteritis (EVA).

What is EVA?

At the equine arteritis virus (EAV) symposium hosted by the University of Kentucky (UK) Gluck Equine Research Center, Newton explained that EVA is a viral disease first identified in the 1950s in the United States during the "pioneering heyday of virology." The first case wasn't identified in the United Kingdom until March 1993, after mares were bred to a stallion shedding the virus recently imported from Poland. The stallion had been falsely certified as negative for the virus prior to being imported, he said.

Today the infection is found nearly worldwide—although New Zealand officials recently announced that the country has become EVA-free, Newton said—and is prevalent in most European countries. Although previous outbreaks have occurred in Thoroughbreds, the infection is currently much more prevalent in Warmbloods and Standardbreds, said Newton