According to a report filed by the New Zealand-based website Horsetalk, Icelandic authorities will discontinue export quarantine protocol for an outbreak of equine upper respiratory tract infections that affected the island nation's horses earlier in 2010.

According to the Icelandic Food and Veterinary Authority (MAST), authorities halted the export of horses from Iceland from May 1 to Sept. 14 to prevent the spread of the unknown ailment.

When exportation began again on Sept. 15, MAST issued quarantine protocol stating that "all horses to be exported must be kept in isolated groups on the farms, a kind of home quarantine, for at least 30 days prior to export (60 days when exporting to the USA) … A declaration by the owner and veterinarian stating that the horses are free of symptoms and that proper quarantine measures were employed must be issued for each horse."

According to Horsetalk, MAST reported that the disease began subsiding in mid-November. The official quarantine protocol will be lifted on Jan. 1, 2011, provided that no more outbreaks of the disease occur between now and then