The U.S. Department of Agriculture has exempted horses imported from Australia and New Zealand from testing for dourine and glanders, two potentially fatal equine diseases not known to exist in the United States, during the quarantine period.

“This action makes the importation of horses from Australia and New Zealand less expensive and more practical, without endangering the health of our own horse population,” said Alfonso Torres, deputy administrator for veterinary services with the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, a part of USDA’s marketing and regulatory programs mission area.

Horses imported from Australia and New Zealand will continue to be tested for equine piroplasmosis and equine infectious anemia and undergo any other tests and procedures that may be required to determine their freedom from communicable diseases.

New Zealand has never had a reported case of dourine or glanders. Australia has never had a reported case of dourine, and the last reported case of glanders in that country was reported in 1891