Horses

New for Equine Practitioners

***UPDATE (12/5/2025)***

Due to the current Equine Herpes Virus (EHV-1) multi-state outbreak, Maryland is instituting the following actions. Effective immediately:

1. The use of EECVI's is suspended until further notice.

2. Interstate certificates of veterinary inspection (ICVIs) for equids originating from all states are required.

3. In addition, an intrastate certificate of veterinary inspection is required for all equine events within Maryland.

4. Equids originating from states with confirmed positive EHV-1 cases will need a CVI to be issued within 5 days of travel.

5. The following statement must be included on all equid CVI's: “The equine(s) listed on this CVI have, during the 21 days prior to the shipment date, not originated from a premises under EHV-1 quarantine, not been exposed to an EHV-1 positive equine, and not attended any event where an EHV-1 positive equine has been confirmed or suspected.”

These actions supersede the current animal import regulations on the website. Failure to comply with these requirements may result in regulatory or legal action.

Please be aware that many states are changing their entry requirements for equids. You will need to contact the state of destination for the most current requirements.

Fecal Testing Guidelines from the State Veterinarian-

Thank you for choosing the Frederick Animal Health Lab and the Salisbury Animal Health Lab to be your veterinary diagnostic laboratories. As a quality assurance initiative, and to ensure the safety of our personnel, we are modifying the containers in which fecal specimens will be received. We will be enforcing the use of spill proof containers and may reject gloves, rectal sleeves, and zip lock bag submissions. Please transfer samples to spill-proof containers prior to submission.

As an initiative and to assist you, we will provide the containers at each laboratory for pick up or via mail by requesting via email: [email protected] and [email protected]. Please specify approximately how many containers you would like to receive and address to be sent. The containers must be properly and legibly labeled and disinfected of biological debris to reduce odor, cross contamination, and exposure of our staff to infectious agents.

Additional recommendations for fecal sample testing are made in the Fecal Testing Guidelines Brochure (scroll up for link).