The United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Animal Health Surveillance System (NAHSS) is a network of many Federal and State government agencies integrated into a comprehensive and coordinated system of animal health monitoring and surveillance. The overall goal of the system is to collect, collate and analyze animal health information and to promptly distribute this information. The program is intended to improve the protection of the national animal health and to increase the efficiency of existing animal health surveillance programs.

The NAHSS website contains information on all the major livestock groups, including an Equine Health Monitoring & Surveillance section. Two new web pages have been recently added to this section which can be found at http://www.aphis.usda.gov/vs/nahss/equine/.

The first new web page is on Equine Herpes Virus. An outbreak of neurologic Equine Herpes Virus type 1 (EHV-1) occurred in late 2006 and involved a group of 15 horses shipped from Germany that were subsequently shipped to eight states. There was a significant impact on the horse industry because of this outbreak, especially in Florida. The new website gives details and current information on this outbreak, as well as further information on the disease, and links to state websites with EHV-1 information.

The second of the new pages is on Equine Viral Arteritis (EVA). An outbreak of EVA occurred in Quarter Horses in 2006, with the virus confirmed on premises within six states (Kansas, Montana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Utah and Alabama). This outbreak had a devastating impact on the Quarter Horse breeding industry. The new web page gives detailed information on this EVA outbreak, along with background information on the disease and on its management and control.

Along with the new pages on EVA and EHV-1, you can find information on Vesicular Stomatitis, Equine Infectious Anemia, Eastern and Western Equine Encephalitis, West Nile Virus and more. The NAHSS Equine Health Monitoring & Surveillance website is an important and useful website to learn about current equine health and disease information.

ENDS~~~For more information, please contact Maria Partlow, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Communications, at (859) 225-6941, or via e-mail at [email protected].