EVA Vaccination Can Make Your Stallion Unshippable

Every now and then we run into a situation that makes it impossible to ship a horse from the USA to virtually any other country in the world. It is very upsetting when someone outside of the USA learns that the horse that they have purchased is not going to be able to leave the USA. It also comes as a very unpleasant surprise to the horse's previous owner. This situation is 100% preventable. Here is how to prevent this from ever happening to a stallion that you want to buy or sell and ship internationally. Option 1. Don't vaccinate him for EVA. Pure and simple. If he has not been vaccinated and he does not have the disease, the test results for EVA will be negative and he will be able to be shipped. No problem. Option 2. If you believe that you must vaccinate your stallion for EVA, follow the proper protocol and keep documentation so that it can be presented when it is time for him to be shipped. The simplest, easiest way to do this is to have your veterinarian draw blood and send it in for testing for EVA on the same day that the vaccination is given. Ask your veterinarian to provide you with documentation of the vaccination and to send you a copy of the negative test results from the lab. Keep these documents in a safe place. When it is time to send your stallion to the quarantine facility for shipping outside of the USA, tell the staff that the stallion was vaccinated for EVA and provide the documentation mentioned above. The quarantine facility will then be able to prepare the shipping documents without any difficulties. The trouble arises when: 1. the stallion's owner and/or veterinarian did not follow the proper protocol 2. did not keep the proper records and/or 3. did not tell the quarantine facility that the horse was vaccinated. When test results come back positive (and they ALWAYS will when the horse has been vaccinated), it is the quarantine facility's unpleasant task to tell the exporter and importer that their horse can't be shipped. So stallion owners - please prevent this situation from happening to one of your horses. Just follow the proper protocol and share the documents with the quarantine facility at the very beginning.