Equine Canada announced April 14 that the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has eliminated all vesicular stomatitis (VS) import restrictions for U.S. horses entering Canada.
Equine Canada said the restrictions were lifted as a result of additional information the CFIA received from the USDA regarding the recent VS cases reported in the United States in 2014.
In January, two horses in Santa Cruz County, Arizona, tested positive for VS. Prior to that in 2014, the United States experienced a large-scale VS outbreak that affected hundreds of premises in three states (Texas, Colorado, and Nebraska).
"The CFIA reduced VS restrictions to a county level on March 13, 2015," Equine Canada said in a statement. "Now, the restrictions that applied to only Santa Cruz County in Arizona have also been lifted, as of April, 13, 2015."