Horses going from the United States to the European Union can either be shipped with permanent or temporary health papers.

Current Members of the European Union:

• Austria
• Belgium
• Bulgaria
• Cyprus
• Czech Republic
• Denmark
• Estonia
• Finland
• France
• Germany
• Greece
• Hungary
• Ireland
• Italy
• Latvia
• Lithuania
• Luxembourg
• Malta
• Netherlands
• Poland
• Portugal
• Romania
• Slovakia
• Slovenia
• Spain
• Sweden
• United Kingdom

Permanent Health Status
To export a horse under the permanent health status, the following is required:

• The horse needs to stay in quarantine for 30 days in any USDA approved facility.
• The horse needs to be vaccinated against EEE & WEE (Eastern and Western Equine Encephalomyelitis) not less than 30 days but not more than 180 days prior to export.
• A negative AGID coggins test result is needed within 30 days prior to export.
• For stallions, a test for EVA (Equine Viral Arteritis) is required within 21 days prior to export.

Temporary Health Status
Under the temporary health status your horse is allowed to stay in the foreign country for 90 days. To export a horse under the temporary health status, the following is required:

• A negative AGID coggins test is needed within 90 days of shipment.
• A vaccination for EEE & WEE (Eastern and Western Equine Encephalomyelitis) is needed not less than 30 days but not more than 180 days prior to export.
• Only for Stallions: A negative test result for Equine Viral Arteritis (EVA) is needed within 21 days of export.
• All horses need to have a FEI Passport, Breed registry papers or AHSA papers as well as a copy of these documents attached to the health certificate.

At present no additional testing is required however this may change at any time depending on disease outbreaks. We always keep up us updated with the current health status requirements with the United States Department of Agriculture.

West Nile Virus
Each horse being shipped to the European Union must have an additional certification stating that it was either not vaccinated against West Nile Virus or it was vaccinated against West Nile Virus with an inactivated vaccine on at least two occasions at an interval of between 21 to 42 days apart. The second injection must have been given at least 30 days prior to export departure date.

West Nile is a mosquito-borne virus, which causes encephalitis or inflammation of the brain. It has been found in Africa, western Asia, the Middle East, the Mediterranean region of Europe and most recently in various parts of the eastern US.

Mosquitoes acquire the West Nile virus from birds and pass it on to other birds, animals and people. While the virus may infect humans and horses, there is no documentation that infected horses can spread the virus to uninfected horses or other animals. Migrating birds may play a role in spreading the disease.

No treatment is currently available for the West Nile virus.