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Equine Viral Arteritis

It´s a highly contagious disease of varying severity that can cause occasionally abortion or even death in horses.

The signs of EVA are very variable. Common symptoms include fever, depression, loss of appetite, swelling, stiffness of the limbs and conjunctivitis. Raised patches may appear over the face and body and in stallions the scrotum may swell.

The virus is spread by inhalation of infected respiratory secretion and by venereal transmission during mating. Horses who recover from infection are immune to re-infection for life.

Artificial insemination (AI) is a very important mean of transmission, worldwide. There is no specific treatment for EVA infection.

A blood test will tell whether a horse has been exposed to EVA virus. A stallion who is shedding EVA in his semen should not be used for natural mating and only semen from proven EVA negative stallions should be used for AI.

If you are sending a mare to a foreign or recently imported stallion, you should ask if he has been tested for EVA and/or vaccinated after having originally been tested negative for EVA. 

This article is based in scientific veterinary literature.