Vaccinations

Equine Vaccinination Requirements

Horses must be vaccinated against equine influenza in order to compete at FEI events. Every horse’s passport is checked at events to ensure that the horse has been vaccinated according to the FEI Veterinary Regulations, therefore all equine influenza vaccines that have been given to the horse must be recorded in the horse’s passport. The FEI supports the OIE recommendation that equine influenza vaccines should contain both Clade 1 and Clade 2 viruses of the Florida sublineage.

Although vaccination against tetanus is not mandatory, it is highly recommended. Horses may require other vaccines to protect them against equine infectious diseases that may be prevalent in their environment e.g. Equine Herpes Virus and West Nile Virus. These vaccines should also be recorded in the horse’s passport.

Why vaccinate against equine influenza?

Equine influenza outbreaks occur worldwide and most often affect horses that are unvaccinated or have been vaccinated but not within the required time intervals set by regulatory bodies or vaccine manufacturers. Equine influenza can cause significant losses to the equine industry and infections can be fatal.

Although vaccination against equine influenza cannot guarantee immunity, it is a mandatory biosecurity practice required by the FEI to reduce the risk of circulating virus at events.

Vaccine Administration and Record Keeping

All vaccinations must be administered by a licensed veterinarian. This veterinarian does not have to be a registered FEI veterinarian. The vaccines given must be recorded in the horse’s passport, signed by the veterinarian administering the vaccines and the passport must be stamped with the veterinarian’s clinic stamp.

If a mistake is made whilst recording vaccination information in the horse’s passport, draw a single line through the entry and re-enter the information on a new line. Do not use correction fluid or try to change dates that have already been written in.

Where vaccination details are to be recorded into new FEI Passports, Recognition Cards or duplicate documents, the certified statement "The vaccination history of this Horse is correct to date. Last vaccination on 00/00/00 (date)” may be used to summarise a long vaccination history.

Responsibilities of the PR

It is responsibility of the ‘Person Responsible’ (PR) for the horse to ensure that their horse has been vaccinated according to the FEI Veterinary Regulations. Sanctions can be given at events for not entering details of equine influenza vaccinations in the horse’s passport.

It is the PRs responsibility to ensure that their horse has been vaccinated at the correct time intervals to comply with the FEI Veterinary Regulations. The FEI Veterinary Department does not provide a service to assist with this.

Vaccination Intervals for Equine Influenza

Any horse receiving a new Primary Course as of 1 January 2024 must be vaccinated as follows:

There is no requirement for horses that have received their primary course and first booster before 1 January 2024, to be re-vaccinated provided that they have been vaccinated in compliance with the 2023 Veterinary Regulations. 

Horses that received their primary course before 2005 are exempt from the first booster requirement. Subsequent boosters must have been given at intervals no later than 1 calendar year after the primary course. 

 

Sanctions

Sanctions may be given by the Ground Jury to PRs whose horses do not comply with the FEI’s vaccination requirements. PRs may be issued with a fine, ineligibility to compete or disqualification from the event. A full list of sanctions can be found in Annex VI of the FEI Veterinary Regulations.