Veterinary Department Updates

The FEI Sports and Veterinary Department would like to draw your attention to the application deadline to host FEI Transfer Up or CES (FEI Competency-based Evaluation System) Maintenance Courses in 2024.

We kindly ask you to download the relevant application & budget forms, which can be accessed via the links provided below, and to send them to the FEI via the corresponding email address also provided below, no later than the 31 July 2023.

Should you have any questions regarding the administration of our courses, please contact the relevant FEI Sport or Veterinary Department who will be able to assist you.

The FEI Board held a teleconference on 2 May. The Paris 2024 resolution taken on this occasion is listed below.

PARIS 2024 OLYMPIC AND PARALYMPIC GAMES
The Board approved the following appointments of International Technical Officials for the 2024 Olympic Games:

Eventing Technical Delegate: Marcin Konarski (POL)

Jumping Technical Delegate: Guilherme Nogueira Jorge (BRA)

Foreign Veterinary Delegate: Dr Emily Sandler (USA)

President of the Veterinary Commission: Dr Thierry Grisard (FRA)

Member of the Veterinary Commission: Dr Juliana Freitas (BRA)

Member of the Veterinary Commission: Dr Julius Peters (NED)

Overall Chief Steward: Cesar Hirsch (VEN)

The FEI Board held a teleconference on 2 May. The Veterinary resolution taken on this occasion is listed below.

Veterinary
FEI Central Laboratory 2023-2026
Further to the recommendations of the Veterinary Chair, the Veterinary Director and the Legal Director, the Board approved LGC, Newmarket Road, Fordham, Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom as the FEI Central Laboratory from 2023 to 2026.

The FEI Board held an extraordinary teleconference on 4 April. One of the main resolutions taken on this occasion is listed below:

Veterinary
Appointment Dr Albéric Théry to the FEI Equine Prohibited Substances List Expert Group
The Board approved the appointment of Dr Albéric Théry (UAE) to the FEI List Group as a replacement of Treating Veterinarian Dr Richard Corde (FRA) retiring in 2023.

The FEI was recently informed of supply delays for certain Boehringer Ingelheim products, which includes the Equine Influenza vaccine ProteqFlu® as well as the Equine Influenza and Tetanus vaccine ProteqFlu® TE.

The FEI is currently monitoring the potential impact of a shortage of ProteqFlu® and ProteqFlu® TE equine vaccines in the European Union and the United Kingdom, and will provide regular updates on the evolving situation. 

In the meantime, please refer to the Frequently Asked Questions page on inside.FEI.org for more information.

As you are all aware and in accordance with the FEI Veterinary Regulations, as of 1 January 2022 all Horses competing at all FEI Events worldwide must fulfil the Horse Health Requirements via the FEI HorseApp.

The Horse Health Requirements were devised and implemented in response to the severe EHV-1 outbreak in mainland Europe last year, and are vital for the health and welfare of horses at FEI Events by providing an important biosecurity system to reduce the risk of an outbreak of an infectious disease.

Sanctions for non-compliance with these requirements are already in force for Horses competing at FEI Events in Mainland Europe and these will be introduced and enforced worldwide as of 1 September 2022. The month of August served as a transitional month for all FEI Events outside of Mainland Europe, providing an opportunity for all Stakeholders to become acquainted with the processes and sanctions that will now apply. A summary of the revised sanctions as laid out in Annex VI of the FEI Veterinary Regulations can be found here.

The FEI has today published the third and final part of the Report into the 2021 outbreak of the neurological form of Equine Herpes Virus (EHV-1) in mainland Europe.

This concluding part of the Report focuses on further risk mitigation against EHV-1, including conclusions from the EHV-1 vaccination review presented at the FEI Sports Forum on 26 April 2022.

The suggested way forward is the central theme for this part of the Report, including specifically whether or not mandatory vaccination should be proposed by the FEI, and the importance of enhanced biosecurity measures.

Part 3 also incorporates significant feedback from the FEI Veterinary Epidemiology Working Group and the FEI Veterinary Committee, and information on two relevant reports from the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). As with the previous two parts of the Report, Part 3 is co-authored by FEI Veterinary Director Dr Göran Åkerström and Grania Willis, former FEI Communications Director and now Executive Consultant to the FEI.

Based on advice from the FEI Veterinary Epidemiology Working Group, alongside additional feedback from virologists and immunologists and a report commissioned by the FEI from world-renowned equine infectious diseases specialist Professor Lutz Goehring, the FEI Veterinary Committee has concluded that the scientific evidence does not currently support mandating vaccination globally.

However, the Committee is fully supportive of enhanced biosecurity measures as the best method of preventing and mitigating outbreaks of EHV-1 and also strongly supports personal choice, stressing that National Federations and stakeholders must have the right to vaccinate their horses against the disease.

A press release on today’s publication is available here.

The full Report, including the final part, is available here.

The FEI Equine Prohibited Substances List Group - the sub-committee of the Veterinary Committee responsible for the FEI Equine Prohibited Substances List (EPSL) - has met to consider changes to the EPSL 2022.

During 2022 a detailed review of the Controlled Medication list has been carried out and the proposed changes to the EPSL can be found here. Any accepted changes will come into effect as of 1 January 2023, and are subject to consultation and review before their implementation.

Please submit all comments regarding the proposed changes, together with a clear scientific reasoning, to Caterina Termine by Friday 12 August 2021. All comments received within this deadline will be considered by the FEI Equine Prohibited Substances List Group before finalising their conclusions.

As you are aware, Part 3 of the Report into the outbreak of Neurological Equine Herpes Virus (EHV-1) in Mainland Europe February 2021, was scheduled to be published in May 2022. However, this publication date has had to be delayed due to the postponement of a key meeting with Boehringer Ingelheim, the global leader in equine health and the FEI’s partner in the #HealthforHorses campaign aimed at improving the daily care and wellbeing of horses. Information from the postponed meeting which will now take place next month, will play an important role in the suggested way forward and is a central component of Part 3 of the Report.

Elements of the way forward were presented at the FEI Sports Forum on 26 April 2022, and these will be incorporated into Part 3. This final part of the Report will include proposed further risk mitigation of EHV-1, with the Sports Forum presentations from Session 8: FEI Veterinary Regulations, incorporated as Annexes.

It is planned to publish Part 3 in June 2022.

The FEI has today published Part 2 of the Report into the 2021 outbreak of the neurological form of Equine Herpes Virus (EHV-1) in mainland Europe. This section of the Report focuses on the Return To Competition protocols put in place to ensure the safe resumption of FEI Events after the six-week FEI-imposed lockdown on international sport in Continental Europe.

Part 2 of the Report also focuses on the EHV-1 By-Laws and sanctioning system, and evaluates their effectiveness, along with the elements that were subsequently incorporated into the FEI Veterinary Regulations 2022 approved at the FEI Hybrid General Assembly in November 2021.

The 30-page Report (Part 2), together with over 200 pages of Annexes, has been produced by FEI Veterinary Director Dr Göran Åkerström and Grania Willis, former FEI Communications Director and now Executive Consultant to the FEI.

Part 2 of the Report is published here on a dedicated page within the biosecurity hub of the FEI corporate website, home to all content related to the investigation into the outbreak of the neurological form of Equine Herpes Virus (EHV-1) in Spain in February 2021.

It sits alongside Part 1 of the Report and its Annexes, which were published on 28 February 2021.

Part 3 of the Report, elements of which will be presented at the FEI Sports Forum (25-26 April 2022), will incorporate further risk mitigation of EHV-1, including conclusions from the scientific EHV-1 vaccination review commissioned by the FEI, and the suggested way forward. This concluding section of the Report, with the Sports Forum presentations incorporated as Annexes, will then be published as Part 3 in May 2022.