302 KAR 20:110. Treatment of imported mares

      Section 1. Definitions. (1) "Application to import" means a request to import a horse or horses to a single specific farm or quarantine facility that includes submission of the Import Mare Agreement Form upon importation of the horse.

      (2) "Approved veterinarian" means a licensed veterinarian who is accredited to do regulatory work by the United States Department of Agriculture and who has physically demonstrated proper swabbing and sampling methods to a representative of the Office of the State Veterinarian.

      (3) "CEM" means contagious equine metritis.

      (4) "CF test" means a complement-fixation test on equine serum for the detection of antibodies to the contagious equine metritis bacterium.

      (5) "Cleansing of a stallion" means thorough washing, using warm water, of the external genitalia of the stallion with the penis in full erection.

      (6) "Mare" means a female horse over 731 days of age.

      (7) "Set of swabs" means a swab obtained from the clitoral sinus and clitoral fossa.

 

      Section 2. A mare imported into Kentucky for breeding from a country known to be affected by CEM shall be tested and treated for Contagious Equine Metritis by or under the direct supervision of a Kentucky approved veterinarian who is approved by the Kentucky Department of Agriculture according to the procedures established in this section.

      (1) Prior to importation, the premises shall be inspected by a representative of the Office of the State Veterinarian and USDA Veterinary Services Guidance 13406.1 shall be completed at the time of inspection and signed by the farm manager.

      (2) Following arrival into Kentucky, the approved veterinarian shall determine the mare’s pregnancy status, review the prescribed testing and treatment schedule, and submit to the Office of the State Veterinarian the reported findings and acceptance or required amendments to the testing schedule based on the conditions of the mare by completing the Import Mare Agreement Form and Import Mare CEM Plan and Worksheet Form.

      (3) During the course of the quarantine, the approved veterinarian shall collect and submit for CEM culture three (3) sets of swabs from the mare. The sets of swabs shall be collected during a twelve (12) day period with a minimal of seventy-two (72) hours lapsing between each set being collected. Mares determined and reported to be non-pregnant shall have an additional swab collected from the endometrium or distal cervix included with the third set of swabs.

      (4) Following the third set of swabs being submitted for culture, the approved veterinarian shall manually remove all organic debris from the clitoral fossa and sinuses. The sinuses shall then be flushed with an approved ceruminolytic agent until all remaining debris has been removed. The approved veterinarian shall, for five (5) consecutive days, wash and clean (scrub), with a solution of not less than two (2) percent chlorhexidine in a detergent base, the external genitalia, vaginal vestibule, clitoral fossa, and clitoral sinuses. The clitoral fossa, clitoral sinuses, external genitalia, and vaginal vestibule shall be filled and covered with an antibiotic ointment that is effective against the CEM organism and is approved by USDA and the Kentucky State Veterinarian.

      (5) After the procedures established in subsections (1) and (2) of this section have been satisfactorily completed and all three (3) of the swabs are reported to the department as testing negative for CEM bacterium, the imported mare may be released from quarantine by the department.

      (6) Before the imported mare may be bred in Kentucky, a swab shall be collected from the endometrium and cultured negative for CEM. This swab may be included with any of the three (3) required sets of swabs, or for a pregnant mare, may be collected after foaling.

      (7) An imported mare bred in Kentucky shall be prophylactically scrubbed and bred last of the group of mares bred during that session. The external genitalia of the covering stallion shall be cleansed, as defined in Section 1 of this administrative regulation, after breeding an imported mare. The next three (3) mares bred to the stallion, after the imported mare, shall have a blood sample collected and submitted for CF testing fifteen (15) to twenty-five (25) days postbreeding. Included with the submission of the sample shall be the name of the imported mare that was bred prior to the mare being tested, and the name of the covering stallion, date, and time bred.

      (8) The farm’s management where the stallion is standing shall notify the owner or agent of the three (3) mares bred to the stallion, following an imported mare, that a postbreeding CF test is required.

      (9) The farm where the stallion is standing shall contact the Kentucky State Veterinarian and provide the name, breeding date, time, and location of the imported mare covered, and the name, breeding date, time, and location of the three (3) mares bred to the stallion following the imported mare.

 

      Section 3. A CEM culture positive mare shall remain under quarantine and shall be treated as described in Section 2(4) and (7) of this administrative regulation. The mare shall have sets of swabs obtained, as described in Section 2(3) of this administrative regulation, no less than twenty-one (21) days after the last day of treatment. If all required specimens taken from the mare test negative for the CEM bacterium, the mare may be released from quarantine.

 

      Section 4. User fees shall be assessed for an equine import. (1)(a) An import broker making application to import mares into Kentucky for completion of a CEM quarantine shall be assessed and pay a fee for the processing, implementation, and monitoring of the quarantine.

      (b) If multiple destinations are declared for animals to be quarantined, each listed destination shall constitute a separate application.

      (2) An application processing and premise inspection fee of $100 shall be assessed for each application received to import mares into Kentucky for completion of the CEM quarantine.

      (3) Upon receipt of the mare(s) at the quarantine facility, the broker shall be assessed a fee of $120 per individual mare for the receipt, inspection, quarantine, and monitoring to establish the animal’s disease status during the quarantine period.

      (4) An import broker shall pay a fee for each shipment of mares which arrives at a Kentucky quarantine destination on weekends, state-recognized holidays, and between the hours of 5:01 p.m. and 6:59 a.m.

      (a) For weekends and between the hours of 5:01 p.m. and 6:59 a.m., the assessed fee shall be sixty (60) dollars per hour with a minimum of two (2) hours time charged, including the travel time of KDA employees.

      (b) For state-recognized holidays, the assessed fee shall be $120 per hour with a minimum of two (2) hours charged. The holiday fee shall apply to all mares received during the holiday period which runs from the close of business on the last scheduled work day preceding the holiday, through the start of business on the next scheduled work day following the holiday including the travel time of KDA employees.

      (5) The broker shall pay the assessed fees by check. The check shall be made payable to the Kentucky State Treasurer and mailed to the Kentucky Department of Agriculture, Office of State Veterinarian within ninety-six (96) hours of receipt of the charges.

      (6) Failure to comply with the user fee schedule may result in an application for importation to be delayed or denied.

 

      Section 5. The imported mare shall be released from quarantine if:

      (1) The requirements of all sections of this administrative regulation have been completed;

      (2) The required specimens taken from the mare test negative for the CEM bacterium; and

      (3) No other evidence of CEM conditions, indication of possible CEM suppression, or other related medical issues are found.

 

      Section 6. Incorporation by Reference. (1) The following material is incorporated by reference:

      (a) "Import Mare Agreement Form", February 2015

      (b) "Import Mare CEM Plan and Worksheet Form", February 2015; and

      (c) "USDA Veterinary Services Guidance 13406.1", 2/13/13.

      (2) This material may be inspected, copied, or obtained, subject to applicable copyright law, at the Kentucky Department of Agriculture, Office of the State Veterinarian, 109 Corporate Drive, Frankfort, Kentucky 40601, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The material is also available on the department Web site at www.kyagr.com. (8 Ky.R. 784; eff. 3-1-1982; Am. 9 Ky.R. 1164; eff. 5-4-1983; 21 Ky.R. 1534; eff. 1-25-1995; 23 Ky.R. 3403; 3757; eff. 5-14-1997; 28 Ky.R. 2430; 29 Ky.R. 101; eff. 7-15-2002; 35 Ky.R. 1247; 1733; eff. 2-6-2009; 41 Ky.R. 2027; 2217; eff. 6-5-2015.)

Notation

      RELATES TO: KRS 257.070, 9 C.F.R. 93.301

      STATUTORY AUTHORITY: KRS 257.030, 257.070

      NECESSITY, FUNCTION, AND CONFORMITY: KRS 257.070 requires that importation of animals into Kentucky complies with administrative regulations promulgated by the board. KRS 257.030 authorizes the board to establish necessary quarantines and other measures to control the movement of livestock into, through, or within Kentucky. This administrative regulation establishes a technique for the treatment of a mare imported into Kentucky from a country listed in 9 C.F.R. 93.301 as a country affected by contagious equine metritis (CEM).