Understanding Certificates of Veterinarian Inspection (Health Certificates)
A Certificate of Veterinarian Inspection CVI is a document that is required for interstate between states and some intrastate within the state travel. A CVI also referred to as a health certificate ensures your horse has been evaluated by a veterinarian recently and that at the time of inspection your horse had no obvious signs of illness.
Certificate of Veterinarian Inspections are required to help reduce disease spread from one area and horse to another. An inspection for illness by your veterinarian may identify obvious or even subtle signs of disease that may not have otherwise been known. Some common diseases of concern include equine infectious anemia EIA strangles equine herpesvirus 1 and 4 vesicular stomatitis and piroplasmosis. Certificate of Veterinarian Inspections typically expire after thirty days but some states may allow for extensions up to six months. Requirements and length of validity are determined by each state.
Place of Origin Contact name location phone email
Destination Information Point of contact location phone email
Veterinarian Information Name Clinic Accreditation Number Address
Horses identifiable factors Breed sex color age permanent identification microchip tattoo
Equine infectious anemia EIA test information Test result date of test lab where testing occurred lab ID number
Transport information Date purpose of movement
Requirements for CVIs
Requirements for a CVI depend on the state show or destination and current disease conditions. Within the United States there is a requirement that any horse crossing a state line must have a health certificate and a negative test for EIA often identified by a Coggins test. States may vary by the timeframe in which the health certificate must have been acquired before travel. This is often affected by current disease situations
and may vary drastically state to state. Some CVIs are only valid for 72 hours after inspection in areas where an infectious disease outbreak has occurred. Make sure that you speak with your veterinarian early to identify destination state and origin state requirements during the time period you intend to travel.
Pennsylvania Requirements
For Pennsylvania it is required that a CVI be issued on any horse entering the Commonwealth within 30 days of desired entry. It must be accompanied with a negative test for EIA obtained within a year from the date of entry. Additional requirements are in place for horses who
