Vaccination

Vaccination requisite is based on the animal health requirement agreed upon between the government authorities of each country and the Japanese Government. Please ask your country's government for details. Aside from the requirement established by government, the JRA recommends Japanese Encephalitis virus vaccination as described below.

1. Japanese Encephalitis Virus Vaccination

   The JRA strongly recommends that the foreign trained horses which participate in the races held in our jurisdiction during July to October to be vaccinated against Japanese Encephalitis (JE) virus with an acceptable inactivated vaccine before coming to Japan. The JRA does not take any responsibility for any horses coming to Japan during this period without being inoculated with the necessary vaccine protection from JE. Although it is also possible for the JRA to provide the vaccine required for inoculation prior to the horse coming to Japan, owners should ask the respective authorities in their own country about import procedures and permission for use of the vaccine overseas. The reason JRA strongly recommends vaccination of JE is as follows:

During the period of July to October of each year, JE is prevalent in the natural environment in Japan. This is primarily an interaction between infected mosquitoes (Culex Tritaeniorhynchus) and swine. JE virus infection has been designated as an infectious disease under the Domestic Animal Infectious Diseases Control Law in Japan. Any horse becoming infected will require isolation. It is therefore conceivable that even uninfected horses might be precluded from subsequent domestic transportation and this would have a major effect on our race meetings in Japan. Consequently, to preclude the spread of the infection to horses, all race horses in Japan are required to be vaccinated with two doses of 1ml each, given from a two week to a one month interval between May and June annually, prior to the prevalent period of the infection. As a result of this preventative program, we have not had a case of JE observed in a race horse over the last twenty years. Therefore, the JRA requests that any person desiring to send horses to Japan for any races which are to be held during July to October should have the horses vaccinated against JE virus with an inactivated vaccine prior to export to Japan. The JRA will provide as much assistance as possible and will be pleased to respond to any inquiries you might have on this topic. If you require further information on vaccination against JE virus in your country and re-entry procedures, please inquire in advance to your respective Government offices.

*Export quarantine requirements prior to the departure from the country, should also be ascertained in advance from your respective Government Departments and you should follow their instructions for the necessary vaccinations and tests. Since certain countries require particular re-entry procedures, please ascertain these also and institute the necessary requirements before your horse departs from the originating country.