Diseases and Conditions

The Indiana State Board of Animal Health has quarantined a Lake County boarding facility after a horse was confirmed positive with equine herpesvirus-1 (EHV-1). The horse was humanely euthanized after showing neurological signs just days before he was confirmed for the virus.  The 45 horses at the stable will remain under quarantine until all are confirmed free of the disease. 

The Colorado Department of Agriculture is warning horse owners that an outbreak of Equine Herpes Virus (EHV-1) has been identified in Colorado. One case of the respiratory and neurological disease has been confirmed in Douglas County. The farm where the horse resides has been quarantined.

On May 2, 2012, an alert was issued to the University of Liege in Belgium and to the RESPE that 23 clinical cases compatible with the diagnosis of atypical myopathy have been recorded so far this year. In France, there have been 18 cases, in Great-Britain 4 cases have been reported and 1 case has been reported in New Zealand.

The La Baule Organizing Committee Veterinary Advisors and the FEI have been constantly monitoring horses at the French event following a confirmed case of Equine Influenza in a horse that was competing in Le Touquet (FRA) last weekend.

Research at the Equine Orthopaedic Research Center at Colorado State University investigating the functional, biomechanical, and cellular effects of aquatic therapy on diminishing the progression of osteoarthritis show that aquatic therapy is a viable therapeutic option in managing OA in horses.

Agriculture officials in Arkansas, Louisiana and other states are warning veterinarians to watch for signs of a potentially fatal horse disease, pigeon fever, if a drought occurs this year. In addition, a Colorado veterinarian Brian Miller says he believes outbreaks increase when dry weather turns the ground to dust that carries disease-causing bacteria into scratches and other wounds.

According to a report written by Katharina Schwan for The Disease Daily, a rare botulism outbreak caused the deaths of 23 horses at the Whistlin’ Willow farm in Gorham, Maine in April. The 175-acre farm lost 23 of its horses between April 7 and 17 due to the fast-acting Botulinum neurotoxin.

On May 9, the Tennessee Department of Agriculture alerted Kentucky’s Agriculture Commissioner, James Comer, and staff in the Kentucky State Veterinarians Office of Dr. Robert Stout of an illness affecting horses that had participated in the Bucksnort Trail Ride held in Tennessee in late April.

State Health Commissioner Nirav R. Shah, M.D., M.P.H., and health officials from counties in Central New York have joined together to raise awareness about the dangers of Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE) and the importance of taking personal protective measures to reduce the risk of disease.

ZetrOZ LLC, manufacturer of the UltrOZ Elite, is recruiting patients in a clinical trial at Hagyard Medical Equine Institute for Proximal Sesamoiditis of the Fetlock joints. According to Bryant Guffey, CEO of Ultroz, LLC, “the condition for sesamoiditis is a difficult challenge faced by many equine practitioners and often efforts at treatment result in poor outcomes.”