Diagnostic tests at the CAHFS laboratory at UC Davis have confirmed that a euthanized horse was EHV-1 positive. On Tuesday, March 5, a horse at Santa Anita – My Sugar Sugar, trained by Eddie Truman – required euthanasia after developing neurological signs. There have been no other reported cases of EHV-1 at Santa Anita.
Coast to coast cases of EVH-1 in horses
Diagnostic tests at the CAHFS laboratory at UC Davis have confirmed that a horse, My Sugar Sugar, at Santa Anita was EHV-1 positive and was euthanized after developing neurological signs.
My Sugar Sugar had been feverish four days earlier and developed neurological signs on day four. Biosecurity procedures were implemented that day and the California Department of Agriculture was notified of a suspected case of EHV-1.
The average incubation period for EHV-1 is 4 to 7 days, with the majority of cases being 3 to 8 days, but with some taking up to 14 days. All horses in the stable are being closely monitored and none of the others has exhibited signs of fever or illness.
Horsemen in the Santa Anita stable area are advised to be especially vigilant in this regard and to immediately notify the CHRB Official Veterinarian if they have any suspicious cases.
The CHRB Website contains links to information about EHV-1, including control measures that are taken to help prevent its spread: California Horse Racing Board
The year started with an EHV-positive Standardbred in Michigan, as a three-month isolation of racehorses in Illinois wound down. Three weeks later, a quarantine of hunter/jumper horses began in New Jersey, and quickly on their heels came an EHV case at the National Western Stock Show in Denver. EHV was obviously not just a racetrack problem.
In February, over one thousand horses were on alert at the HITS Ocala hunter-jumper show in Central Florida as horses there became ill, and the quarantine continues. It affects not just the show ground, but 13 farms in the area, as well. Horses as far away as the Wellington area were impacted by the outbreak.
Meanwhile, another outbreak in New Jersey quarantined horses in the southern part of that state.
Now three other states have joined the list of those with confirmed cases of EHV-1. The state of Illinois announced that it had imposed a quarantine in Lake County after “several horses exhibiting neurologic signs consistent with those exhibited in EHV-1 infected horses” were identified to state authorities.
In Utah, the state veterinarian has again warned of cases of EHV-1 in Cache County as the state confirmed seven cases of Equine Herpes Virus. Two horses are dead, and as a precaution, the Cache County fairgrounds is now closed to horses, since sick horses had been competing or trained at that facility.
Tennessee was the third state; authorities there reported a case in Shelby County, with an active quarantine in place.
Although fewer than 30 cases of EHV-1 have been confirmed nationwide this year, the virus is simultaneously affecting horses from California to Florida and all horse owners should take proper precautions to make sure their horses do not contract the disease.
This steady stream of new cases widely scattered throughout the US serves as a warning to all horse owners to:
- Educate yourself about EVH-1,
- Make sure your horses are up-to-date on vaccinations,
- Step-up biosecurity measures wherever you have horses,
- Check with your local veterinarian for the latest information about EVH-1 in your area,
- Notfy your veterinarian immediately if your horse has symptoms of the disease.
By being proactive to protect your horses, you can help prevent the spread of EVH-1.
Learn more about Equine Herpesvirus