An outbreak of horse herpes has shut down racing temporarily at Vernon Downs in central New York.
Racing was cancelled Saturday night and all horse barns are under quarantine for 14 to 21 days.
Equine Herpesvirus - Highly contagious
The racing director for Vernon Downs said that five horses all from the same trainer and housed in the same barn tested positive for equine herpes and one had to be euthanized.
Jason Bluhm, racing director for Vernon Downs, said that about five horses tested positive for equine herpes and one had to be euthanized. They were all from the same trainer and housed in the same barn.
Equine herpes is a term used for several highly contagious respiratory tract diseases in horses that are caused by two closely related herpes viruses. Symptoms are similar to a cold, but with a long-lasting high fever.EHV infection in horses can cause respiratory disease, abortion in mares, neonatal foal death, and neurological disease. The virus is not transmissible to humans.
Damage to the blood vessels in the brain and spinal cord cause neurological signs to appear. EHM is most often due to the neuropathogenic strain of EHV-1 and may occasionally be caused by the non-neuropathogenic strain of the virus.
The horse that was euthanized at the track had the neurological form of the disease, and the virus caused neurological damage making it difficult for the horse to walk.