EHV-1

A Santa Barbara County (Calif.) gelding tested positive for non-neuropathogenic equine herpesvirus-1, the California Department of Food and Agriculture announced on March 25.

Wellington Equestrian Partners and Tequestrian Farms are pleased to announce a joint partnership to donate $100,000 for a research grant to the Gluck Equine Research Center at the University of Kentucky. The money will be earmarked toward research of the Equine Herpes Virus-1 neurologic disease. A special veterinary committee is planned, and WEP and Tequestrian will also lead in gathering information for established protocols for owners, treating veterinarians, and horse show managers to prevent and neutralize EHV-1 at equestrian events.

March 12 - An update released by the Florida Department of Agriculture on March 11 revealed that as a result of extensive testing with no new positive results for Equine Herpes Virus-1, state officials are preparing to release the quarantine on the HITS Post Time Farm showgrounds in Ocala.

Officials at the Bureau of Animal Health and Welfare in Illinois enforced a quarantine at Double W Stables in Gurnee, Ill., on March 6. Two horses at the facility were euthanized after developing clinical neurological symptoms of Equine Herpes Virus-1. Double W Stables is a boarding facility located in Lake County, about an hour from Chicago.

The Florida Department of Agriculture reported on March 1 that one of the four horses located at Miles Away farm in Loxahatchee, Fla., that tested positive for EHV-1 has developed neurological symptoms. Other than the index horse from the HITS Ocala showgrounds on Feb.

The neurological form of EHV-1 has been confirmed in six horses in Quebec, Canada, New Jersey and Utah.

On Feb. 20, the Bédard Quarter Horse riding stable in Chicoutini, Quebec noticed a 12-year-old mare was exhibiting neurological signs. She was referred to the large animal clinic at the University of Montreal Veterinary Hospital in Saint Hyacinthe, Quebec on Feb 23, where she was immediately isolated.

Within a few hours, her health deteriorated and she was humanely euthanized.

Equestrian Sport Productions announces that the two horses tested for EHV-1 that were in FEI stabling at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center were found negative. The quarantine on FEI stabling, which was set by the State of Florida Department of Agriculture in collaboration with Equestrian Sport Productions, has been lifted. Competition will continue as scheduled for the CSIO classes.

On the evening of Feb. 26, a horse who had shown on the HITS Post Time Farm showgrounds in Ocala, Fla., tested positive for EHV-1. This is the second horse connected with the HITS Ocala grounds to test positive. The entire HITS Ocala showgrounds are under quarantine as of the afternoon of Feb. 27, but the horse show continues to run as usual.

A week of intense international competition at the FTI Winter Equestrian Festival in Wellington, Fla., has been threatened by a positive EHV-1 test on a horse in the area. Currently, the Federation Equestre Internationale stabling at WEF is closed, and some classes are canceled. This CSIO week plays host to the $75,000 FEI Nations Cup on March 1 and a $150,000 Grand Prix on March 3, both of which are currently still planned to go forward.

HITS Inc. reported today, Feb. 25, that no new cases of EHV-1 have been detected at HITS Ocala. The infected horse that was competing at the show last week continues to do very well at the University of Florida, College of Veterinary Medicine in Gainesville. The horse was diagnosed with the wild-type strain of the EHV-1 virus.