Current Information on

       Equine Herpes Virus-1 (EHV-1) Outbreak                 

COMMON QUESTIONS:

What is EHM (Equine herpesvirus myeloencephaloply)?  or EVH (Equine herpesvirus)?

What are the equine herpesviruses?

How common are EVH-1 infections?

Why should I be concerned about EVH-1?

How is the virus spread?

When should I suspect my horse might have EHM?

How is the disease diagnosed?

Is there a treatment for EHM?

How can I prevent EHV-1, the primary cause of EHM, from spreading to other horses?

Can I prevent EHM with vaccines?

Information provided by the USDA,                                              "A guide to understanding the Neurologic form of EHV Infection".

 

EHV-1 QUARANTINE LIFTED AT TAYLOR EQUINE!

Taylor Equine Hospital is pleased to report that the quarantine on our reproduction barn was lifted on May 25th.  All horses that had exposure to the positive stallion remained healthy and free of symptoms. All have tested negative for the EHV-1 virus, and all client horses have returned home. As a precaution, they will continue to be isolated at their premises for another 2 weeks. 

We are also pleased to report that the EHV-1 positive stallion that produced the exposure is now back home. He was treated at UC Davis, showed improvement in his neurologic symptoms, and eventually stopped shedding the virus.  He is back at his home ranch in an isolation stall and is doing well according to the owner.

We would like to express gratitude to our clients for being patient during the outbreak. It has caused some inconvenience to many of you, but the precautions have paid off.  The virus did not spread to any of our client’s horses.

We have concluded the sanitation of our reproduction barn and it is now ready for use again. 

As of this date, twenty horses have tested positive for the EHV-1 virus in California.  Eighteen of the horses attended either the Ogden, Utah Western NCHA finals or the Kern County Cutting horse shows.  Two positives were horses that did not attend either show but were exposed to horses that attended the shows.

We are still urging caution when considering transport of your horses.  We at Taylor Equine Hospital are not recommending travel to horse shows at this time.

Trail rides with a few known and trusted friends whose horses have not traveled during the past 3 weeks and have not had exposure to horses attending cutting horse events are relatively safe events to engage in at this time.

Thank you again for your patience and perseverance through this outbreak.   If you have any further questions or concerns please feel free to contact us at any time, we are here to help.

Sincerely

Craig R. Brooks DVM – Taylor Equine Hospital

 

Horses at Taylor Equine Hospital

  • An outbreak of EHV-1 occurred at the NCHA show in Ogden Utah, finals from April 30th to May 8th 2011.

  • On Friday, May 13th, before the announcement of the outbreak, a stallion was trailered to Taylor Equine Hospital to have semen collected for artificial insemination.  The stallion was not exhibiting signs of illness at the time.

  • He was at the hospital for approximately 1 hour, then traveled home.  Later that day, the owners received a call notifying that the stallion had been exposed to EHV-1 virus at the Ogden Utah Show.  That afternoon, isolation and quarantine measures were instituted to the horses in the one barn that had possible exposure.  The four horses have remained in isolation from the other horses at our facility.  They are being monitored for signs of illness and fever twice a day.  To date, 5 days after the exposure, none of the four horses have spiked a fever.  All remain normal with no signs of illness. 

  • We have no horses at our hospital that are currently diagnosed with EVH-1 at this time.

  • Taylor Equine Hospital continues to see patients in the unexposed areas of the facility.

  • We are encouraging clients NOT to trailer their horses to shows or events for the next two weeks. 

  • Clients with horses that need veterinary care will still be seen at our hospital.  A history of the horses travel during the past two weeks and a temperature will be taken before they are allowed to be seen at our facility.

We remain hopeful that, due to the early notifications, isolation and travel restrictions, that this outbreak will soon be contained.

Craig R. Brooks DVM, Owner & Veterinarian

Taylor Equine Hospital & Taylor ER Veterinary Emergency Hospital

*******************************************************

For additional information, please refer to the following sites:

Resources:

California Animal Health and Food Safety Laboratory:

http://www.cahfs.ucdavis.edu/

UC Davis Center for Equine Health:

http://www.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/ceh/ehv1_general.cfm

Equine Herpes Myeloencephalopathy Brochure

http://www.aphis.usda.gov/vs/nahss/equine/ehv/

CDFA Equine Herpes May 13th update

http://cdfa.ca.gov/ahfss/Animal_Health/equine_herpes_virus.html

CDFA Equine Herpes Myeloencephalopathy Fact Sheet

http://www.cdfa.ca.gov/AHFSS/Animal_Health/pdfs/EHV-1FactSheetSept2010.pdf

USDA Resources

http://www.aphis.usda.gov/vs/nahss/equine/ehv/

American Association of Equine Practitioners Fact Sheet

http://www.aaep.org/pdfs/control_guidelines/Equine%20Herpes%20Virus.pdf

UC Davis Real Time PCR Research and Diagnostics Core Facility (PCR test)

http://www.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/vme/taqmanservice/

 

 

 

  

CALIFORNIA DECLARES CONTAINMENT
OF EQUINE HERPES VIRUS (EHV-1) OUTBREAK

SACRAMENTO, June 20, 2011 – The recent disease outbreak of the neuropathogenic strain of Equine Herpes Virus -1 (EHV-1) associated with the horses that attended the National Cutting Horse Associations Western National Championships in Ogden, UT is contained. Containment is based on the fact that California has gone more than 14 days from the last clinical case onset date without a confirmed clinical case of EHV-1.

“I want to thank California’s horse owners and veterinarians for their prompt and thorough actions to isolate and monitor exposed animals and contain this outbreak of EHV-1,” said State Veterinarian Dr. Annette Whiteford. “We also owe the success of this project in part to the outstanding isolation biosecurity measures implemented by horse facility managers, show/event managers and other professionals who work with and care for horses.”

It is important that the California horse owners remain vigilant as there is always risk of disease when horses of unknown health status are commingled at one location.  Consistent, basic biosecurity practices play an important role in reducing risk of exposure to diseases such as influenza, strangles, pigeon fever, or equine herpes virus.

By implementing the biosecurity measures below, you can minimize disease risk:

·       Minimize horse nose-to-nose contact with horses of unknown disease status.

·       Don’t share equipment including buckets, tack and grooming equipment.

·       Avoid using communal water troughs.

·       Fill water buckets directly from the faucet to eliminate potential hose contamination.

·       Limit human contact between horses or wash hands or use hand sanitizer between horse contacts.

·       Prior to returning home from an event, clean and disinfect all equipment, including trailer, clothing, tack grooming supplies.

·       Isolate all new horses or horses returning home for a minimum of three weeks. Isolation means no direct contact with other horses or humans and no indirect contact via shared equipment.

·       Consult your veterinarian to establish appropriate vaccination for your horse(s).

Horse owners are strongly encouraged to consult their veterinarian regarding these steps and others to determine how best to reduce the risk of your horse acquiring an infectious disease.

California EHV-1 Causing EHM Disease Update as of 4 pm 5/31/2011

California has one new confirmed case of Equine Herpes Myeloencephalopathy (EHM) caused by EHV-1. There are now 20 confirmed EHV-1/ EHM cases in the state.

·        The suspect case reported on 5/28 with low grade fever and moderate compatible neurologic signs has been confirmed positive for EHM.

·        The positive confirmed cases are located in the following 13 counties: Amador(1), Colusa(1), Glenn(3), Kern(2), Los Angeles(1), Marin(1), Napa(1), Placer (3), Plumas(1), Sacramento (1), Shasta(1), Stanislaus(3) and Ventura(1).

·        Sixteen(16) of the confirmed positive EHV-1/EHM CA cases participated in the National Cutting Horse Association’s Western National Championships in Ogden, Utah.

·        Two (2) of the confirmed positive EHV-1/ EHM CA cases participated only in the Kern County Cutting Horse Event on May 13th in Bakersfield, CA.

·        Two (2) of the confirmed positive EHV-1/EHM CA cases were exposed horses to  Ogden, UT participants.

·        Two (2) confirmed positive EHM horses were euthanized after showing severe neurological signs associated with EHM.

·        All positive confirmed EHV-1/EHM cases are under a State Quarantine.

California EHV-1 Causing EHM Disease Update as of 12 pm 5/25/2011

California has no new confirmed cases of Equine Herpes Myeloencephalopathy (EHM) caused by EHV-1 since our May 23rd update. There continues to be 18 confirmed EHM cases in the state.

May 24, 2011

Equine Herpes in California

VMTH UC DAVIS UPDATE

California has no new confirmed cases of Equine Herpes Myeloencephalopathy (EHM) caused by EHV-1 since our May 23rd update. There continues to be 18 confirmed EHM cases in the state.

·        The positive confirmed cases are located in the following 12 counties: Amador(1), Glenn(2), Kern(2), Los Angeles(1), Marin(1), Napa(1), Placer (3), Plumas(1), Sacramento (1), Shasta(1), Stanislaus(3) and Ventura(1).

·        Sixteen(16) of the confirmed positive EHM CA cases participated in the National Cutting Horse Association’s Western National Championships in Ogden, Utah.

·        Two (2) of the confirmed positive EHM CA cases participated only in the Kern County Cutting Horse Event on May 13th in Bakersfield, CA.

·        One confirmed positive EHM horse was euthanized after showing severe neurological signs associated with EHM.

·        All positive confirmed EHM cases are under a State Quarantine.

California Department of Food and Agriculture is working with animal Health officials in the western states to monitor the disease outbreak and investigate the source of the disease outbreak.

Disease reports in California continue to be limited to horses exhibited at the National Cutting Horse Association’s Western National Championships (NCHA) held at the Golden Spike Event Center in Ogden, Utah from April 30th to May 8, 2011 and the Kern County Cutting Event in Bakersfield, CA on May 13, 2011. CDFA has quarantined all infected horses and continues to advise that horses returning from those events and horses that have subsequently come into contact with returning horses avoid moving from their home premises until California has gone 14 days without a new case of EHM.

Recommendations for Horse Show/Event Managers
Regarding EHV-1 Biosecurity Procedures

(These biosecurity guidelines have been developed, based on currently available information, by CDFA veterinarians and the faculty at the School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis, CA, to minimize the risk of transmission of infectious diseases at public equestrian events. If the situation changes, these and other guidelines will be modified as appropriate.)

When the current EHV-1 outbreak began, horse owners were initially advised to avoid nonessential transport of their animals to reduce the risk of exposure to, or spread of the virus among, the horse population. Now that we have obtained more information through ongoing testing, reporting and monitoring, we have concluded that the EHV-1 infection outbreak is centered around horses that were present at the National Cutting Horse Association’s Western National Championships (NCHA) held at the Golden Spike Event Center in Ogden, Utah from April 30th to May 8th. and/or the Kern County Cutting Event in Bakersfield, CA on May 13th. This includes cutting horses that did not attend either of the above events but have subsequently come into contact with horses returning from those events.

Based on what is known today, we are suggesting that managers of horse shows or events occurring in California during the coming weeks incorporate the following biosecurity measures to minimize the risk for all participants:

1.      Event managers should create a short document for participants to sign upon arrival at the show grounds to confirm that their horses, mules, and burros attending the show/event have not attended or had prior contact with horses from the NCHA Championships in Ogden, Utah and/or the Kern County Cutting Event in Bakersfield, CA, or been on the same premises with horses that have returned from these events. Horses that have attended, or been exposed to horses returning from either event will not be allowed to enter the show grounds.

2.      Establish a “No Fever” policy for horses attending the event. Give the participants prior notice of the new “No Fever” policy before they arrive at the show grounds. Provide instructions for obtaining the horse’s temperature and an index card on which to record temperature readings for each horse.

o   a. All horses will have temperatures taken twice daily and results will be posted on front of the stall/pen for inspection.

o   b. Any horse will be subject to random temperature check by the show veterinarian or designated member of the veterinary staff during the event.

o   c. Any horse with a fever of 102°F or greater will be removed from the event and premises immediately (i.e. within 2 hours of detection of fever).

o   d. If the owner cannot move the horse off the premises, a professional horse hauler contracted by the event will remove the horse to a designated isolation area at the owner’s expense.

3.      It is understood that some (most) horses with a fever will not have EHV-1; however, in the interest of conducting a safe event under the current circumstances, the no fever policy will be enforced. If you do not wish to comply with these safety measures please do not attend the event.

May 19, 2011

Equine Herpes in California

VMTH UC DAVIS UPDATE

Two more horses in CA have tested positive for EHV-1. They are both located in Corning, California, and they have not been seen or admitted to the VMTH. These horses are cutting horses that have an exposure link to the National Cutting Horse Association’s Western National Championships (NCHA) that was held at the Golden Spike Event Center in Ogden, Utah from April 29th to May 8th.

Recently, two horses were hospitalized in the VMTH Large Animal Clinic Isolation Facility and they are gradually improving. There are NO equine herpes cases in the main clinic which is physically separated from the Isolation Facility. We have tested all horses admitted to the clinic this past week and all of them have tested negative.

We will continue to monitor and test all horses admitted to the clinic to ensure maximal biosecurity safety of our hospital. With these heightened biosecurity and surveillance measures in place to protect our patients, the VMTH equine clinic remains open for full patient receiving and emergency services.

Suggested Guidelines for Minimizing Risk of Disease Transmission:

1. Restrict movement of horses from the premises.

2. Physically isolate exposed horses a minimum of 30 feet away from other horses for 21 days.

3. Horses that are new to premises should also be isolated, as above.

4. If you suspect a horse may have been exposed, then monitor the horse’s rectal temperature twice a day for 14 days and call your veterinarian immediately if a fever develops (≥ 102 ºF).

5. Use protective barrier clothing that can be changed in between horses when handling isolated or quarantined horses. Protective barrier clothing includes: gloves, disinfectant foot baths with impervious foot covers, and coveralls or protective gowns. Hands should be washed with soap and water or alcohol based hand sanitizers (if visibly soiled, hands must be washed with soap first)after handling each horse in quarantine.

6. Provide separate equipment for each horse and do not share buckets, feeders, tack, grooming equipment, towels etc among horses.

7. When filling water buckets, make sure the end of the hose does not touch the water in the bucket in order to avoid contamination with infectious material that may be on the outside of the hose.

8. Potential inanimate fomites such as buckets or tack, if used on more than one horse, should be disinfected before use on another horse.

NOTE: The equine herpes virus is susceptible to many disinfectants; however, whenever organic matter is present, washing and removal of organic material should be done first. If organic matter persists, use disinfectants suitable for use in the presence of organic matter, such as higher peroxygen compounds (e.g.-Trifectant, Virkon) or phenolics (e.g.-Tek-Trol or 1-Stroke Environ).

9. Consider vaccinating at risk healthy, afebrile horses on the premises to which exposed horses are returning. Consult your veterinarian for vaccination recommendations.

May 16, 2011

Equine Herpes in California

Update:  UC Davis Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital

During the past week in Colorado, there have been at least 2 confirmed cases of equine herpes-1 infection in horses that competed at the National Cutting Horse Association Western National Championships in Ogden, Utah. Other horses that competed in Ogden, Utah were transported to the Kern Country Cutting Horse Association show in Bakersfield, CA, and some of these horses became ill, with one horse being euthanized at the fairgrounds. One horse was transported from Bakersfield to the isolation facility at the UC Davis Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital. Another horse that attended the Ogden show was also sent to UC Davis. Both of these horses have been confirmed as positive for EHV-1. In addition, as of today, at least 4 additional horses in various areas of Northern California have been confirmed as positive for EHV-1.

UC Davis Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital (VMTH):

The VMTH operates an isolation facility that was designed specifically to allow us to provide the best possible care to horses with infectious diseases such as EHV-1, while completely segregating them from other hospitalized horses and outpatients. The isolation facility is located a substantial distance from the main hospital, utilizes a dedicated group of staff and employs rigid infectious disease control and containment protocols that prevent other horses from becoming exposed. Currently, the two horses mentioned above are being treated under maximum isolation. These horses have no contact with other horses at the hospital.

Because of the presence of EHV-1 in the community, the VMTH is taking every precaution to prevent EHV-1 entry into the general hospital. Every horse admitted to the hospital is being tested for EHV-1 and full biosecurity precautions are in force during the next few weeks as necessary.

Equine Herpes Virus:

Equine herpes virus is a common virus of horses world wide, and can cause respiratory disease, abortions, and less commonly neurologic signs as it has in these cases. It is transmitted by aerosol and close contact between horses, including fomites such as shared tack, equipment and by human hands. Though there are vaccines available for prevention of respiratory disease and abortions caused by equine herpes virus, there are currently none that are labeled for prevention of the neurologic form of the disease.

Precautions:

Please contact your veterinarian if your horse may have been exposed to EHV-1 at one of these shows or through contact with a horse that has returned from one of these events. In general, exposed horses should be isolated and have their temperatures monitored twice daily. If an exposed horse develops a fever, diagnostic testing of nasal swabs and blood should be performed. Consideration should be given to vaccination of resident, non-exposed horses on premises where potentially exposed horses are returning to, as per your veterinarian’s guidelines.