The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture posted a quarantine at a Butler County dressage barn after a horse with signs of neurological impairment tested positive for EHV-1 (wild-type) by RRT-PCR testing of nasal swab and whole blood samples. All equine animals on that property are under quarantine and are being monitored closely for signs of equine herpesvirus myeloencephalopathy (EHM).
One other small private home barn is also under quarantine as it recently received a horse from the affected barn.
An epidemiological investigation of equine movements is underway. As of today, there have been no deaths, no additional neurologically impaired animals, and the index case is recovering.
The Equine Disease Communication Center (EDCC) works to protect horses and the horse industry from the threat of infectious diseases in North America. The communication system is designed to seek and report real time information about disease outbreaks similar to how the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) alerts the human population about diseases in people.
