The following information regarding horses from Pimlico racetrack entering Kentucky was disseminated through the Equine Disease Communication Center from the Kentucky Department of Agriculture:
An inability to adequately isolate new arrivals on the grounds of Kentucky tracks and training facilities does warrant an abundance of caution be taken to mitigate risk of disease entry. Based on this, we are directing Kentucky tracks and their associated sanctioned training centers to not allow movement of horses which have resided or been at Pimlico (racing, training, transiting, etc.), on or after March 15, 2021, without prior approval from the Kentucky Office of the State Veterinarian.
We have and will continue to allow horses from Pimlico to enter Kentucky and will work to qualify and facilitate movement of these horses to a Kentucky track or training center on an individual basis following testing and further evaluation.
Horses which have recently (since March 15th) been on the grounds at Pimlico can qualify for approval to enter a Kentucky track or sanctioned training center if they have documentation demonstrating they have been off the grounds of Pimlico for 30 days or horses may move from Pimlico after having been off the grounds for 24 hours, been examined by a veterinarian and tested negative by PCR for EHV-1 (nasal swab and whole blood – EDTA). Those horses could qualify for entry onto a Kentucky racing or training facility.
A Certificate of Veterinary Inspection for the horse(s) from the point where the sample was collected needs to be issued for movement to the Kentucky racing or training facility and must document the EHV1 testing, current health assessment in addition to meeting the normal entry requirements that includes EHV1 vaccination and EIA test certificate.
Our plan is for the current protocol described in this message to remain in effect through the first week of May when we will make determination and provide instruction on how to proceed.
