UPDATE April 7, 2021: The New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets is releasing an EHM quarantine that was placed on a private stable that is located in Brewster, New York. In total, two EHM cases and six EHV-1 cases were diagnosed during the quarantine. Fortunately, all affected horses have survived.
The New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets, Division of Animal Industry, has confirmed two cases of equine herpesvirus myeloencephalopathy (EHM, also known as neurologic equine herpesvirus) and two cases of EHV-1 that are currently quarantined and isolated at a stable in Brewster, New York.
The stable, which is in Putnam County, has already implemented strict biosecurity measures, temperature monitoring and has been very cooperative during this investigation and situation.
The origin of the disease is unknown and is still under investigation.
One of the four positive horses (an EHM case) competed at Old Salem Farm in North Salem, New York.
This horse arrived at Old Salem Farm on the evening of Thursday, March 4, competed in equitation on March 5, and returned home on March 5. This horse started exhibiting clinical signs on Sunday, March 7.
The other EHM case exhibited clinical signs on Monday, March 8.
The two positive EHV-1 cases were sampled due to close proximity to the index case.
Old Salem Farm has no known cases of EHV-1 or EHM at this time. Show management is cleaning and disinfecting the facility and following appropriate EHV-1 biosecurity protocols. If you visited or competed at Old Salem Farm during that time, please refer to the AAEP’s FAQ for instructions on monitoring your horse.
For updated competition information, please visit www.oldsalemfarm.net.
Information for this report was provided by the Equine Disease Communication Center.
