On January 31, 2018, the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS) confirmed a diagnosis of equine herpesvirus myeloencephalopathy (EHM) in a horse in central Virginia.
The horse, which is exhibiting neurological signs and has a fever, is housed in a horse boarding stable in Chesterfield County that has been placed under quarantine. All exposed horses are being monitored twice daily for fever (temperature over 101.5 F) and other clinical signs. VDACS will be working with the stable’s owner to determine if any exposed horses have left the premises.
For more information on EHM go to https://aaep.org/sites/default/files/Documents/DiseaseFactsheetEHM.pdf and https://aaep.org/sites/default/files/Guidelines/EHV1_4_Final.pdf.
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.
