A second Virginia farm has two horses that were found positive for equine herpesvirus myeloencephalopathy (EHM), the neurologic form of equine herpesvirus type 1 (EHV-1). Both horses were euthanized. These cases are unrelated to previous positive cases for EHM on a different farm.
In the first EHM report on August 11, a horse exhibiting neurologic signs was transported to the Marion duPont Scott Equine Medical Center in Leesburg, Virginia, from a farm in Culpeper, Virginia. The Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS) confirmed EHM in that horse. Another horse on that property became neurologic and was euthanized. That farm continues to be under quarantine.
This second premises with EHM is a small, private pleasure horse farm in King William County, Virginia. Out of the four horses that showed clinical signs compatible with EHM, two horses tested positive, and both of them were euthanized.
This second farm is under quarantine and all exposed horses are being monitored twice daily for fever (temperature over 101.5 degrees F) and other clinical signs. No horses have been on or off the premises for one year. There are no horses near this farm that have been exposed, and there is no association between this farm and any of the horses or people at the first quarantined farm, including equine professionals.
Editor’s note: To read more about the earlier cases in Virginia, visit the previous article on EquiManagement.com.
This article was created with information from the Equine Disease Communication Center (EDCC). The 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.
