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 horse was immediately isolated from the hospital population and has not come into contact with any other patients.
On Aug. 12, the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services’ (VDACS) Animal Health Lab in Warrenton confirmed a diagnosis of equine herpesvirus myeloencephalopathy (EHM) due to EHV-1. The horse remains isolated while undergoing supportive care.
On Aug. 14, a second horse from the same farm developed a fever and neurologic signs and was euthanized. VDACS’ Animal Health Lab confirmed a diagnosis of EHM.
The farm is under quarantine.
The Marion duPont Scott Equine Medical Center employed strict biosecurity measures and disinfection upon arrival and will continue to do so during the entirety of the horse’s hospitalization. The Marion duPont Scott Equine Medical Center is operating normally.
For more information from Virginia go to http://www.vdacs.virginia.gov/animals-equine-herpes-virus.shtml. For information from AAEP on herpesvirus visit https://aaep.org/sites/default/files/Documents/DiseaseFactsheetEHM.pdf.
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.
