Update on Equine Herpes - 6/4/2011

Many people are asking us, "Is the voluntary quarantine over?" or "Can we take our horses off of our property yet?"

The answer is not a simple yes or no.

We, as veterinarians, are not being told exactly where the positive horses are. We do know that, in the state of Arizona, there are 2 horses positive for EHV-1 and 1 horse positive for EHM (neurologic form of herpes) from direct exposure (being at the Utah show).

Updated numbers show that 33 horses that were at the show in Utah are in Arizona.

We also know that 60 horses were exposed to EHV-1 from secondary/tertiary exposure. Those horses were not at the show but have been with horses that were at the show. Of those horses, 10 have tested positive for EHV-1 and one has tested positive for the neurologic form of EHV-1. We do not know how many additional tests are pending.

Because we are not being told the exact location or the disease status of the positive horses, we can not recommend that you expose your horse to others. The risk appears less that it seemed 2 weeks ago but that may be due to the voluntary quarantines that owners are following. Several Arizona barns are resuming activities stating that our state vet has said that, "the outbreak appears to have been contained and that it should be safe to resume events." We have not heard that from the USDA or the Arizona State Veterinarian and the words "appears" and "should be" are concerning.

The previous blog article has lots of new and good information.
We will keep the blog updated as we get new information.