EHV-1 outbreak – May 2014

July 20, 2014 will be a double judged show due to the postponement of the May 18th show.

Due to the positive EHV-1 test and cancellation of equine events that were to be held at “The Ranch” complex in Loveland this weekend, the Johnstown Saddle Club will be postponing the May 18th show.  Also the June 1, Gymkhana will be postponed until June 8.  Please see the below information regarding EHV-1;

 

The Colorado State University Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory (CSU-VDL) has notified the State Veterinarian’s Office at the Colorado Department of Agriculture that the horse which was showing signs consistent with EHV-1 on 5/14/14 tested positive to EHV-1 The horse was euthanized due to complications from the neurologic form of EHV-1, also known as Equine Herpes Myeloencephalopathy (EHM).

 

A second horse from the same facility has developed a fever today and considered a suspect case but is not displaying any neurologic signs at this time. This second horse attended some of the same events within the rodeo/barrel racing circuit as the original horse. Because of these developments and the recent history of other EHV-1 cases in other states, the State Veterinarian’s Office in Colorado recommends that equine event organizers and horse owners competing in the rodeo/barrel racing circuit exercise extreme caution with regards to the planning and holding of equine events. Disease prevention practices and good biosecurity should be implemented. Owners should consider the risk for exposure to EHV-1 at upcoming events to be elevated and owners may want to consider keeping their horses at home to limit their individual risk.

 

More information can be found at;

http://www.colorado.gov/cs/Satellite?blobcol=urldata&blobheadername1=Content-Disposition&blobheadername2=Content-Type&blobheadervalue1=inline%3B+filename%3D%225%2F16%2F2014+Colorado+Horse+Tests+Positive+for+Equine+Herpes+Myeloencephalitis.htm%22&blobheadervalue2=text%2Fhtml&blobkey=id&blobtable=MungoBlobs&blobwhere=1251983488746&ssbinary=true