Month: March 2021

Six Tips To Prevent And Treat Equine Herpesvirus From Hagyard’s Dr. Nathan Slovis

Equine Herpesvirus (EHV-1) can cause respiratory disease, abortions and neurological disease. Transmission occurs via the respiratory system, with droplets of the virus being spread by mucus via snorting, coughing and human contact.

If you are in a high-risk area where there's a greater incidence of EHV-1 cases, the following tips may help ensure the horses in your care are protected from infection. These precautionary strategies come directly from Dr. Nathan Slovis, DACVIM, at Hagyard Equine Medical Institute. As an Internal Medicine Specialist and the Infectious Disease & Biosecurity Director, he has implemented the current Infectious Disease and Equine Emergency Response Programs at Hagyard.

Consider sharing these strategies with clients who have horses in high-risk areas.

  1. Start monitoring your horse's temperature twice daily. Even if your horse has not been exposed, start recording their temperature now to understand what their normal baseline temperature is. A horse's temperature will usually spike prior to shedding significant amounts of the virus, and typically anything greater than 101.5°F should be considered a fever. If a fever is noted, you should isolate the horse to the best of your ability until a veterinarian can assess. It is recommended that any horse with a fever have both a whole blood sample and nasal swab submitted for PCR assessment for EHV-1 and EHV-4.
  2. Limit exposure to any stressful situations that are not necessary. Examples include elective surgeries and other medical procedures. Minimizing stress will help protect the immune system so it can better fight off infection.
  3. If your horse requires the use of corticosteroids, either systemically or intraarticularly, consult your veterinarian to see if it is feasible to stop administration. The continued use of corticosteroids can suppress the immune system and could hinder their ability to effectively fight off an infection.
  4. Increase biosecurity measures since humans can inadvertently spread the infection on their hands, grooming equipment, etc. EHV-1 can survive on inanimate objects like halters, lead ropes, and tack, but is easy to kill on surfaces with disinfection. Therefore, these simple biosecurity measures can help stop the spread:
  • Wash or sanitize your hands between interacting with each horse.
  • Take care when filling water buckets and feed tubs – neither the hose nor the feed scoop should have contact with the bucket or tub.
  • Minimize the use of shared equipment, disinfecting tack (bits, bridles, etc.) between horses. Items like water buckets and feed tubs should not be shared.
  • There are a multitude of safe and effective disinfectants available. A few I recommend are a 1:4 ratio of bleach to water, or accelerated hydrogen peroxide-based disinfectants (like Rescue™) since they are safe for both human and animal use.
  1. Keep your horse up to date with their EHV vaccine schedule. If you horse has not been vaccinated against EHV three months prior to travelling into an area that has a high incidence of EHV, then I would recommend vaccinating your horse. If you are in a high-risk area, consult your veterinarian about the use of vaccines that have a high antigenic load for herpes virus so you can get a robust immune response. Remember, there is no vaccine on the market that can prevent the neurological form of EHV-1. The goal of vaccinating is to reduce the severity of clinical signs and reduce shedding of the EHV-1 virus if a horse does get sick.
    Some inactivated vaccines with the highest number of antigens for virus neutralization include Calvenza®, Pneumabort-K® and Prodigy®. Other vaccines like Rhinomune® are a modified live vaccine, and also have a high virus neutralization response.
  1. If your horse is exposed or gets sick, contact your veterinarian to see what course of action they recommend. As mentioned, diagnosis requires the detection of the virus from either whole blood or nasal swab samples via PCR testing. If you are in a barn with a horse that has EHV-1, the use of the antiviral drug valacyclovir may decrease virus shedding and may help your horse from acquiring the infection. Veterinarians have also discussed the use of lysine to theoretically reduce viral replication. Horses can be administered safely 12 grams orally once daily in their feed. This has not been proven to prevent neurological forms of EHV-1.

In the neurologic form of EHV-1, the virus interacts with the blood vessels that supply the spinal cord. This inflammation in the blood vessels can cause a stroke-like event (blood clot), resulting in decreased blood flow to that portion of the spinal cord. To potentially prevent this from happening, veterinarians may prescribe anticoagulants like aspirin and/or heparin to prevent this from happening if your horse becomes clinical.

To learn more about Equine Herpesvirus, Dr. Slovis recommends referring to the American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP) website for accurate information and resources.

Read more here.

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Golden Gate Protestors Arrested for Trespassing

The four protestors who disrupted a card at Golden Gate Fields were arrested at 6:30 p.m. (Pacific Time) on Thursday without incident and were released after being cited for trespassing, according to Isabelle Leduc, the assistant city manager for the town of Albany, California.

Leduc identified the individuals as Omar Aicardi (43) of Modesto, Rocky Ming Fan Chau (32) of San Francisco, James Nicholas Crom (29) of Oakland and Rachel Christina Ziegler (28) .

The four, members of the animal rights group Direct Action Everywhere, scaled a fence before the first race and then lay down on the track on the far turn. They locked themselves together with heavy, interlocking pipes over their arms. The pipes made it very difficult for police and security personnel to remove them from the track.

Golden Gate management canceled the first race, scheduled for 12:45 Pacific time, but waited out the protest and eventually ran the remaining six races under lights. The card resumed at 7:28 p.m. and finished just after 9:30 p.m. The total handle was $619,349.

Matt Johnson, a spokesperson for the group, said the four ended their protest voluntarily, about six hours after it began.

“They were sunburnt and it had been a long day,” he said. “It was a question of how much longer they wanted to be doing this. We decided we were at our end point. I don't know what the police prospects would have been when it comes to cutting through those pipes. It would have been very difficult.”

Representatives of the group had said their goals included disrupting the entire card Thursday, which didn't happen.

“We were trying to shut them down, in the immediate term, the medium term and the long term,” Johnson said. “This wasn't the goal we were looking for. They knew they might try to fit in some races during the night, but those people were uncomfortable.”

Despite being unable to halt Thursday's card all together, Johnson said the protest achieved the group's goals.

“Overall, I would say we were successful,” he said. “This reached a lot of people and the public sentiment is very much moving against this industry. We think as a general matter, by getting more exposure to this subject and doing something the general public is inclined to support, that is going to be a good thing. That is pretty much what we were going for.”

The group said it was inclined to act when it did because of a recent rash of breakdowns at Golden Gate Fields. According to a Feb. 23 report from the Associated Press, five horses have died at the track in 2021. According to the television station KTVU, three horses died at Golden Gate between Feb. 20 and 25.

Johnson said the group had no immediate plans to lodge another protest, but added that it will stay on top of the situation. Direct Action Everywhere has said its goals include a nationwide ban of horse racing.

The ripple effects from events at Golden Gate Friday aren't restricted to the north of the state, with eyes now turning to Santa Anita, which cards a huge weekend of racing top-lined by Saturday's G1 $400,000 Santa Anita H.

Nate Newby, Santa Anita's general manager, said that he was unable to provide specifics about any beefed-up security team, but added that the track has “increased our security presence” for this weekend and has been “in touch” with the local Arcadia police department.

Golden Gate posted several statements on Twitter about the incidents.

“Golden Gate Fields is committed to the safety of the horses and the people who care for them, and the types of actions exhibited today run directly counter to the safe environment we are trying to create.

“Thoroughbred horse racing is a highly regulated, legal sport. Trespassing and endangering others are completely inappropriate and illegal methods to express opposition to the sport.”

When the activists first lay down on the track, they set off purple smoke flares, presumably to alert the track, the harrows, and the field for the first race that they were there.

“Further,” said the statement from Golden Gate, “bringing incendiary devices onto the property is inherently dangerous to human life, the more than 1,200 horses stabled here and the hundreds of people who care for them. This behavior will not be tolerated. We encourage those responsible to find an appropriate way to air their grievances rather than endangering the lives of thousands, including the horses they claim to want to protect.”

After the second race went off, the track Tweeted, “We are grateful for the support of racing fans in the Bay Area and around the globe. A special acknowledgement is due the Albany Police Department for their professionalism and responsiveness. We were able to race tonight thanks to them and we continue to believe in our commitment to safety, the beauty and greatness of our sport and the right of thousands of Californians to enjoy what we regard as a treasure. We would like to thank all the owners, trainers, grooms and our dedicated employees at Golden Gate Fields for their commitment and patience under extremely trying circumstances today.”

Additional reporting by Dan Ross.

The post Golden Gate Protestors Arrested for Trespassing appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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