ehv-1 | Horse Racing Free Tips

Further Analysis Of March EHV-1 Outbreak Reveals New Variant Of The Disease

In March, eight horses housed at a Pennsylvania show barn were diagnosed with EHV-1 after having elevated temperatures but no other signs of illness. The cause of the outbreak has been found to be a new variant of the EHV-1 H752 genotype. The variant contains the same mutation as the EHV-1 outbreak in France.

EHV-1 can cause respiratory disease in young horses, early death in foals, abortions in mares and occasionally neurological disease. Neurologic issues are fairly uncommon, but can cause the death of the affected horse.

The 31 horses that lived at the affected barn were treated with valacyclovir, and ill horses also received flunixin meglumine and sodium heparin. The investigation team, led by Dr. Nicola Pusterla, believe that the early administration of valacyclovir may have prevented additional horses from falling ill with neurologic complications. Additionally, they note the lack of respiratory symptoms in these cases may be related to the recent administration of EHV vaccinations.

The distribution of the new genotype is not known.

Read the case report here.

Britain Removes EHV Quarantine Requirements

British Equestrian, the national governing body for horse sports in the UK, has lifted its EHV-1 quarantine requirements. Horses can now return to the country without being isolated from other horses.

The quarantine was put in place in March after EHV-1 cases were linked to competitions in the Iberian Peninsula in Spain. All horses that had competed in the shows or those that had been exposed to horses that competed in the shows have shown no clinical signs of EHV since returning home.

British Equestrian's Equine Infectious Disease Advisory Group (EIDAG) has concluded that the possibility of an EHV-associated disease outbreak has returned to its typical level. They note that there will continue to be infrequent outbreaks of EHV in Europe and the UK.

EIDAG officials encourage horse owners to continue to use stringent biosecurity measures to minimize the risk of the spread of disease.

Do We Need To Practice Social Distancing With Our Horses?

Social distancing, mask wearing, hand washing, and the dreaded nasal swab have become part of our normal life during the COVID-19 pandemic. The equine industry faces similar types of outbreaks, but placing a mask on a horse isn't feasible. However, there are ways to prevent disease spread within the equine community.

The recent increase in horses affected by herpesvirus neurologic disease in North America and Europe reminds us that herpesvirus (EHV-1) remains a constant threat for horses. The virus, which causes upper airway infection and abortion, is highly contagious and easily transmitted between horses. Although there are vaccines for this virus, these vaccines are not completely effective and do not protect against the neurologic form of the disease, which is often fatal. The best protection to limit the spread of this disease is appropriate biosecurity, including isolation and social distancing.

Like COVID-19, equine diseases such as equine herpesvirus and equine influenza are highly infectious and spread by contact or by inhalation of micro-organisms on particles in the air or water. When an infected horse coughs or sneezes, tiny particles are spread. Viral diseases can also be spread by horse-to-horse contact or by contamination on commonly touched surfaces. Bacterial diseases such as Strangles are also transmitted through contact—from horse to horse or by horses touching common areas such as watering systems, tack, and grooming equipment. Both viruses and bacteria can be spread by humans working with an affected horse and carrying it to other horses.

Keeping horses separated is one of the most important steps in biosecurity to help prevent disease spread. When an infectious disease is suspected or confirmed, all horses in the same facility or on the same premise are at risk of becoming infected. Keeping horses separated in stalls or at a separate facility is crucial to stop the transmission of diseases to other horses. With very contagious diseases like equine herpesvirus, a quarantine is often necessary to stop all horse movement and limit movement of people on the affected premises.

Social distancing only works if appropriate sanitation measures and careful separation of tools and equipment are in place while caring for infected horses. Just as hand washing is needed to help control Covid-19, it is important that hands, clothing and any objects that come in contact with more than one horse are sanitized between horses.

If a horse is suspected or confirmed to have an infectious disease, horse owners should employ the following protocol to help prevent disease spread.

Immediately isolate the horse showing signs of an infection.
Implement movement restrictions of the affected horse and possibly exposed horses until the situation is evaluated.
Contact your veterinarian or the event veterinarian and ask what you should do.
Inventory horses, identify and isolate potentially exposed horses, and immediately implement health monitoring: take temperature twice daily (a temperature above 101.5° F suggests the horse has an infectious disease) and observe for clinical signs of depression or abnormal behavior.
When more than one owner or caretaker is involved, establish communication with all parties.

Additional protocol detail is available here.

Laurel Park: Claudio Gonzalez Making Up For Lost Time With Perfect 5-For-5 Start

After going 33 days between starters at Laurel Park, trainer Claudio Gonzalez is more than making up for lost time.

A 16-time meet champion in Maryland who has led the state in overall wins each of the past four years, Gonzalez has won with each of his first five starters at Laurel's spring meet, delayed to an April 8 opening by an equine herpesvirus (EHV-1) quarantine.

Gonzalez's barn was among those unable to enter races, and restricted to training hours separate from the rest of the horse population.

“It's not a good feeling when we can't train them the way we want. We only had 30 minutes to train all the horses, but it was the same way for everybody in quarantine,” Gonzalez said. “I believe the horses are saying thank you now. They got a little rest and they're feeling really good.”

Leading trainer with 28 wins despite missing the final two weekends of Laurel's 2021 winter meet, which had its last three programs canceled due to the quarantine, Gonzalez won with both his starters Friday – Robert D. Bone's Bear Force Won ($4.60) in Race 1 and Magic Stable's Baptize the Boy ($4.80) in Race 4.

Gonzalez won with all three of his starters on Thursday's opening day program – Marden ($5.20) and Queen of Tomorrow ($5.60), both owned by Bone, and Chetram Bhigroog's Cause to Dream ($6.60). Prior to that, Gonzalez hadn't run a horse at Laurel since winning with two of three starters March 7.

“I feel good, especially for the owners because the owners have bills to pay no matter what, and they lose money when they don't run,” he said. “Now they're happy.”

Gonzalez went 1-for-28 running at Parx in the interim. He has won 10 of the last 11 meets at Laurel dating back to the 2018, sweeping all four Maryland meets in 2020 including the Preakness Meet at Pimlico Race Course.

Gonzalez nominated 10 horses to Laurel's April 24 Spring Stakes Spectacular program, including stakes winners Miss Leslie for the $125,000 Weber City Miss), Eastern Bay and Lebda for the $100,000 Frank Y. Whiteley, Landing Zone for the $100,000 Dahlia and Completed Pass for the $100,000 King T. Leatherbury, the latter two on turf.

“The horses are ready to go and we were lucky to have the right races go, too. If we get the right races and the horses are ready, it's good. Everything happens for the better,” Gonzalez said. “If we continue like this, we're going to have some good weekends.”

Notes: Jockey Sheldon Russell and his wife, trainer Brittany Russell, teamed up for a pair of popular maiden wins Friday with 4-year-old filly Memphis Mafia ($2.80) in Race 3 and 4-year-old gelding Ratify ($3) in Race 7 … Russell completed a riding triple aboard Shane's Jewel ($4) for trainer Jamie Ness in Race 8 … Jockey Kevin Gomez notched back-to-back wins with Baptize the Boy ($4.80) in Race 4 and John the Bear ($24) in Race 5 … There will be carryovers of $5,396.14 in the 20-cent Rainbow 6 and $922.76 in the $1 Super Hi-5 for Saturday's nine-race card (12:40 p.m. post). Multiple tickets with all six winners Friday returned $1,002.92.

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