Current guidelines require that all horses entering a Kentucky racetrack or sanctioned training facility meet the additional requirements of having a 72-hour Certificate of Veterinary Inspection (CVI) and also meet the state's EHV-1 vaccination requirement of having been vaccinated a minimum of 14 days and no more than 120 days prior to entering the stable area. The 14-day minimum applies only to horses that have not been vaccinated during the preceding 120 days.

“There has been no change in the status at Gulfstream Park,” Rusty Ford, Kentucky State Veterinarian Office's Equine Operations Consultant, said. “One case of a neurologic horse has been confirmed positive for EHV1. The horse became recumbent and was euthanized [and] 174 horses remain housed in the affected barn and are under an official quarantine. Florida state veterinary officials have been conducting the epidemiologic investigation as well as managing and monitoring the quarantine. I have also received notification that a review of the records of horses moving out of the affected barn during the 2 weeks preceding the diagnosis did not identify any horse moving to Kentucky.

“At this point-in-time we understand there has been no testing of the 174 exposed horses and lacking additional symptomatic horses being reported there is currently no plan to test. My understanding is the horses in the quarantined barn may qualify for release following 21 days of no additional cases being reported or diagnosed. Though these 174 horses are under quarantine and have not since January 21 had direct contact with other horses on the grounds at Gulfstream, the lack of testing these exposed horses has raised our concern.

“Movement of the non-quarantined horses currently stabled, or horses that had been on the grounds of Gulfstream Park since January 20th, can continue to be conditionally allowed entry onto a KY track/training facility and be stabled on the grounds.”

Horses moving from Gulfstream (or having recently been on the grounds) can be allowed entry if the horse meets the published requirements for entry in addition to the modification listed below:
– Prior to a horse destined to a KY track/training facility departing, the horse's trainer or veterinarian is to contact the equine medical director, or his designated person, and provide required information on each horse that is seeking approval to move to the track.
– Approval of a designated horse to enter the Kentucky destination track by that track's equine medical director is based on the condition that the horse is to be temperature monitored and recorded twice daily for seven (7) days post arrival with the temperature logs posted on the stall. Any elevated fever or other sign or suspicion of illness shall immediately be reported to the equine medical director.
– The horse is to travel on a Health Certificate showing examination and issuance of the certificate performed the day of departure or during the 12 hours immediately preceding the departure. The certificate shall have the EHV vaccination recorded on it as well as the date the equine medical director approved the move and the estimated time of departure and KY arrival.

“These requirements are being adjusted in consultation with the track's equine medical directors and are subject to change without any advanced notice being provided should the disease event at Gulfstream Park change,” Ford said.

The post Kentucky Provides Updates on EHV, Movement Protocols From Gulfstream Park appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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On Thursday evening (7/15) we received notification that Barn 86 at Saratoga Race Course had been placed under quarantine by NYRA Veterinary Officials and New York's Gaming Commission following a diagnosis of EHV1 in a horse that had been stabled on the grounds. Since that time, we have maintained open lines of communication with both NYRA and the NY Department Agriculture's State Veterinarians Office and have been working with the KY Horse Racing Commission and KY racetrack's management teams.

A description of the disease event can be viewed on the Equine Disease Communication Center's website.

Additionally, we did reaffirm earlier this morning that the status is unchanged and there have been no new EHV cases reported.

Dr. Flynn and I would like to take this opportunity to remind you that mitigating risk of disease introduction and transmission is a shared responsibility with success dependent on multiple parties all working together to achieve the common goal of maintaining safe and healthy environments for our horses. Since Thursday, we have worked closely with our tracks and training facilities to establish procedures and protocols that continues to allow movement of horses originating from Saratoga Race Course onto Kentucky tracks. With that in mind, we want to ensure that other equine facilities receiving horses understand the importance of having strong biosecurity protocols in place and practiced daily when processing and managing new arrivals onto your facility. Your veterinarian is a valuable resource to review and give recommendations based on your individual premises and we, too, will be happy to review your plan and share our thoughts on best practices.

Kentucky's Position at This Point in Time: With horses in the affected barn remaining under quarantine, segregated from the general population, and being closely monitored for evidence of illness, we are satisfied horses residing in other barns at Saratoga can qualify and be permitted entry onto our Kentucky tracks and training facilities by fully meeting our established entry requirements. These requirements include a Certificate of Veterinary Inspection (CVI) certifying examination and issuance of the certificate was made during the 72-hour period preceding the horses arrival at the Kentucky track/facility and includes certification of the horse meeting our established EHV1 vaccination requirement as well as EIA testing.

Additionally, I am encouraging tracks to have the shipping of horses from Saratoga onto the grounds be scheduled with the stable manager and that the arrival and stabling information be shared with the track's Equine Medical Director or his designee.

We appreciate the opportunity to provide factual information resulting from the open lines of communication with NYRA and NY Department of Agriculture veterinary officials. We will continue to monitor this developing event and provide updates as new information is learned or a change in the status occurs.

Visit the Kentucky Department of Agriculture here.

The post Kentucky Position On EHV Quarantine At Saratoga Race Course appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Following are updates to the equine herpesvirus (EHV-1) incident at Blackwood Training Center in Woodford County, Kentucky.

We are also taking this opportunity to share with you our understanding of the latest developments at Laurel and Pimlico in Maryland.

Blackwood Training Center Woodford County Kentucky:

Results of testing on the samples (Nasal Swabs and Whole Blood EDTA) collected from each horse stabled in Barn B on Wednesday, March 31 have been reported negative for detection of EHV1 DNA by PCR testing.  In addition to the testing that has been completed, the horses have been monitored daily and our findings support that it has been greater than 14 days since any horse in Barn B was last potentially exposed to a clinical case.  Meeting the criteria above provided us the confidence needed to release the group of horses in barn B from restriction and allowed them to resume their normal training and racing activities beginning on Friday, April 2nd.

Barn A at Blackwood: Daily monitoring of the horses stabled in Barn A continues.  There have been no additional fevers or other symptoms in the group, and we have tentatively scheduled the horses in Barn A to be sampled (nasal swabs and whole blood) and tested by PCR later next week.

Maryland:

Laurel/Pimlico

Published reports and conversations with animal health officials in MD, suggest the situation at Laurel continues to evolve as additional positive samples have been collected from non-clinical as well as a few horses exhibiting clinical signs.  The Maryland state veterinarian and the Stronach Group have decided the plan moving forward is to only sample and test symptomatic horses in the affected barns. Currently, their criteria for quarantine release will be 21 days of no clinical signs reported. This plan relies strictly on grooms/trainers/vets to report fever or other evidence of illness, which in our opinion may result in lack of detection of circulating virus. This protocol is in direct contrast to the testing protocols we have developed in consultation with infectious disease experts; and which I feel has aided our ability to maintain racing schedules/calendars with minimal disruption and inconvenience to the majority of horsemen.

In light of the current information available to us, we are in the process of developing strategies to mitigate what would be considered an elevated risk to our populations here in Kentucky should Maryland release the imposed restrictions without diagnostically demonstrating the horses and environment are free of evidence of virus circulating.

The probability is that horses which have recently been (date to be determined) at Laurel or Pimlico, will require Kentucky's office of state veterinarian approval prior to entering Kentucky. These horses will likely be restricted and require veterinary examination and testing before being allowed to enter a Kentucky racetrack or sanctioned facility.  This  protocol has worked well in the past when we've had to address disease events in other states where horses were released from restrictions without testing.

I will be providing and distributing a general summary update late next week when results from the planned testing at Blackwood becomes available.

The post Kentucky State Veterinarian Weighing Options For In-State And Maryland EHV-1 Horses appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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The additional 24 horses in Barn B of the index EHV-1 affected premises were sampled on Friday due to potential exposure of indirect transmission (riders) having occurred prior to confirmation of the index case. Two horses from this group had a trace amount of EHV-1 DNA detected in the nasal swab and were removed from the barn and segregated on Saturday.

To date, 18 horses in index Barn A and 22 horses in Barn B have had one set of negative test (nasal swab and/or blood) . The last febrile horse was removed from Barn A and placed in isolation on March 10, 2021. There have been no clinical horses in Barn B since the start of the outbreak.

Five of the nine horses in the isolation barn have tested positive with the last fever reported on Friday March 12, 2021. All horses in isolation are being monitored by the attending veterinarian.

A second round of testing is being planned for the horses in barns A, B and Isolation.

The management and staff of the premises continue to implement enhanced biosecurity and health monitoring protocols including multiple daily temperature recordings. Additionally, these enhanced measures have been implemented at other sanctioned training facilities in Kentucky.

Staff from the Office of the State Veterinarian continue to closely monitor the situation.

Appropriate biosecurity and other safeguards are fully implemented at Turfway Park.

Updates will continue to be provided as information is learned.

The post Kentucky EHV-1 Update: Two More Horses Found With ‘Trace Amounts’ Of Viral DNA In Nasal Swabs appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Results of the PCR testing conducted on samples collected Thursday were reported Thursday evening and did identify five additional EHV-1 positive horses (neuropathogenic strain).  Two of the horses had been previously moved to the separate isolation barn and we did relocate the additional three positive horses to isolation last night as well. With the five additional positive horses, our population of potentially exposed horses grew and samples are being collected and submitted from each of those 25 horses later this afternoon with results expected to be available over the weekend.

We appreciate the commitment, effort, and resources Blackwood's management, horse owners, horsemen and attending veterinarians have provided. Biosecurity and health monitoring protocols that include temping horses multiple times daily have and will continue to be practiced by horsemen at Blackwood. These same procedures and protocols have been adopted and are routinely practiced by other training venues as well. State animal health officials and attending veterinary practitioners are working together and following up with testing of any horse suggesting evidence of an infectious condition.  These combined efforts have helped us identify affected horses, thus better enabling us to mitigate further transmission and aide our ability to ensure we have safe and healthy environments for our horses and horsemen to continue normal operations within the commonwealth.

Index Case Update: Following a period of stability, the index case rapidly deteriorated and has been euthanized.

Other Guidance: Clearly, with the multiple ongoing EHV-1 events involving multiple breeds, disciplines, and venues, farms accepting new arrivals are to be reminded the importance of knowing the environment and status of where the horse arriving their farm originated and implementing needed husbandry practices that should include isolation, observation and assessment of the horse to insure healthy horses are introduced to your herd.

While our investigation of the Kentucky event as well as monitoring of disease events in other states continues, Kentucky State Veterinarian Dr. Katie Flynn and I will be providing further updates as information becomes available.

The post Kentucky EHV-1 Outbreak: Five New Positives At Training Center appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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OVERVIEW

In the past seven days we have learned of multiple occurrences of EHV-1 impacting equine events throughout the world.  Additionally, as we are coming to the time of year that we historically see an increase in movement of equine exhibition and racing stock into Kentucky, I want to remind all associated parties that mitigating risk of disease introduction is a shared responsibility that requires commitment from each individual exhibitor, trainer, event managers, facility operators, veterinarians, and animal health officials. Facility managers and the managers of shows/exhibitions planned to be held in Kentucky should immediately review their biosecurity practices and if needed elevate their biosecurity plan to minimize opportunity of horses having direct or indirect contact with one another. Indirect contact would include common water and feed sources as well as shared equipment and congregating in common areas. The goal of a biosecurity plan is to prevent the transmission of infectious agents among individuals and the components of a successful program will include cooperation of management, facility layout, decontamination, and when applicable immunization. Each of these factors directly affects the success or failure of the program.

Copies of the American Association of Equine Practitioners biosecurity guidelines can be downloaded at https://aaep.org/site-search?search=biosecurity or the Equine Disease Communication Centers website www.equinediseasecc.org. The documents provide good general guidance of practices that should be routinely implemented, and we encourage show managers to share these directions with all exhibitors. Additionally, our office is happy to assist facilities, show management and event veterinarians in evaluating their individual plans and when a need is identified, assist in adopting and implementing a defined plan.

FLORIDA STATUS

I did earlier today speak with the Florida State Veterinarian overseeing the EHV-1 investigation and management of the disease incident in Ocala, Fla. As of today, there continues to be a single barn on the Ocala facility with EHV-1 cases confirmed by diagnostic testing. The barn remains under quarantine and activity on the premises is being monitored by animal health officials.  Equine presenting with evidence or suspicion of illness are being isolated and tested.

FLORIDA (Marion County) > KENTUCKY MOVEMENT

We appreciate the proactive action taken by the Florida Department of Agriculture to mitigate further transmission of EHV-1. With the epidemiological investigation still in its early stages, the status of potentially exposed horses unknown, and the potential risk of fomite (human) transmission to other facilities during the days preceding the diagnosis, Dr. Flynn and I both feel we are justified in stipulating that in addition to our normal entry requirements, horses destined to Kentucky from the Ocala area (identified as Marion County) be examined and a certificate of veterinary inspection (CVI) issued during the 72-hour period preceding the horse's arrival at the KY destination.

The examination and issuance of the CVI should be performed by a veterinarian familiar with the individual horse and the environment from which it originates and with confidence the horse has not been recently exposed to a reportable disease.  We will continue to monitor the activity in Florida and plan to reevaluate the CVI 72-hour policy during the week ending Sunday, March 21.

European Union EHV1 Concerns: Available Testing Options for Importing Horses

Importation and Preplanning

We continue to gather and assess information describing multiple outbreaks of EHV-1 impacting equine events in several European countries. Reports published yesterday suggest there are now six countries with confirmed cases: Spain, Germany, Belgium, France, Sweden and a case in Qatar that is apparently linked to the European outbreak.

USDA announced this past Friday that horses importing through federal quarantine facilities can be sampled while completing quarantine will be allowed to be sampled with those samples sent by permit to a USDA approved laboratory for EHV1 testing by PCR.  To schedule and accomplish testing, horsemen should work with their importing broker/agent to arrange for the samples to be collected, submitted, and tested.

USDA has advised us that results of the testing will be reported and shared before the horse releases from quarantine and that a positive result will not delay release of the animals so long as there is no fever or other symptoms detected. Our horsemen need to preplan and insure they have suitable space available to isolate and quarantine any horse that is reported positive. After the horse(s) arrives in Kentucky, we will work with the farm and attending veterinarians to better understand as quickly as possible the individual animal's disease status and associated risk it may pose.

The post EHV-1 Outbreak Update: Kentucky Requires Horses Coming From Ocala Have Health Certs Within 72 Hours appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Rusty Ford, the Equine Operations Consultant at the Office of the State Veterinarian, has been instrumental in helping to keep the horse industry functioning throughout the COVID19 crisis. Mr. Ford will discuss the guidelines for the safe operation of horse shows, breeding sheds, boarding barns and more. There will be additional time for questions and discussion from the participants.

“We are excited to present this topic that has affected every horse owner and enthusiast this spring,” said Kentucky Horse Council Executive Director Katy Ross. “Kentucky is lucky to have such a strong advocate for the horse industry in this unprecedented crisis. Rusty's experience and knowledge allowed for the continued operation of much of the equine industry and he has been an important liaison between the industry and state government.”

KENA is charged with the mission of providing an educational and social venue for equine professionals and horse enthusiasts from all disciplines. Organized by the Kentucky Horse Council, KENA provides the opportunity for attendees to share ideas, business strategies and knowledge, and to obtain up-to-date information on horse and farm management and on issues affecting the equine industry. KENA is made possible by the generous support of sponsors, including Dinsmore Equine Law Group, WesBanco, Neogen, University of Louisville Equine Industry Program, KESMARC Kentucky, and Equine Land Conservation Resources.

The July meeting is presented by Dinsmore & Shohl LLP's Equine Law Group. Dinsmore & Shohl is a full-service law firm with offices in twenty-three cities throughout eleven states and the District of Columbia, including Kentucky offices in Lexington, Frankfort, Louisville and Covington. The Dinsmore Equine Law Group is a generous supporter of the KENA dinner series.

The Kentucky Equine Networking Association welcomes all Kentucky horse owners, professionals and enthusiasts to participate in the July meeting. Learn more and register here.

The post Kentucky Horse Council Announces July Virtual KENA Meeting appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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