Equine Herpesvirus Erupts in Bucks County, Pennsylvania
Christmas week, after being diagnosed with equine herpesvirus, three horses were euthanized at Mile View Farm in Doylestown, Bucks County, Pennsylvania. A fourth horse was euthanized before New Year's. Better known as Equine Herpesvirus Myeloencephalopathy (EHM), is a disease that affects the nervous system.
The farm was quarantined at the onset and are being closely monitored. Everyone at the farm is totally co-operating with the Bureau of Animal Health and Diagnostic Services. There are still some horses on the farm that are "clinical" meaning that they have fevers or have tested positive for EHM. They are all being observed. As of the last update, no other horses are deteriorating. It is just a matter of waiting it out. The quarantine can only be lifted 28 days from the last suspected new infection.
The virus can spread very quickly. It can be spread by contact, horse to horse. People can spread it with touching an infected horse or handling of the equipment, tack, feed or filling water buckets.
The horses that were euthanized had been to a show in New Jersey on December 12, 2015. All who had attended the show are carefully being monitored, So far, no other cases have been reported outside the farm.
Almost every horse from the age of two has been exposed to the virus, therefore, carries this virus. The Herpesvirus can cause abortion in pregnant mares, while other strains can cause upper respiratory disease in weanlings and yearlings. The strain at Mile View Farm is a neurological strain.
The virus can be activated during times of stress, such as strenuous exercise, long distance travel, or at weaning.
In October of 2015, a horse at the Parx Racetrack in Bensalem, Pennsylvania was diagnosed the EHM. This horse survived, but it has some neurological impairments. No other cases of this disease occurred at the racetrack.
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