On Thursday, February 12, 2015, the Virginia Department of
Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS) was notified of a horse in Loudoun
County that tested positive for Equine Herpesvirus Myeloencephalopathy (EHM), a
neurological disease of horses caused by Equine Herpesvirus-1 (EHV-1).
On February 5 that horse exhibited a fever and was not
eating or drinking. Even though it never showed neurological signs, the owner
took the horse to the Marion duPont Scott Equine Medical Center (EMC) in
Leesburg. There they tested for and quickly diagnosed EHV-1. The horse is under
quarantine there and is recovering. A second horse from the same farm exhibited
a fever but no other signs. As a precaution, it is also under quarantine at the
EMC and VDACS is running tests at its Regional Animal Health Laboratory in
Warrenton.
Dr. Richard Wilkes, State Veterinarian with VDACS, stressed
that the horses were admitted directly into the isolation area at Marion duPont
Scott. At no time were these horses in the general hospital area. The EMC is
confident that their bio-security protocols will contain the virus to the
isolation area.
VDACS began an epidemiological investigation on February 13
and will continue to monitor the situation. The Department will provide regular
updates on its website – vdacs.virginia.gov/animals/ehv.shtml
- and on Facebook and Twitter at facebook.com/VaAgriculture
and twitter.com/VaAgriculture/.
On February 6, VDACS announced that a horse in western
Albemarle County had tested positive for EHV-1. That horse has been under
quarantine for a week and continues to improve. There is no known connection
between the Loudoun and Albemarle horses.
More information on EHV-1 is available at vdacs.virginia.gov/animals/ehv.shtml.
No comments:
Post a Comment