ADDITIONAL VIRGINIA HORSE TESTS POSITIVE FOR EHV-1, ANOTHER TEST RESULT COMES BACK NEGATIVE
Submitted by: VTA
Email Address: vta(at)vabred.org
Date Added: 2/28/2007
The Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS) announced this afternoon that a horse from a farm in Loudoun County tested positive for Equine Herpes Virus-1 (EHV-1). This is the fifth horse from Virginia to test positive. Results on an additional horse, from Fauquier County, were negative.
The latest positive test came from a horse that was at the Marion duPont Equine Medical Center (EMC) for treatment when EHV-1 was detected in a horse at the center. The farm has been quarantined since last week, along with nine other premises in Virginia, in an effort to control the spread of the virus from horses that possibly were exposed at the EMC. Officials are awaiting lab results on four additional horses at the present time. All of the horses that have tested positives showed signs of neurological disease.
“Thanks to rapid diagnosis and notification by the EMC, VDACS personnel quarantined all the contact premises in Virginia last week,†said Dr. Richard Wilkes, State Veterinarian. “This new confirmation indicates that more horses on this particular farm may have been exposed but we are hopeful that our quarantine has prevented exposure of other horses in the area. We will continue to monitor this farm, as well as others, until the threat of EHV-1 has passed. Farms will remain under quarantine until investigations and tests are completed and we believe transmission of the virus is no longer a credible risk.â€
The VDACS Web site, www.vdacs.virginia.gov, contains updates on the situation, a listing of quarantined farms by city and county, as well as fact sheets and biosecurity information. VDACS recommends that horse owners and managers be aware of the signs of EHV-1 and practice good biosecurity to limit the spread of infection. Horse owners should also consult their veterinarians about the immunization status of their horses.
“Biosecurity is of utmost importance,†said Dr. Wilkes. “We will employ every means at our disposal to contain the spread of the virus through quarantines and other regulatory measures, but Virginia’s horse-owners and those who service the horse industry must also be vigilant and practice strict biosecurity. At its most basic, good biosecurity involves stringent hygiene control procedures to avoid spreading the disease in the environment. This includes a thorough cleaning and disinfecting routine using a proven disinfectant/cleaner.â€
VDACS offers these equine biosecurity practices to limit the spread of EHV-1 and other infectious diseases:
• Wash your hands with soap and water or use a dry sanitizer after handling each horse
• Avoid nose-to-nose contact with horses who may have been exposed
• When entering or exiting a stable or barn, wash hands and disinfect outer footwear using footbaths
• Clean and disinfect trailers after use
• Minimize the use of shared equipment such as water buckets, lead ropes, grooming tools. Label these items as belonging to each individual horse.
• Any equipment and tools that are shared, such as pitchforks, shovels, twitches, etc. should be disinfected daily and between horses
• Carefully fill water buckets and feed troughs so that neither the water hose nor the feed scoop touches the bucket or trough
• Do not share multi-dose oral medications between horses
• If possible, keep horses which were off the farm and possibly exposed to an infected horse isolated from other horses for at least two weeks on their return.
For many more biosecurity tips, please see the USDA Web site at: www.aphis.usda.gov/lpa/pubs/HorseBioSecurity_final.pdf.
|
