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Revised: 05/25/2011 |
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American Association of Equine Practitioners
Date: May 24, 2011 Re: USDA Situation Report, Guidance Document & new AAEP Resources for Horse Owners Now Available
The USDA:APHIS:VS has recently posted on its website 2011 EHV-1/EHM incident information, including situation reports (listings of suspect and confirmed cases, locations, etc.), recommendations for exposed horses and more here. Please check this website weekly for situation reports.
As a reminder, please report any confirmed EHV/EHM cases or suspect EHV/EHM cases to your state/provincial animal health department as soon as possible. We are in the process of creating recommendations for necropsy guidelines and those will be posted to the AAEP website when completed.
In addition, the AAEP now has an updated web page for horse owners with a very informative FAQ targeted to horse owners located here.
The AAEP veterinarian web page remains active continues to be updated. To access this web page click here.
For additional questions, please contact Keith Kleine, AAEP director of industry relations, at (800) 443-0177 or kkleine@aaep.org.
Date: May 17, 2011 Re: URGENT RESPONSE INFORMATION AND RESOURCES
Currently, there are numerous reports of equine herpesvirus myeloencephalopathy (EHM) affecting horses and farms across the U.S. and Canada. This outbreak appears related to initial cases at a cutting horse show in Ogden Utah, which was held from April 29 - May 8. Horses at that event may have been exposed to this virus and subsequently spread the infection to other horses. While the true extent of this disease outbreak is uncertain, there is clearly a very significant elevated risk of EHM cases at this time. At this time control of the outbreak is critically dependent on biosecurity.
Laboratory submission of nasal swabs and whole blood samples collected from the exposed horse can be utilized for virus detection and isolation. Please consider testing any suspected cases.
The EHV-1 organism spreads quickly from horse to horse but typically only causes neurological disease sporadically. However, in an outbreak of EHV-1 neurologic such as we are experiencing now, the disease can reach high morbidity and case fatality rates. The incubation period of EHV-1 infection is typically 1-2-days, with clinical signs of fever then occurring, often in a biphasic fever, over the following 10 days. When neurological disease occurs it is typically 8-12 days after the primary infection, starting often after the second fever spike. In horses infected with the neurologic strain of EHV-1, clinical signs may include: nasal discharge, incoordination, hind end weakness, recumbency, lethargy, urine dribbling and diminished tail tone. Prognosis depends on severity of signs and the period of recumbency. There is no specific treatment for EHV-1, although antiviral drugs (i.e. valacyclovire) may have some value before neurological signs occur. Non-specific treatment may include intravenous fluids, and other appropriate supportive therapy; the use of anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) is strongly recommended. Currently, there is no equine vaccine that has a label claim for protection against the neurological strain of the virus.
Horse-to-horse contact, aerosol
transmission, and contaminated hands, equipment, tack, and feed all play
a role in disease spread. However, horses with severe clinical signs of
neurological EHV-1 infection are thought to have large viral loads in
their blood and nasal secretions and therefore, present the greatest
danger for spreading the disease. Immediate separation and isolation of
identified suspect cases and implementation of appropriate biosecurity
measures are key elements for disease control.
For additional questions, please contact Keith Kleine, AAEP director of industry relations, at (800) 443-0177 or kkleine@aaep.org.
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