2012 Equine Herpes Virus Quarantined in Colorado. The Colorado Department of Agriculture has advised that an outbreak of Equine Herpes Virus (EHV-1) has been confirmed in Douglas County, Colorado. The boarding facility where the horse resides has been quarantined. The affected horse was imported by a private owner from Iowa through a transport company and was euthanized after showing severe neurological signs associated with the disease. There are three other facilities in Colorado that received horses from the same transport company. Those horses are also being isolated and are being closely monitored for any clinical signs of EHV, as a precaution.
Colorado was subject to an outbreak of the disease in 2011, with 9 confirmed cases and two euthanizations. The outbreak began at an equestrian event in Utah and quickly spread to several of the horses that were present. Unlike in 2011, the 2012 outbreak did not originate at an event that had many horses present and is not expected to spread. The Colorado State Veterinarian is not recommending equine travel restrictions, as they mandated during the 2011 outbreak.
“The Department is taking quick and appropriate actions to control and mitigate this disease,” added State Veterinarian Keith Roehr, DVM. “We will continue to trace the movement of this horse and those horses it came into contact with in order to protect Colorado’s equine industry.”
Learn more about diseases of the nervous systems than can afflict horses and the most current treatment methods and prognoses in Understanding Equine Neurological Disorders.
Although it’s not transmissible to humans, EHV-1 is highly contagious among horses, and it is generally passed from horse to horse via direct contact such as nasal secretions and via aerosol transmission (when affected animals sneeze/cough). The disease can cause a variety of ailments in equines, including rhinopneumonitis (a respiratory disease usually found in young horses), abortion in broodmares, and myeloencephalopathy (EHM, the neurologic form).
View our Equine Law practice page.
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2012 Equine Herpes Virus Quarantined in Colorado – No Travel Restrictions Imposed
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“Horse Divorce” Article as Featured in Horse Connection Magazine
Colorado Conservation Easements and Land Trusts
Equine Herpes Virus (EHV-1) Contained in Colorado
FEI Updates Prohibited Substance List for Horses Competing in FEI Disciplines
Potentially Deceptive Solicitations regarding Colorado Business Entity Filings
Marc Patoile, a partner at Folkestad Fazekas Barrick & Patoile, P.C., has been listed in the North American Directory of Equine Law Practitioners
