20+ Horses Affected by Respiratory Infection at Far West Championship Show
Press release as posted on the Bend Equine Medical Center official Facebook Page- June 20th
“As show veterinarians for the Far West Championship Horse Show being held at the Deschutes County Fairgrounds, we have been involved in the care of horses affected by an outbreak of a contagious upper respiratory infection. There are currently 15 affected horses, ranging in age from 1-7 years old. Fourteen of the fifteen are from one barn on the grounds. Affected horses are showing fevers, coughing, nasal discharge and lethargy. No horses are showing any neurological signs, and no horses have required hospitalization or any treatment other than Banamine administration. The incubation period appears to be approximately 3-4 days.
We have asked owners of all affected horses to self-quarantine their horses at home for 2 weeks and for owners of all horses that attended the show to monitor their horses for fevers or other signs of infection. Blood and nasal swab samples have been obtained from all affected horses and will be tested as soon as laboratories are open to identify the infectious agent.
The Far West Horse Show management has been proactive in management of this situation and cancelled the majority of classes today.
We have been in contact with the State Veterinarian, and there are no official quarantines in place. We realize this may potentially impact next week’s OHSET meet at the fairgrounds and are working to determine a diagnosis as quickly as possible to aid in decision-making for that event.
Here are links to how to quarantine horses: http://www.thehorse.com/artic…/…/creating-a-horse-quarantine, http://www.chrb.ca.gov/misc_docs/biosecurity_2011.pdf Here is AAEP’s Contagious Infectious Respiratory Disease protocol: http://www.aaep.org/custdocs/Respiratory%20Guidelines.pdf“
Press Release June 22nd Update
Samples from three of the affected horses were tested at the Oregon State University Veterinary Diagnostic Lab today and were confirmed to be positive for Equine Influenza A Virus. The samples were negative for Equine Herpes Virus 1 & 4 and for Equine Viral Arteritis. The remainder of the samples will be tested via Merck’s Equine Respiratory Pathogen Surveillance Program at UC Davis Veterinary Diagnostic Lab tomorrow, but we expect the results will confirm OSU’s.
All affected horses are recovering with only symptomatic treatment, though the number of cases has increased to approximately the mid 20s that we are aware of as of today. The Equine Influenza Virus (EIV) can persist in the environment (on inanimate objects) for only about 2-3 days, fortunately. Infected horses should be quarantined for 21 days and any exposed but non symptomatic horses can be quarantined for 14 days. This virus is very contagious, and can travel up to 50 yards through the air, so quarantine arrangement should take this into account.
Infected horses should be rested from work for one week for every day of fever they experience or there is risk of cardiac muscle damage.
Intranasal vaccines will provide the most rapid protection, usually by Day 5, against influenza. Intramuscular influenza vaccines are effective as well, but take longer (about 2 weeks) to provide protection. Make sure your vaccine carries the more recent strains (A2/Clade 1/North American).
Here is a great info sheet for horse owners: http://www.aaep.org/custdocs/Influenza%20guidelines.pdf For those who enjoy the technical details: http://www.aaep.org/info/equine-influenza
