An outbreak of EHV-1 has led to cancellation of four hunter/jumper shows and one dressage show at the Desert International Horse Park in California.
Steve Hankin, the venue’s CEO, said it is disappointing to cancel the rest of the season but “for now, our focus has to be on the care and safety of the horses here under isolation and quarantine and for those horses needing a home during this infection.
“The horse park will remain open for all of these horses, especially those unable to find an appropriate place for further quarantine or where transport creates additional risk, until we are through this infection. We will take every precaution to continue to protect the horses here until we close for the season. We’ll be back in the fall for the 2022/2023 season and look forward to welcoming everyone back.”
Last week, another horse has been euthanized in the wave of EHV-1 cases that led to requirements for handling horses to avoid contagion. He was the third to be put down in connection with the outbreak.
The horse was a 20-year-old warmblood gelding in Los Angeles County, where he had attended a show last week He displayed neurological signs Feb. 22 was confirmed positive for Equine Herpesvirus Myeloencephalopathy (EHM) secondary to equine herpesvirus-1 (EHV-1 non-neuropathogenic strain) Feb. 24. The horse was euthanized due to severity of clinical signs, according to the Equine Disease Communicatoin Center.
Three horses that had attended an event in Riverside County, Calif., and then returned home ran a fever with no neurologic signs but were confirmed positive for EHV-1. The horses in Santa Barbara, Ventura and San Mateo counties have been isolated and will be quarantined at home, along with any exposed companions. Three additional horses on the index event premise, outside of the index quarantine barn, displaying fever only with no neurologic signs were confirmed positive for EHV-1
Meanwhile on the east coast, Equestrian Sport Productions that runs the Adequan Global Dressage Festival and Winter Equestrian Festival on Feb. 23 instituted strict new protocols for anyone shipping horses into the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center and any new back numbers processed will be required to sign a declaration stating that the horses entering the facility are healthy and have not been in a California competition after Jan. 28.
An outbreak of EHV-1 in Europe last year led to a massive cancellation of shows.