EHV-1 Outbreak Update 5/18/11

We are currently fielding a lot of questions regarding EHV-1 in the office and out in the field. EHV (Equine Herpes Virus) causes the disease commonly known as rhinopneumonitis in equids. There is no specific vaccine for the neurologic form of EHV-1, although we regularly vaccinate horses for the respiratory form of the virus (part of the "flu/rhino"). Horse-to-horse contact, aerosol transmission, and contaminated hands, equipment, tack, and feed all play a role in disease spread.
 
Most current information from the CDFA website:
 
EHV-1 Disease Update as of 8am 5/18/2011
  10 confirmed cases of Equine Herpes Myeloencephalopathy caused by EHV-1. 

• All Confirmed Cases are Cutting Horses who participated in the Odgen, Utah National Cutting Horse Association’s Western National Championships
• The positive confirmed cases are located in the following counties: Amador(1), Kern (2), Napa (1), Stanislaus(4), and Placer (2).
• One positive horse was euthanized after showing severe neurological signs associated with the disease while at the Kern County Cutting Horse Event on May 13 in Bakersfield, CA
• A second positive horse was transported from the Bakersfield event on May 13 to University of California Davis and is undergoing treatment.
• All positive confirmed cases will be placed under quarantine.

Currently there is no evidence of EHV-1 disease spread outside the cutting horses who participated in the Odgen, Utah event. 
 
The California Department of Food and Agriculture has been updating their website regularly regarding this disease:
http://www.cdfa.ca.gov/ahfss/animal_health/equine_herpes_virus.html
 
The CDFA also has a fact sheet with more information regarding EHV-1:
http://www.cdfa.ca.gov/AHFSS/Animal_Health/pdfs/EHV-1FactSheetSept2010.pdf
 
UC Davis fact sheet:
http://www.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/ceh/currenthealth.cfm
 

 

Dr.Reese Begins Veterinary Acupuncture Course

Dr.Reese has begun her studies in equine acupuncture at the Chi Institute in Florida. This is a year-long course that is only open to licensed veterinarians and has been approved by the California Holisitic Veterinary Medical  Association. The course is taught by Dr.Xie, who received his PhD for his investigation of the mechanisms of pain control in horses using acupuncture and is the author of 12 books and over 100 scientific papers. Dr.Reese has begun online lectures and will be flying to Florida in March for the first 4-day training session. We look forward to offering acupuncture to our equine clients in the near future!

Dr.Cox and Dr.Reese attend Warner Springs Endurance Ride as Control Veterinarians

Last weekend Dr.Cox and Dr.Reese acted as control veterinarians at the Warner Springs Endurance Ride in East County San Diego. It is the responsibility of the control veterinarians to evaluate the horses as they come through the veterinary checkpoints. A brief physical exam and lameness exam are performed and an overall assessment is made, and it is determined whether or not the horse is fit to continue the race. Control veterinarians also treat medical conditions that come up during the race, such as cuts/abrasions, tying up, colic, and removal of cactus spines.  After finishing the race, horses are examined again to make sure they completed the race in good condition. At this particular race, there were 25 and 50 mile rides. Congratulations to all the finishers!

Dr.Reese attends Sport Horse Conference

Dr.Reese attended the Sport Horse Conference held in conjunction with the World Equestrian Games 2010 in Lexington, Kentucky. The conference covered the latest in sport horse lameness, upper airway disease, muscular disease, and diagnostics among other topics. Be sure to ask her about her favorite speaker!

Dr.Cox attends Laminitis Conference

Dr.Cox recently returned from a weekend-long conference in Monterey, CA covering the latest developments in treatment and diagnosis of laminitis.