27/02/2021
Equine Herpes goes viral!
The current Equine herpesvirus (EHV1) outbreak is worrying a lot of owners & riders in Europe. Here are a few key points to help you better understand EHV1 and manage your horse’s accordingly.
🦠 EHV-1 can cause respiratory disease (nasal discharge, swollen lymph nodes) or more rarely but more severe neurological symptoms (incoordination, ataxia, somnolence,...) or abortion.
🦠After infection, the incubation period usually ranges from 1 to 6 days. The horses then usually have two peaks of fever 4 to 5 days apart. Adult horses can be symptomless and stil transmit the virus!
🦠 EHV-1 is very contagious and spreads either by direct horse-to-horse contact, by nasal aerosol or indirectly via contact with contaminated objects (equipment, tack, hands, clothing, feed or drinking bins, buckets, walkers, trailers,...).
🦠The virus can survive from a week to a month in the environment and it is essential to wash and disinfect boxes and all equipment in contact with the horse. Use your usual hand sanitizer before handling horses.
🦠 Diagnosis is performed by PCR from a nasal swab (yes, like fpr SARS-Co19) or blood sample. Monitoring temperatures twice a day in exposed horses is a good way to prescreen.
🦠 Isolate and quarantine horses returning from a sensitive area or those with symptoms such as fever to prevent the spread FOR 21 DAYS. Isolation means housing them away from other horses in a different stables, not in adjacent paddocks and turning them out not in the same walker or arena
🦠 If a horse has symptoms, immediately notify your vet and do not move any horses around.
Supportive treatments may include anti-inflammatory medication. Antibiotics are only used if a secondary bacterial infection occurs as they have no effect on the EHV1 itself.
🦠 Using a booster vaccination in asymptotic horses helps reduce risks of shedding and propagation for all horses and can attenuate symptoms in individuals if they come across the virus.
