Posted with permission off another list.

This email is being sent to alert you to the fact that there is
currently an outbreak of the neurotropic form of Equine Herpes Virus
-1 (EHV-1) on the peninsula. To date, four horses from two Montara
boarding facilities have been euthanized.

Below are messages from Dr. Wayne Browning of Bayhill Equine and Dr.
Russ Petersen of Peninsula Equine.

Please use caution as it appears that this virus can spread without
physical contact. Further, even though we all vaccinate twice a year
for EHV-1 and EHV-4, apparently that does not help with the
neurotropic form of this virus. It's all very confusing. More
information will be available soon regarding limiting the outbreak
and treating affected horses.

Recommendations at this point are:

* Restrict the movement of your horses to and from the affected area.
* Watch for fever and unsteady movement/gait or difficulty standing.
* Careful handling to prevent contamination: washing hands, avoiding
shared water buckets, tie posts, etc.

** From:
Bayhill Equine
Dr. Wayne Browning
123 Belmont Avenue
Redwood City, CA 94061
(650) 851-2300 . BayhillEq@aol. com

As most of you already know, there has been a recent outbreak of the
neurotropic form of Equine Herpes Virus (EHV-1) in Montara. This was
the first confirmed case in San Mateo County. To date, Bayhill Equine
is the only veterinary practice that has seen, or treated any horse
involved in this outbreak. Therefore, as many questions have arisen,
I felt I should respond to a previous post to let people know the
current status and avoid any misinformation.

I originally saw a 4-year-old filly on Monday morning, March 11, that
was unable to stand and had a history of fever 5 days earlier.
Another horse in the same paddock was also showing signs of ataxia
(incoordination) .

Based on clinical signs, history, and multiple horses affected, a
tentative diagnosis of EHV-1 was made and the horses referred to UC-
Davis. By 5:15 that afternoon, a positive diagnosis was confirmed by
laboratory tests. I called area veterinarians on Tuesday morning,
which is where they got their information. Both horses were started
on Valcyclovir, but were euthanized yesterday after failing to
respond to treatment.

Two other horses on this ranch were febrile and were thus tested.
One was positive and one was negative. One of these horses had gone
on a ride with members of a neighboring ranch one day prior to
breaking with a fever. Additionally, a 29 year-old mare was
euthanized on a second neighboring ranch after being unable to
stand. She and one additional horse tested positive today, March
15th. Therefore, these three ranches are currently on a voluntary
quarantine based on recommendations from our practice and those of UC-
Davis.

No new horse had been introduced on the primary ranch for 6 weeks,
and the last horse to do so was from Pescadero. Dr. Magdesian at UC-
Davis felt that a fomite, such as clothing or shoes, could have been
the introduction method. He did not believe it was a spontaneous
mutation. Additionally, Drs. Madigan and Dr. Ferraro are planning a
site visit after obtaining ranch owner approval, both to study and to
make further recommendations to contain the outbreak.

I have attached a copy of the letter I wrote today, which is an
updated version of the one posted on the 12th. Also, we have
additional pages covering prevention, treatment, and management that
are available. You may contact our office for these or with any
additional questions regarding the status of this outbreak.

PS.

1) Obviously, contact your regular veterinarian for information
regarding treatment, prevention, etc. I simply said that we have
those papers already available which include links to appropriate web
sites for the latest information, etc.

2) Bayhill Equine is working with UC-Davis to contact the ranch
owners to obtain permission to visit the properties. We will be
there as well to ask questions of them, etc.

3) We are holding a community forum for all boarders on the coast so
we can update them with the latest information as well in hopes of
limiting this outbreak

** From:
Russ Peterson, DVM MS,
PENINSULA EQUINE MEDICAL CENTER
http://www.peneq. com/

These cases have been confirmed and their vaccination status is still
under investigation. The State Veterinarians have been advised and
will be meeting with UCD staff and others, consulting on the
implementation of more specific guidelines for handling quarantines,
etc, as these are voluntary at this time.

Restriction of movement of horses between affected areas and
surrounding horse populations is critical to prevent spread, as
contagious horses may not be showing clinical signs of illness.
Until more specifics are available regarding the scope and source of
this EHV-1 hotspot, we recommend strict movement restrictions to-and-
from the affected area, vigilant monitoring of healthy horses for
fever or other signs, preventive immunization and measures specific
to the population at risk, and SPECIAL consideration to potential
spread of the virus via owners, handlers, service staff ( farriers,
trainers, etc) by utilizing recommended biohazard transmission
prevention measures.

An overview of these management measures, EHV-1 information from
previous outbreaks, and links to informative web sites can be
obtained on our website ( http://www.peneq. com ).

Feel free to contact our staff or your individual DVMs for updates
which we will strive to keep current as developments and info becomes
available.

Happy Trails...... ....

El Dorado Equestrian Trails Foundation
P O Box 321
Georgetown , CA. 95634

We had that outbreak over at our racetrack in CA. Our track was on quaranteed for about a month and had 2 horses that we put down and 4 others that were sick.