Tests for the equine herpes virus (EHV-1) performed on 35 horses stabled in a
Churchill Downs barn placed under a Kentucky Department of Agriculture
quarantine have returned results that show no trace of the illness in any of
those horses.
Two tests were performed on each of the horses in Barn 47 — a nasal swab test
and a blood test — and negative results were returned on all of those horses.
The barn, which houses 19 horses trained by David Carroll and 16 under the care
of trainer Al Stall Jr., remains under quarantine. Biosecurity measures are in
place at the barn and no horses were allowed in or out of that structure on
Saturday for a second consecutive day.
The quarantine order was issued after a three-year-old Thoroughbred trained by
Carroll was found late Thursday to be infected with EHV-1. That horse had been
moved from the barn to a equine hospital after he started to display suspicious
symptoms at the barn early in the day on Thursday.
Rusty Ford, the equine programs manager for the office of Kentucky State
Veterinarian Dr. Robert Stout, said the quarantine of Barn 47 would remain
under quarantine, but he said the negative results were
encouraging and the status of the horses in that barn would be closely evaluated
in the coming days.
“All of the horses were eating and everything looks good,” Ford said. “The
test results reaffirmed our suspicion that the infected horse carried a low
level of the infection in his body and that made him a lesser risk to transmit
the virus to other horses. We remain optimistic that the presence of the virus
in that barn was caught very early, which would be good news for our efforts to
contain the virus to infected horse and this barn.”
Policies and procedures designed to limit the introduction and spread of
equine herpes remain in place at Churchill Downs as the track prepared to open
its 21-day Fall Meet on Sunday. All horses who enter and depart from
the track’s stable area are required to present a veterinary certificate of
health that certifies that the horse has been healthy for the previous 72 hours.
Horses who ship in to compete in Churchill Downs races are required to stable
in either the receiving or stakes barns, and those barns — along with the
starting gate, paddock and equipment used by outriders and the track’s horse
identifier — will be regularly disinfected.
“The policies and precautions implemented by Churchill Downs — including the
requirement for the certification of health for horses that enter the track’s
stable area — remain significant factors in preventing the introduction and
transmission of the equine herpes virus and other illnesses,” Ford said.
“Horsemen at the track and their veterinarians have been vigilant in monitoring
the condition of their horses and in working to notify our department
immediately when suspicious symptoms and other concerns arise. That was the case
again in this instance and it led to a very early discovery of what is, so far,
a single case of equine herpes in the quarantined barn.”
Symptoms of equine herpes virus most commonly include fever and an upper
respiratory infection. The symptoms can also include lethargy, loss of appetite,
a nasal discharge and a cough. In severe cases, horses can suffer a loss of
coordination and an inability to stand and the illness can be fatal.