MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — The Vermont Agency of Agriculture is recommending that the state’s horse owners take certain precautions with their animals after a horse in Alburgh tested positive for equine herpesvirus.
The virus, EHV-1, was found as the cause of illness outbreaks in horses in Florida and Europe and has led to the cancellation of several international equine events, the agency said Friday. The infection usually causes respiratory illness but some infected horses can also experience neurologic abnormalities such as incoordination, weakness or inability to rise, officials said.
The agency is recommending that as a precaution all newly purchased horses that return to the state from events should be isolated from other horses and quarantined for at least three weeks and be monitored for illness, including fever, cough, lack of appetite, nasal or ocular discharge, and swelling around the throat.
Temperatures should be checked on the quarantined horses twice daily using separate thermometers and if there’s a fever or other signs of illness a veterinarian should be called immediately.
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