Edited press release

Calder Race Course track veterinarian Mary Scollay, DVM, announced Dec. 19 that precautionary measures are being taken regarding equine herpesvirus, a contagious disease spread among horses with flu-like symptoms, including fever or respiratory infection.

“As of Dec. 19, two barns at Calder Race Course have been placed under restrictions in response to presumed equine herpesvirus type 1 exposure,” Scollay said. “Currently, there are no cases of EHV-1 at Calder Race Course. However, a horse that had been hospitalized in Wellington (Fla.) and returned to Calder for five days, then shipped to Ocala, has been confirmed to be infected with EHV-1. As a precaution, the following control measures are being implemented:”

1. No new horses will be admitted for stabling in the main barn area at Calder for a period of seven days. Individuals intending to ship horses for arrival after Dec. 25 should contact the Calder stall office at 305/625-1311, ext. 3942, before finalizing arrangements.

2. “Race and go” horses will be housed in two dedicated receiving barns. One barn will hold horses originating from Gulfstream Park, Payson Park, Palm Meadows, and Palm Beach Downs. The other barn will house horses originating from Ocala and private farms.

Pre-existing entry health requirements remain in effect. Horses originating from facilities other than those having similar requirements (Gulfstream and Palm Meadows) must arrive with: Proof of vaccination for EHV-1 (no less than 14 days, no greater than 90 days); and Certificate of Veterinary Inspection with EHV-1 specific affidavit and proof of negative Coggins Test.

3. All horses housed at Calder are to have rectal temperatures taken twice daily with any temperatures of 102 or higher reported to the track veterinarian. Any horse with fever will be removed to an isolation barn pending the results of testing.

4. Horses housed in the restricted barns will be allowed access to the training track after the conclusion of regularly scheduled training hours.

On Oct. 23, Calder instituted a policy to curb infectious diseases among racehorses, requiring all horses seeking entrance into the stable area and racetrack to be accompanied by and listed on a Certificate of Veterinary Inspection that had been signed and dated within 72 hours of arrival by a licensed veterinarian. Each horse listed on the CVI could not have originated from, nor been stabled on, a premises which has had EHV-1 diagnosed during the previous 30-day period.

Calder, in conjunction with Fort Dodge Animal Health, is scheduled to host a one-hour forum on health-maintenance practices and infection control in horses Dec. 20 in the track’s Winner’s Edge room (second floor grandstand) from 10-11 a.m. EST. All horsemen are invited, and the forum is open to the public as well.

For more information on EHV-1, check out our free PDF library of EHV-related articles including images, or all our archived EHV-1 articles on TheHorse.com.