EHV-1: What Are We Learning?
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There’s a life-threatening disease horses can harbor in their bodies without showing any signs of illness. But under stress—even inapparent stress—the horse can disperse the virus with every cough or sneeze, exposing nearby equids to the pathogen. All of this can happen undetected until, perhaps, a horse in the same barn turns up with a fever or another begins showing neurologic signs.
This nightmarish scenario can mark the start of an equine herpesvirus-1 (EHV-1) outbreak, which most frequently occurs where horses congregate, such as at horse shows, trail rides, or barns with transient populations.
In the past 15 years veterinarians have seen the number of EHV-1 cases and outbreaks in the United States rise. These scenarios have caused widespread worry and confusion among horse owners and brought equine transport and events to a screeching halt. The end result, however, has been increased awareness—particularly of the potentially fatal neurologic form, equine herpesvirus myeloencephalopathy (EHM)—and research funding to discover ways to prevent and treat the disease TheHorse.com is home to thousands of free articles about horse health care. In order to access some of our exclusive free content, you must be signed into TheHorse.com. Already have an account?Create a free account with TheHorse.com to view this content.
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Heather Smith Thomas
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