In the wake of a euthanized horse testing positive for the Hendra virus in Queensland, Australia, 11 people are being tested for the disease. Six had reportedly cleared the preliminary test May 21, and all are expected to test negative.

Ron Glanville, BSc, BVSc, MVS, chief veterinary officer for Biosecurity Queensland, confirmed that a horse in Tewantin on the Sunshine Coast was e

One case of Hendra virus has been confirmed, while an exposed horse has tested negative for the disease in Queensland, Australia. Biosecurity Queensland confirmed the case May 20 and on May 21 reported initial negative tests for the second horse.

The first horse showed acute neurological signs and upon veterinary examination exhibited normal respiratory and heart rates, but was fo

In an effort to show that Contagious Equine Metritis (CEM) does not exist or is at very low levels in the US equine horse population, the USDA is offering lower-cost testing to owners of active breeding stallions through August. It is part of a nationwide survey, with the goal of sampling 3,000 stallions.

Conducted under the auspices of the USDA Animal and Plant and Health Inspect

Soldiers who have returned from Iraq and other war-torn areas are finding solace in horses at the Ivey Ranch Park Association in Oceanside, Calif., not far from the Camp Pendleton Marine base. Ivey Ranch for the past year has participated in the North American Riding for the Handicapped (NARHA) Horses for Heroes program, helping veterans of all ages recuperate.

Active-duty soldier

Because two horses recently tested positive for equine infectious anemia (EIA) in Montana, the Montana Department of Livestock’s Animal Health Division has scheduled a May 17 meeting in Gallatin county to update local horse owners on the situation.

Picaro, the Paso Fino stallion shot in the head when his despondent owner apparently killed himself and his wife, is off to his new home in Virginia. After four months of care through Tufts University in North Grafton, Mass., the horse is en route to Anni Howell of Riverview Paso Farms in Mount Jackson, Va., who has adopted him.

Sprinklers in a barn at Plainridge Racecourse, a harness racetrack near Boston, saved some 35 horses when a fire broke out May 9. High winds could have sent flames to other barns when the blaze began about 3 a.m.

The racetrack, located in Plainville, about 35 miles southwest of the Boston area, had a sprinkler system installed in the barns in 1999. Plainville Fire Chief Ted Jouber

A fungus making its way down the western US from Canada may not pose a serious threat to horses, according to researchers familiar with the situation.

Miggs, the 15-year-old police horse who was one of the first responders to the failed bombing of New York’s Times Square, on May 5 received carrots, apples, and cupcakes for his heroic efforts, according to the website dnainfo.com.

Miggs and his New York Police Department human partner, Officer Wayne Rhatigan, responded to street vendors about the suspicious Nissan Pathfinder

The quarantine for equine infectious anemia (EIA) in Wiltshire, England, has been lifted after three sets of tests showed horses free of the disease. The testing was required after two mares imported from Romania in December tested positive in January for EIA, also known as swamp fever.

The United Kingdom’s Department for the Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) conduc

Bills to provide funds for the Florida Horse Park through sale of specialty license plates are on Gov. Charlie Crist’s desk. S 736 and companion bill HB 351 would create several specialty license plates for vehicles, including one that would benefit the 500-acre park in Ocala.

Should the governor sign the bills, the pla

Steven Spielberg has chosen to direct “War Horse,” a story about a boy and his horse set during World War I, according to Variety. Disney and DreamWorks are planning to release the movie Aug. 10, 2011.

Michael Morpurgo wrote the book War Horse, which follows a farm horse named Joey who is sold to the British army through war battles as the boy who loves him tries to reun

A horse was euthanized after being diagnosed with rabies in Massachusetts, according to Enterprisenews.com. Veterinarian Bruce Chase diagnosed the horse, who had not been vaccinated and had been exposed to a rabid skunk, according to public health offici

Glanders has been identified as the culprit in Bahrain, where veterinarians have had to euthanize eight horses in three weeks.

Researchers at the University of California (UC), Davis are having success treating atrial fibrillation in horses through transvenous electrical cardioversion (TVEC). Carrie J. Finno, DVM, DACVIM, an adjunct professor in large animal internal medicine at the UC Davis Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital, writes of successfully using the procedure on Jody Carlson-Astrom’s horse

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled as unconstitutional a federal law banning the “commercial creation, sale, or possession of certain depictions of animal cruelty.” The court, on an 8-1 vote April 20, declared the federal law too broad and therefore invalid under the free speech amendment.

The law, enacted in 1999, was designed to stop the sales of “crush videos” dep