New information has surfaced in regards to the voluntary quarantine at Cornell University’s equine hospital due to two cases of the neurologic form of equine herpesvirus (EHV-1). New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets’ (NYSDAM) animal health officials, along with veterinarians from the equine hospital, are investigating the two confirmed cases. Both cases of EHV-1 involved patients of the equine hospital at Cornell University and could have potentially exposed 69 other horses to the disease.

EHV-1 is a highly contagious virus that can cause a variety of ailments in horses including rhinopneumonitis (a respiratory disease mostly of young horses), abortion in broodmares, and myeloencephalopathy (the neurologic form).

New York State Veterinarian David Smith, DVM, said, "While a common virus in horses, we are taking this situation very seriously given the large number of horses that have potentially been exposed to a highly communicable and sometimes fatal disease. To date, no other horses have showed signs, nor tested positive for the virus. However, this serves as an excellent reminder to horse owners that they should always be cautious of introducing new horses with an unknown disease status."

"We recognize the seriousness of the equine herpesvirus type 1 and other infectious diseases," said Alfonso Torres, DVM, MS, PhD, associate dean of public policy at the New York State College of Veterinary Medicine at Cornell University. "Thanks to our surveillance systems and access to highly sensitive testing at the New York State Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, we were able to rapidly identify the infectious agent and implement appropriate actions immediately to prevent the spread of the infection