Animal health officials today confirmed several new cases of neurologic equine herpesvirus-1 (EHV-1) across the western United States and Canada. Now, two weeks after reports of EHV-1 positive horses first emerged following the recent National Cutting Horse Association’s (NCHA) Western Regional Championship competition in Utah, the case count stands at more than 55.

Although it’s not transmissible to humans, EHV-1 is highly contagious among horses and camelids, and is generally passed from horse to horse via aerosol transmission (when affected animals sneeze/cough) and contact with nasal secretions. The disease can cause a variety of ailments in equines, including rhinopneumonitis (a respiratory disease usually found in young horses), abortion in broodmares, and myeloencephalopathy (EHM, the neurologic form). Myeloencephalopathy is characterized by fever, ataxia (incoordination), weakness or paralysis of the hind limbs, and incontinence.

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At press time (5:00 p.m