One barn containing 19 horses at Churchill Downs Thoroughbred racetrack in Louisville, Ky., remains under quarantine today (Oct. 30) by the Kentucky state veterinarian’s office due to a horse testing positive for equine herpesvirus-1 (EHV-1) and showing neurologic signs.

On Oct. 25, the Kentucky state veterinarian’s office was notified by the horse’s attending veterinarian at 6:30 a.m. that a horse was showing neurologic abnormalities. Rusty Ford, equine programs manager for the Kentucky state veterinarian’s office, after consulting the attending veterinarian, notified Churchill Downs at 6:45 a.m. that Barns 47A (which contained the sick horse) and 47B (which housed 16 horses) were to be locked down with no movement of horses into or out of the barn. The affected horse was transported to an equine hospital in Lexington, Ky., for examination and treatment.

Diagnostic samples collected from the affected horse confirmed the presence of EHV-1 DNA by nasal swab. There was no EHV-1 DNA detected in the whole blood sample that was submitted. Churchill Downs was advised of the diagnosis of EHV-1 infection with neurologic involvement. The Kentucky Department of Agriculture directed that security be placed on the barn to limit equine and human traffic in and around the barn to essential personnel only.

On Oct. 26, nasal swabs and buffy coat samples were collected from each of the horses in Barns 47A and 47B and submitted to Equine Biodiagnostics in Lexington for PCR assays. Results of the testing revealed no evidence of other horses in the barns having recent exposure to the virus; each of the samples tested negative