b'VIEWPOINTPublisher: Marla Bickel STEPHANIE L. CHURCH, Editor-in-Chief Editor-in-Chief: Stephanie L. Church @TH_StephLChurch Managing Editor: Alexandra Beckstett Digital Managing Editor: Michelle AndersonArt Director: Brian Turner Web Producer: Jennifer WhittleNever Complacent Marketing Manager: Victoria BennettEDITORIAL DEPARTMENT2365 Harrodsburg Rd #A200Lexington KY 40504-3331E-MAIL [email protected] letters must include the writers name, address,f the past six months have taught us anything, its that diseases and daytime phone number for verification.seemingly far-removed from our shores can become local prob-L etters: [email protected], or by mail.lems in a hurry. COVID-19 went from being an abstract conceptFarm Call: [email protected], or by mail. to a real threat in our own hometowns in just a few short weeks. TheAcross the Fence and Behavior Columns: virus can be both insidious and deadly. The same can be said for [email protected], or by mail. New Products: [email protected],handful of equine diseases weve not yet seen within our borders andor by mail.need to guard against.Some locales have built-in protec- spread it within a population.EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARDtion from equine disease, like theOutbreaks in nonendemic countriesScott Anderson, DVM; Sarah Barr, DVM; Ann Dwyer, ones you will read about in Christahave shown it moves readily to newDVM; Benjamin Espy, DVM, Dipl. ACT; Jenifer R. Gold, Lest-Lasserres article on islandareas with equid and vector traf- DVM, Dipl. ACVIM, ACVECC; Craig Lesser, CF, DVM; Kyla Ortved, DVM, Dipl. ACVS; Debra Taylor, DVM; Jarred horse health (page 22). Surroundedfic. The virus doesnt affect certainWilliams, DVM, MS, PhD, Dipl. ACVS-LA, ACVECCby ocean and bolstered with strictequids, namely zebras and African import regulations, islands dontdonkeys, so they can serve as unde- Educational Partnership Disclaimer: The American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP), one of The Horses partners have equine outbreaks as frequentlytected disease reservoirs. Importedin equine health, has no involvement regarding editorial as we do on mainlands with massivezebras are thought to be the sourcemanagement or advertising content within this publication and thereby does not endorse any editorial or advertising content equine populations and teemingof an ongoing outbreak in Thailand.unless so acknowledged within the individual articleinterstate (and global) transport.We have strict U.S. import regula- or advertisement.Recently, I talked with Peter J.tions designed to keep out AHS andEXPERT ADVISORSTimoney, MVB, MS, PhD, FRCVS,other foreign animal diseases. But professor and Frederick Van Lennepas the 1999-2002 emergence of WestSue McDonnell, PhD, Cert. AAB;Chair in Equine Veterinary ScienceNile virusanother vector-borneMilt Toby, JDat the University of Kentuckys Gluckdiseaseillustrates, sometimes vi- Equine Research Center, in Lexing- ruses arrive, be they through migrat- FEATURED CONTRIBUTORSton. He has studied equine infectiousing (or smuggled) birds or stowawayLillian M.B. Haywood, VMD, cVMA; Christa Lest-diseases for 38 years, observing howinsect vectors on airplanes. In theLasserre, MA; Corie Traylor; Lucile Vigouroux; Chris outbreaks can halt equine importscase of AHS, a significant threat canWhite, DVMand exports. Horses, he said, are thebe through trade in exotic animals.ADVERTISING SALES AND SERVICES most-t raveled animals worldwide.While this disease is thousands [email protected] interviewed him for our Equinemiles from our borders, it could be Innovators podcast (TheHorse.com/ here in an instant, and we have vec- Advertising Executive:EquineInnovators) about Africantors capable of spreading it. This isYvonne Long horse sickness (AHS), which vets andwhy Timoney says that no one, from859/[email protected] health officials have rarelyanimal health officials and veterinar-seen outside sub-Saharan Africa. Heians to horse owners, can be compla- Sales Support:refers to the disease as the equinecent about preventing diseases andNicol Hunt, 859/276-6740 [email protected] plague because of its high morbid- reporting them in a timely fashion. ity and mortality rates; it devastatesDoing so could mean the differencePUBLISHED BY populations it infects. While AHSbetween a thriving horse industry or is not contagious between horses,one stymied by bans, not to mention insect vectors, specifically midges,agonizing disease for our horses.hOWNED BYTOBA MEDIA PROPERTIES @TheHorse @TheHorse @TheHorseMag Board of Directors:Everett Dobson, Dan Metzger, Rosendo Parra,Dr. J. David Richardson, Peter WillmottBAD PONY CREATIVE EQUINE PHOTOGRAPHY8August 2020The Horse|TheHorse.com'