Below is an update on the case of Equine Herpes Myeloencephalopathy that was confirmed in a horse at the Tulsa County Show on April 20, 2023, from State Veterinarian, Dr. Rod Hall:
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You may or may not be aware that we had a case of Equine Herpes Myeloencephalopathy at the National Reining Breeders Classic at the Tulsa State Fairgrounds late last week. The horse was showing neurologic symptoms and was removed from the grounds Monday afternoon. My office was not made aware of the case until late Thursday, when we received notification from the referring veterinarian and confirmed lab results. We quarantined the event, and Dr. Zeke Proctor worked till late that night doing an epidemiologic investigation and getting the horses he believed were at the highest risk of exposure isolated. Early Friday morning he got samples from the isolated horses and transported them to OADDL. During the day Friday, another horse began showing some signs of neurologic or musculoskeletal problems, so that horse was isolated and sampled as well. We received notification of negative results between 5:00 and 6:00 pm Friday evening.
I worked with the State Veterinarians from the other 22 States that had horses at the show to answer their questions and send them a list of exhibitors from their states. Once we got negative results and I got the approval for all the horses to go back to their trainers/owners, we released the quarantine Saturday morning.
Friday night, a company called AniCell BioTech Home – AniCell Biotech flew from Arizona to Tulsa with an equine-origin amnion product that has demonstrated some ability to stop the shedding of the EHV virus within a few days. Their representative, along with Dr. Proctor and some of the veterinarians who were at the show administered the product to about 500 horses, most of which had been stalled in the barn the positive horse was in. We believe this added an extra layer of protection to the horses that were potentially exposed going home.
During the administration of that product, one horse showed up with a nasal discharge, so it and the two horses closest to it were tested. We received negative results on those three horses Sunday morning.
I believe the risk is very low to the Oklahoma horses that were at the show, but we will be following up on them to make sure they are isolating the horses as much as possible, taking temperatures twice daily until May 8, not taking those horses to any events until after May 8, and reporting any temperatures over 101.50 or any other symptoms that could be related to EHV to us.
Please help us communicate with any of your clients or stakeholders who had horses at the event about the seriousness of making sure they follow the protocols listed above.
