Farm Director KC Sheperd is talking with Oklahoma State University State Extension Beef Veterinarian, Dr. Rosslyn Biggs about Equine Herpesvirus and biosecurity.
“We did have an incident of equine herpes myeloencephalopathy that occurred in Tulsa County, and that occurred at a show,” Biggs said. “Kudos to the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture for their response to that event, and kudos to our Tulsa Expo staff and leadership for getting right on it, getting the testing done, and getting isolation established for those.”
Equine Herpesvirus is a very common virus seen in the horse population, Biggs said, so it is one regularly vaccinated for. However, she added, vaccination does not guarantee full protection against the neurologic form.
“The challenge with our neurologic form is those that start exhibiting neurologic signs is 30 to 50 percent of those horses are going to die as a result of that infection,” Biggs said. “We want to be prepared. We want to have vaccinations on board, and we want to have those done well in advance, have those horses protected as much as we can immunologically before they hit that horse show and/or other events.”
Biggs also talked about the importance of biosecurity.
“Biosecurity is the measures we take from getting disease, and if we find disease, it is those measures we take from keeping it from spreading,” Biggs said. “Biosecurity is really important. One of the easiest things equine owners can do, particularly if we are going to be in a stalling situation, is getting that pump sprayer ready to go, and we are looking for a bleach-to-water combo, about one to ten, that will inactivate that virus in short order.”
When taking horses back home, Biggs said they should be isolated from other horses on the property to prevent potential spread.
“Biosecurity is one of those things that we can’t overstate,” Biggs said.
