Some bad news has hit Alberta relating to the Neurotropic Equine Herpes Virus. There was a cutting show in Ogden, Utah were the virus was believed to be spread to three horses in British Columbia which attended the show. A horse in Alberta was confirmed to have the virus as well but was not at the show. As being a family farm we have about 8 horses and are a little worried about this virus. It is airborne so some precautions to take is avoid trailoring horses for three weeks and put standard biosecurity protocols in place at your farm. I was speaking to our vet yesterday Dr. Gordon Atkins as he was doing herd health. When I asked him about the nEHV-1 he said that once a horse contracts the virus there is no recovery for the horse and it will most likely have to be euthanized. It also can not be transferred to bovine animals so the dairy and beef cows are safe. For everyone who has horses make sure you take all the precautions possible so we will not spread this virus. It could potentially be the BSE crises that tore apart the beef industry so lets not let the nEHV-1 tear apart the horse industry. As being an employee of the Olds Agricultural Society they have cancelled all equine events for an, as yet, unspecified period of time. They are taking all the precautions to keep the virus from spreading.
Thanks for the update. I hadn't heard if it made it to Alberta. Definitely a scary situation and this like you said makes farm bio-security even more important.
ReplyDeletewww.crystalcattle.com