Barn closed in New Orleans for EHV-1 testing

Baton Rouge, La.

-- A barn at the New Orleans Fair Grounds Race Course was placed under quarantine Dec. 26 after two horses tested positive for the equine herpes virus (EHV-1).

The horses that tested positive for the disease were removed from the barn and placed under a separate quarantine, and veterinarians from Louisiana State University (LSU) School of Veterinary Medicine on Dec. 27 began testing 73 other horses at the fair ground that might have been exposed to the virus, according to LSU. Five additional horses tested positive for the virus as a result of the additional testing and were isolated, though they showed no physical signs of infection. The remaining horses that did not test positive for the virus will remain under quarantine until they can be re-tested in late January, according to LSU.

EHV-1 strains can result in a variety of problems, from respiratory infections to neurological disease, but this strain is not believed to be the highly contagious neuropathogenic form.

LSU veterinarians, Dr. Tom David of the Louisiana State Racing Commission, Louisiana State Veterinarian Dr. Henry Moreau and the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry are continuously monitoring the outbreak.