Belmont barn quarantine lifted; EHV-1 tests are negative

Elmont, N.Y.

-- Blood samples from a horse that was euthanized at Belmont Park after being found with a fever and unable to stand in its stall tested negative for equine herpesvirus (EHV-1).

"The tests (performed at a lab in Kentucky) were negative for the herpesvirus and the quarantine is lifted," Anthony Verderosa, DVM, the New York Racing Association's chief examining veterinarian, told DVM Newsmagazine today.

A quarantine was imposed Saturday on Barn 38 on Belmont's backstretch, where the 3-year-old gelding, Smell My Carrots, was stalled. It was lifted Tuesday after EHV-1 tests at the barn proved negative.

The mosquito-borne virus had been listed as a possible cause of the horse's illness. The actual cause has not yet been determined, Verderosa said.

During the quarantine, other horses in Barn 38 were barred from racing or transport, but were allowed to train apart from other Belmont horses after hours.