The Arizona Department of Agriculture ordered a quarantine of a barn at Turf Paradise Racetrack this week due to a reported case of the equine herpes virus in a horse housed at the track.
Dr. Peter Mundschenk, state veterinarian for the Department of Agriculture, said equine herpes can manifest in a couple of different ways.
“When the equine herpes virus becomes neurologic we designate it kind of as equine herpes myeloencephalopathy or EHM,” Mundschenk said. “And oftentimes once those horses get neurologic, they oftentimes progress and we end up having to put them down.”
Mundschenk said the virus often shows up as a nasal discharge or a fever. He said it’s important for horse owners to have their animals vaccinated.
