UPDATE: 10 Horses Infected with EHV at Los Angeles Equestrian Center

7 EHM, 3 EHV-1 positives

update November 14, 2016

California state officials confirm seven horses at Burbank’s Los Angeles Equestrian Center tested positive for equine herpesvirus myeloencephalopathy (EHM). It is the neurological form of EHV-1.

Veterinarians euthanized one of the EHM horses two weeks ago after the five-year-old Saddlebred mare’s neurological symptoms became severe.

Tests confirm three additional horses are positive for EHV-1. Officials have isolated 12 horses to date. The infection can cause respiratory disease, abortion in mares, foal death and neurological disease.

The California Department of Food and Agriculture quarantined three barns at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center. Staff members are monitoring the horses’ temperatures twice daily.

The state says the six remaining EHM cases are “showing improvement”.

Symptoms that should alert horse owners to the possibility of EHV include fever, weakness, in-coordination, and urine dribbling or the inability to urinate.

EHV-1 is highly contagious. Veterinarians recommend limiting horse to horse contact, limiting horse to human contact, and avoiding communal water sources if at a public horse facility. They also state you shouldn’t share equipment unless it is disinfected between uses.

Four of the six EHM positive horses returned from a horse show in Las Vegas, NV on Sunday, October 30. No additional EHV cases have been confirmed in other horses that exhibited at the Las Vegas show. The CDFA states the host facility cleaned and disinfected the show venue.

Los Angeles Equestrian Center is a boarding facility and home to more than a dozen trainers’ businesses. It also hosts horse shows and events throughout the year.