Equine Herpes Precautions For Equine Events

One of the impacts of the equine herpes virus threat this past spring was the cancellation of some equine events. The outbreak is out of the news, but not out of the mind of horse owners.

U.S. Department of Agricultural equine specialists say going to events is fine, but there are precautions to take to keep horses safe.  Penn State Veterinarian Jack Warner says, "Its still ok to go to shows and take your horses and go to rodeos or whatever you like to do with your horse. If you can prevent nose to nose contact that is appropriate. I also recommend that you don't let somebody with a horse you don't know use your trailer."

If you do share a trailer he says disinfect it and don't share anything that can get respiratory secretions on it. Warner advises that if you take a horse to a show or trail ride, when you bring the equine back home, if possible, keep them separated from other horses.

"Try to keep them separate for at least two weeks if possible and usually I recommend, if you have a stall, keep a divider between the two stalls so that the horses don't have nose to nose contact. If you have the luxury of having an extra pasture, put them in a different pasture where they can't touch the other horses."

Vaccinations can be another option for certain types of equine herpes, but Warner says, at this time, there is no vaccine for the neurological type that caused the recent outbreak in western states.