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Equine Herpes Virus: Connecting Symptoms, Spread, and Safety 11-26-2025
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Whether you are a horse owner, barn manager, or industry professional, this episode connects information from The Equiery, Maryland State Veterinarian Jennifer Trout DVM, and Krista Estell DVM of the Equine Disease Communication Center (EDCC) about Equine Herpes Virus-1 (EHV-1), a contagious disease potentially affecting the Horse Industry in Maryland.
For the latest alerts and information, visit the Equine Disease Communication Center and the Maryland State Veterinarian websites.
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Audio file
RCP Podcast EHV-1 Total Release Date 11-26-25.mp3
Transcript
I'm the Vice President of Publications for the Maryland Horse Council.
I'm the Maryland State Veterinarian.
Sure, EHV1, which is the acronym for it, equine herpes virus.
Spread from horse to horse, right through nasal discharge, aerosol droplet, coming into contact
That's why we stress biosecurity and PPE so much during an event like this.
It's ubiquitous and it can cause some serious damage.
Kim, you've accumulated questions.
Yes, I've been accumulating them from the industry.
Let's start with what precipitated the change in the travel rules in Maryland.
Well, obviously, it's the outbreak that's occurred from this event in Waco and the event in Guthrie.
I'm not going to say nationwide, but almost nationwide.
It's impressive how something can occur exponentially.
And I don't think that's unusual.
And when I say that, I mean, obviously, your horses and your neighbor's horses.
Why have you changed the rules about intrastate transport?
We're accustomed to the interstate rules, but the intrastate rules are new.
So if you think about you and I are in a barn together, you,
went to whatever state and did whatever and you came back to the barn.
But again, the ultimate goal is to protect all of the horses.
And I don't know where you've been and you don't know where I've been.
assurance for everyone in the state and not just those that are coming into.
The fingers of this are very far-reaching.
We have to think about all aspects of it, all components of it.
Which leads to the big question on everybody's minds, which is what qualifies as an equine event?
Any time horses from different
locations gather together is going to be an equine event.
Clinics, shows, trail rides, fox hunts, paper chases.
And people are already saying, well, I don't care what you da, da, da, da, da.
So if you're trailing to a lesson with an instructor but no other horses there, that's okay.
Well, if you're trailing to a lesson with an instructor and that instructor sees other horses,
A friend of ours bought a horse from us.
They want to take it to their trainer in Pennsylvania this coming weekend.
You need to get a health paper.
Well, we're just, no, you need to get a health paper, and that's what Dr.
in Pennsylvania is going to tell you too.
that we can temp a horse twice a day and still miss it.
Is that the difference between the quarantine and the restriction?
A restriction, we don't issue a restriction, right?
on self-imposed lockdown kind of a thing.
For us to issue a quarantine, you would have had to have tested positive for EHV.
There's none of those classic signs.
Let's think about the big one, nasal discharge.
I mean, that runny nose that we may just, yeah, whatever, a little runny nose, no big deal.
But that no big deal, coupled with the backstory of where the horse
has been might really be a big deal.
What happens if you travel without a certificate?
Or rolling through a stop sign when no one's there.
And what if you do get caught?
What if somebody asks for your papers and you don't have them?
One, whoever is putting the event on has the, I'm going to say, authority under us.
I don't know if that's the right terminology, but they can refuse entry.
and then we can pursue fining that person.
That's our mission, and that's what we do.
Trout, what are our neighbor states doing?
Every state is allowed to do whatever they want to do.
know that Pennsylvania is implementing similar things.
I'm not honestly sure what Virginia and West Virginia are doing, nor Delaware.
I will say anybody can easily search those things.
You know, you put into Google equine import requirements, Pennsylvania, and up they come.
You get to the website and they'll tell you.
And we tell people that all the time and people don't do it, but in
this situation, people should really be looking to see what neighboring states is requiring.
Is there a cost to getting that CVI?
You would call your veterinarian out.
They would do a physical exam on your horse and they would write the certificate.
Now, whether they do a paper certificate or an electronic certificate and whatever their fees are.
How long are these new restrictions or rules going to be in place?
I would like to think that once
this kind of flames out and cools down that we can lift these restrictions.
Maybe not the virus, per se, but the disease and the outbreak.
If I see a runny nose right at this point, I'm going to find a thermometer, take a temperature.
I'm going to think seriously about some dedicated footwear, clothing, whatever.
I'm not saying you have to get a Tyvek suit, but those boots are going to stay in the barn.
veterinarian, let's think about biosecurity and some PPE.
When do I need to be concerned?
One, there's a lot of different clinical signs.
If you know anything about EHV, you know that it can have this like two-phase fever.
And you may not see those neuro signs until the second fever.
Or you may have a horse that never has a fever.
One, you need to know your horse.
We're here if you have questions.
We're here to be an aid and help with some education.
We have an Instagram page that we're trying to put updates on and trying to keep people posted.
We appreciate you taking the time
from your schedule to spend a couple minutes with us.
Our pet care with a personal touch is not just a motto, it's really what we do.
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Visit us anytime on our Facebook page, Mariah Belle Manor Kennel, or mariahbellemanorkennel.com.
Let's spend some time now with Dr.
So on this EHV outbreak, we have a couple questions.
This disease is always serious.
EHV-1, equine herpes virus 1, is the
shared equipment, water buckets, all of those things can spread EHV-1.
The neurologic form can be very serious.
We can lose horses as a result of neurologic disease and EHM.
So though it's serious, it's not invariably fatal.
The same virus can produce both EHV-1 and EHM, correct?
Yeah, so that's an important point.
EHV-1 causes basically four different disease manifestations.
to this virus develop no discernible clinical signs and are asymptomatic.
Some horses develop neurologic signs, and that's equine herpes virus, myeloencephalopathy.
If you are exposed to EHV-1, what symptoms you'll come down with?
We really wish that were true because then we'd be able to predict the outcome in certain outbreaks.
Now we know that both different viral strains
or genotypes can cause neurologic disease and respiratory disease.
The more we see this, the more is reported, then the more we can learn.
We know this particular outbreak started out in Texas.
Do we know how far this outbreak has spread?
We know that it's spread to many of the surrounding states.
So we've seen cases associated with the outbreak in Waco, centered in Waco, Texas.
We've seen it as far away as Washington.
And we know that spread just as far as the other horses have traveled.
And we've had a single incident of a secondary transmission.
They were exposed during the Women's Professional Rodeo Association barrel event.
They were exposed to the virus.
And then they went home and they developed clinical signs.
We've had so far just one case of a secondary exposure where they were
were not at Waco, but they were near a horse that was, and they developed clinical signs after that.
Is it likely that we'll see more of what I'll call those knock-on cases?
So if we are here in Maryland and we're wondering what's happening
And that's why our state vet is asking, where have you been?
Yeah, I mean, I do think that exposure risk is something that we should do our best to identify.
So I understand where our state veterinarian is coming from with that.
If they have traveled, especially gone to these Western events where we know
Has the incubation period passed for the primary infections?
The established parameters are two to 10 days.
So two to 10 days after exposure, horses can start developing clinical signs.
It is likely that that's a little bit longer for the neurologic signs.
in many cases, maybe a little bit of respiratory disease and a snotty nose.
The neurologic signs can lag, so it can take even longer for horses to show neurologic signs.
So I'm not sure we're completely out of the woods with the primary exposure.
I'm really hopeful that we're going to get that data.
And so the Equine Disease Communication Center, we rely on veterinarians
and our state animal health officials reporting the positive cases to us.
And so at this point, many of the states are just reporting EHM.
And then when we have all that data, we can do an analysis and say, what's our
And so identify how many horses have died or euthanized as a result of this disease.
Sounds like there's a possibility that there are unreported cases out there.
Yeah, and I think that's really real.
So there's a lag time between testing a horse and getting those results.
And additionally, some owners choose not to test their horses.
And so maybe they already know that they've got EHV-1 in their facility.
The diagnostic test costs money, and maybe they choose not to test their horses.
And that's a real thing, and that is their individual choice.
I think our messaging has been really strong with our veterinarians.
So I know that they're working really hard.
They're monitoring the outbreak.
Unfortunately, right now we don't have a
licensed EHV-1 vaccination product that has a label claim against the neurologic form of this virus.
So the vaccine that we have does not prevent neurologic disease.
Is there anything that we can do to keep our horses well other than not have them exposed?
Is there a nutritional component?
Is there a wellness component that we can be aware of?
There's a limited amount of data that immune supplements containing zinc or lysine may be helpful.
but our individual supplements have not been tested to my knowledge.
And so I tell people to rely on good biosecurity.
So this virus is spread by aerosolized droplets.
And really, that's your best and most reliable way.
If you can prevent exposure to the best of your ability, that is the best thing for your horse.
Why on the East Coast are we worrying about an event that happened in Texas?
And when and how should we worry?
I think we should all have our own appropriate level of worry.
And that's what we all have to consider.
And I think a lot of private facilities and boarding facilities need to have that thought.
What could I do if this were happening to me and consider the option?
If we want to follow along with the information that you're putting out there, where do we go to
So we've got a couple different ways.
We've got the Equine Disease Communication Center website.
That's also an app that you can get on your phone.
We have a Facebook page as well.
We do our best to monitor that.
I appreciate you taking the time out to come and talk with us.
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