millimoo
Well-Known Member
LEC - to clarify, meant the part about airborne transmission. Agree with everything else your vet said
I don't think comparisons with Foot and Mouth Disease are helpful. FMDV is a totally different type of virus, much more robust and can be spread many miles by airborne transmission (there is evidence that it may have crossed The Channel). Plus it was present in uncooked swill fed to pigs causing huge outbreaks. We don't keep horses like we keep intensively farmed pigs either - many thousands in one airspace and patterns of livestock mixing and movement are totally different from horse movement.
EHV is a Herpes virus. These are pretty fragile and don't live long outside their host. They are capable of airborne transmission but only over very short distances - certainly not farm to farm as was the case in FMD.
Years ago I had a horse that was supposedly diagnosed with Herpes respiratory virus. He was on big livery yard and it took the vets weeks to diagnose it.
Now this is what doesn't seem right, none of the other horses in that yard caught it. Not even the horse stabled next door and there was a grill separating the two stables so the two horses could touch one another/ breathe the same air.
I also had other horses on the yard& off the yard, and in the days leading up to the diagnosis, I was regularly in contact with all my horses , handled the sick horse then went on to handle the others- no change of equipment or clothes.
Was that really a Herpes infection? The horse did not seem that sick- just a high temp for weeks,and slightly running nose. He didn't have much contact with other horses, he had his own field but could say hi to horses next door and also in his stable.
So would that really have been a Herpes infection as not one horse in a yard of 40 caught anything ? Or does that just go to show how weak the virus is?!
Tarrsteps this has made me realise that I really should know what is normal for my horse (we are hopefully no where near the outbreak) but I have a equine degree and dont know what my horses normal temp and respiratory rate are.
While I agree venues and events do have to take a responsible stance, there has to be SOME individual responsibility. Some basic common sense tenants of horse care seem to be, well,.not so common.
A propos of an unrelated incident this week I did an unofficial poll about monitoring temperatures in horses that have been exposed to an ill horse and/or are off colour. My sample included Equine degree holders, yard owners and other responsible types. Care to guess how many would do it a standard practice?
One. And that was someone who runs a Hunt yard.
A couple of people told me they wouldn't do it as were afraid of being kicked. A few said they had never taken a horse's temp, let alone monitored pulse and respiration. Others had no idea how they might tell if a horse was showing mild neurological symptoms.
It does make me laugh a bit. Horse owners put such a huge premium on diy and making their own decisions for their horses. They do not want to be told where to go or what to do. Then something like this crops up and suddenly someone else is supposed to step up and control the whole situation.
^^ That's my point. Of course that info is on the internet but it should really be on a note on the barn whiteboard.
I once had a horse lying down, looking a bit sad but not unduly distressed. I took her vitals and her pulse was over 60!! By the time I called the vet and checked it again - he didn't believe me - it was climbing towards 80! He trusted me enough to get in his car on the basis of that alone and the horse was, in fact, quite ill. It was all fine and likely she would have been anyway but we certainly saved some time, money and drama by jumping on it quickly.
Same with n neurological signs - if a horse has them as a result of injury then prompt treatment drastically improves the chances of a happy outcome.
There are lots of things you can 'wait and see' on, but not everything. Ditto taking horses out to compete. A horse spiking a temp should not be going anywhere, even if it looks otherwise okay.
This obviously has little to do with the original post but I have to say, I was surprised how many people were worried but not actually planning to take even the most basic, everyday precautions.
Personally, I'm with Gamebird. I don't think there is reason for panic. But if my horse had been out and about, or in contact with horses that had, and then looked a bit low or wonky or snotty, I'd at least start monitoring and practice basic sick horse management.
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