A group of 15 Alberta Veterinarians had a follow up conference call this morning to discuss the EHV-1 situation in Alberta. They included the Chief Provincial Veterinarian, the Alberta Veterinary Medical Association, the University of Calgary Veterinary Program and Equine practitioners.
The overall consensus is there has not been any significant second wave of the disease over the past week. There has been one new suspect horse which has tested negative at this time with more results pending. This horse has been quarantined with proper biosecurity procedures. Since last report, one of the suspect respiratory cases from Ogden has come back positive on nasal PCR testing.
Therefore, at this time the summary of horses affected in Alberta is as follows:
• One positive neurologic case from May 1st that is clinically normal at this time. (This particular horse was reported in our previous updates)
• Three positive respiratory cases that were either in Ogden or directly associated with Ogden horses. These horses have been isolated and all except one are normal at this time. The horse that is still exhibiting symptoms is presently responding well to antibiotic treatment. (These horses were reported in our previous updates)
• One horse which tested positive and was from Ogden but showed no clinical signs. (This particular horse was reported in our previous updates)
• One new suspect patient mentioned in the second paragraph above, showing mild neurologic signs and had initially tested negative is now awaiting results with further tests pending. This horse does have a direct link to the initial group of horses.
Therefore; we feel a second wave of infections has not materialized within Alberta. The 21 day incubation from the May 8th date of return from Ogden will be reached in 4 days. We feel confident that a significant number of clinical cases would have started to surface now if, there was to be a second wave of affected horses in the general horse population.
The above group of Veterinarians involved, continue to believe horse activities, outside of the cutting horse population, should go forward with normal biosecurity procedures being taken. We are directing horse owners to the AB.VMA website for a well-defined list of biosecurity protocols recognized North American wide.
Another conference call is scheduled on Monday May 30, 2011 and we will update our sites at that time.
Greg Andrews, DVM
Moore Equine Veterinary Centre Ltd.