March 21, 2007
No new cases of equine herpes virus have been found at two Coastside ranches that were forced to euthanize three horses last week, a veterinary doctor investigating the rare illnesses said today.
“I think that we’ve got it contained,” Dr. Wayne Browning of Bayhill Equine, Inc. said of the outbreak, which has prompted the voluntary quarantine of several ranches in the areas of Montara and Moss Beach, north of Half Moon Bay.
A total of five horses at two Montara ranches contracted the illness since the first case was identified on March 12, with one other likely case there, Browning said.
Of the six horses, three had to be euthanized but the other three are showing signs of recovery after being given antiviral medication, according to Browning.
The horses were affected by an aggressive neurotropic strain of the virus, Browning said, which affects the blood vessels and the brain of the animals and eventually can cause loss of motor function and death.
The virus, which was first identified by researchers about 35 years ago, is not communicable to human beings, but can be transmitted between horses by nose-to-nose contact, according to Browning. The first U.S. cases occurred in Florida and California last fall, he said.
Since the outbreak was first reported, Browning said he has been receiving worried calls from horse owners throughout the Bay Area concerned about the possible spread of the virus.
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He now believes it has been contained to the two Montara ranches, though its origin is still a mystery.
“It popped up here,” Browning said. “Could it pop up at another place? Absolutely. Because we still don’t know how it got here, to be honest.”
One theory, Browning said, is that the virus could exist in a latent form in most horses. Another, he said, is that it had been directly transmitted to one of the Montara horses from another horse — though the owner of the ranch where the first case was found claims his horses have had no contact with outside horses in weeks, he said.
Browning said he is currently working with researchers from the University of California, Davis, to identify the source of the virus.
The same strain of the virus was also found in a horse at Golden Gate Fields in Berkeley in late December, according to Browning, which led to brief quarantines of the racetrack, as well as quarantines at Bay Meadows in San Mateo and at the Pleasanton Racetrack. The horse in that case recovered fully, he said.
Browning will host a meeting for horse owners, enthusiasts and interested members of the community on the history of the virus, its treatment and prevention, Wednesday at 7 p.m. at the Mounted Patrol Grounds, 521 Kings Mountain Road, in Woodside.
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