Montgomery County Horse Tests Positive for Equine Herpesvirus

ANNAPOLIS, MD – On September 21, the Maryland Department of Agriculture’s Animal Health program confirmed a positive test for Equine Herpesvirus Myeloencephalopathy (EHM) in a 12-year-old warmblood gelding stabled at a private farm in Montgomery County. The neurological horse was seen earlier that day at a private veterinary clinic in Loudoun County, Virginia, and was treated as an outpatient before returning home.

The Montgomery County farm has been placed on an investigational hold effective September 21. There are 18 horses on the farm in three barns. The positive gelding is isolated from all horses on the farm. The positive gelding was previously housed with 4 horses in one barn. The other two barns are more than 30 feet away from the exposed barn. Strict isolation and biosecurity protocols are in place at the exposed barn with body temperatures taken twice daily. There will be no movement on or off the farm. The attending veterinarians administered to this farm will be notified of the hold order and apprised of the procedures taken to control the spread of EHV-1/EHM. Possible links to the positive gelding are actively being investigated.

Owners are cautioned to monitor horses at their premises carefully, and should contact their private veterinarians to arrange for Equine Herpesvirus testing if a horse exhibits significant temperature elevations or neurologic signs. Veterinarians are required to report equine neurologic syndrome to the department.

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