There has been a report of EHV-1 in a five-year-old Thoroughbred filly residing in Barn 10 at Woodbine Racetrack. The horse showed neurological signs on Thursday March 13th, but did not have a fever. The horse was removed from Woodbine to isolation on Saturday March 15th. The horse’s condition is stable.

Results from tests available March 18th showed non-neurotropic EHV-1 in blood, but not nasal secretions. This is an unusual testing result and the horse has been retested. The risk of transmission to other horses may be low, as the infection is spread by nasal secretions. There have been no reports of any other sick horses in barn 10. Sporadic incidents of infection occur not infrequently and can be isolated incidents.

The non-neurotropic form of EHV-1 identified from this horse differs from the neurotropic form identified from thoroughbreds at Woodbine in June of last year. Although the both types of EHV-1 can cause neurological disease the non-neurotropic strain is thought to be less likely to do so. EHV-1 has an incubation period of approximately 3 to 8 days, and may in some cases be as long as 14 days.

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