Univ Of Findlay (ohio) horses sick!

[Anne FS]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by maggymay:
Anne I don't understand why you are pushing the issue of vaccinations/quarrantine the way you are.

Ever been to a show? All kinds of people petting your horse and you don't know where they've been... then you bring him home and put him back in the barn. Unfortunately there are untreatable diseases out there and sometimes horses get sick and die. It sounds like the school does all it can. Their vaccination policy is in excess of any place I have been, and I've been some nice places.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Sorry, I thought I was clear. I was trying to call attention to procedures 'before' trouble arises. I'm sure the school is doing everything possible and doing it well. I'm not knocking it. I was just trying to call attention to how critical it is to be so careful with new horses in our own barns, I'm not knocking Findlay, to make it a point NOT to go near them if you are not their caretakers. Do not pet, smooch, share equipment, etc. with any new horses to your barn.

For those of us at boarding barns or show barns, next time a new horse comes in, or a horse just in for a few days for a show, perhaps people will think about running over there to pet and let them lick you and then going back to their own horses.

What made me think of this was a few years ago there was a viral outbreak at a boarding barn near us. 4 horses died, many were ill. People who were at that barn to help stopped by another boarding barn a couple of times to visit a pony they had ridden there. After the second day they suddently realized what they had done - been in the same clothes in an infected barn and then come to just visit one pony and pet it at a completely different barn. To their credit, they immediately called the second barn's owner, said what they had done, promised not to do it again, and apologized. Second barn owner immediately quarantined that pony, set aside brushes, pitchfork, rake, etc. to be used only in that stall, limited contact with the pony to necessities with mandatory disinfection of boots and hands afterwards. No problems arose in the second barn but it could have been bad, and all because of an innocent fondness for a pony.

And no, I do not encourage contact with our horse at horse shows. Once you've seen one of these viruses go through a barn, it wakes you up big time to the consequences.

[War Admiral]

Teary-eyed and jingling in GA for the speedy recovery of the rest of the horses - and big hugs to all who have suffered losses. I can't even begin to imagine how devastating this must be.

[agedbayhunter]

Kleenex needed here also, but glad to hear that things may be improving. Lots of prayers and jingles coming your way -- and &lt;&lt;&lt;hugs&gt;&gt;&gt; to you caregivers. This must be terribly rough, but you seem to be handling it awfully well. Don't forget to take care of yourselves, too!

[VivaBaby]

Thank you for sharing the pictures of your dear horses. What a lovely tribute to horses who have loved and been loved so greatly.

So glad to hear there may be hope of recovery for some!

Vegas and I are jingling as loudly as possible!

[cinnabar]

Jingling for the ponies who have passed and for those who are fighting. (((Hugs))) to the dedicated students and staff members who are on nursing duty.

xoxo

[Evan]

We're jingling the curb chains here at Lake Erie College for you guys at Findlay. I can only imagine what the staff and students have been through.

Our thoughts are with you!

Evan

[Sandbarhorse]

Glad to hear that the horses seem to be getting better!!

Still jingling and jangling that they continue to do so and once again, sending my condolences and cyber hugs to those who lost their friends.

[LaurieB]

These pictures are making me cry.

Please add me to those who are sending prayers and all good wishes. My heart goes out to everyone involved in this terrible loss.

[RedEqHunter]

Jingling from NY! I graduated from Cazenovia but met many Findlay students at IHSA nationals last year...they're a great bunch of people with a great bunch of horses. I know how much those horses can mean to the students and others as well. They kind of become your replacement "family" while you're at school! Thanks go everyone who posted the pictures, too.

"Living on Earth is expensive, but it does include a free trip around the sun."

[Hawaii]

Jingle from hawaii. My thoughts are with you at this time.

Kleenex, please pass.

[Dragoon]

Best wishes from Cazenovia College! I am a freshman this year and was unfortunately not involved with last year's Nationals, but I have heard nothing but good things about the Findlay horses and students that came to our facility for Nationals. I have no doubt that your love, compassion, and dedication is what is bringing these horses through.

To SupaGoo and all the other Findlay students on COTH, I wish you the best of luck with the horses. May the memory of the victims live on in your hearts.

"Keep your stick on the ice." (Red Green)

[Chef Jade]

I am late to this thread, but am now bawling my eyes out at work.

Those sick horsies were so lucky to have such compassionate caregivers to make their final hours easier.

I am so happy to hear that many horses are on the mend thanks to the dedication of many wonderful people, people I am proud to call my BB friends!

Come and visit the horses at: http://www.crosscreek.tk

[kalclt]

It is heartbreaking.

Jingling Away. Jingle Jangle.

Appendix- "The Best of Both"

[Tackpud]

Just returned from Raleigh and am still jingling away for the Findlay horses. I'm glad to read that things are looking up and I pray they continue to improve. Hang in there guys!

[Norsire]

Carosel, you know this happened in Middleburg, VA not too long ago. They lost a few horses as well. You may have the Vet's there get in touch with some Middleburg Vet's that worked on that barn. It was a very large boarding barn. I believe they lost like 3. It did not seem to spread past that farm either, which was good.

Home to the stallions Zillionair, Billionair, Issue of Gold, Gold Card, and Pure White Gold.
http://www.norsire.com
Realtor RE/MAX Renaissance, Million Dollar Club

[Melzy]

I am so sorry for everyone involved with Findlay. This is tragic. Curb chains and prayers are being sent from MD.

[June]

hi. I monitor Promed for work reasons. Wanted to let you all know that Findley is being discussed among some of the best minds in the biz...personally, I feel Anne is trying to bring us all to a greater awareness of the concept of biosecurity and risk management. Here is it. Continued prayers for all involved and hats off to Ann..
ProMED-mail, a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
&lt;http://www.isid.org&gt;

Date: 23 Jan 2003
From: Stephanie Church &lt;schurch@TheHorse.com&gt;
Source: TheHorse.com [edited]


10 Ohio Horses Dead; Possible Equine Herpesvirus-1 Outbreak
-------------------
At least 10 horses have died or have been euthanized at the University of
Findlay (UF) in Findlay, Ohio, after battling a respiratory and neurologic
illness. Preliminary polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests completed on
tissue samples from affected horses by the Ohio Department of Agriculture
(ODA) Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory this morning came back as
"presumptive positive" for equine herpesvirus type-1 (EHV-1). Officials
from the veterinary services department at the University of Findlay and
epidemiologists and scientists from The Ohio State University (OSU) are
working together today to treat at least 11 affected horses with supportive
care and to determine the source of infection. The presumptive findings
from the PCR tests will be verified by gene sequence analysis, with
assistance from OSU. The results will be available from ODA in 2 to 3 days.

The EHV-1 organism can cause 3 different forms of disease, including
rhinopneumonitis (a respiratory disease of mostly young horses), abortions
in pregnant mares, and a neurologic disease. Officials believe this strain,
if confirmed as EHV-1, could be one that combines the respiratory and
neurologic clinical signs. There are at least 7 other strains of equine
herpesviruses, named in order of their discovery. (See article #32 at
&lt;www.TheHorse.com&gt; for more on herpesviruses.) The neurologic form of EHV-1
often is survivable with supportive care, but unfortunately once a horse is
recumbent, it is difficult to nurse the horse back to health.

According to Mark Anthony, communications director for the ODA in
Reynoldsburg, Ohio, gross lesions reported by OSU on tissue samples (brain
and spinal cord) obtained from a necropsy appeared to be consistent with EHV-1.

"As of last night (21 Jan 2003), 10 had either died or been euthanized
because of the disease," said Anthony. "A necropsy was performed on at
least one, and that was performed at The Ohio State University. It was from
that necropsy that we obtained spinal cord and brain tissue samples, which
we tested." PCR tests were conducted on a number of samples, and 2 bone
blood sample and one nasal swab from affected horses" were presumptive
positive for EHV-1.

"We are seeing respiratory symptoms before neurological disorders," said
Anthony. On Wed 15 Jan 2003, a number of horses had fevers of up to 105
degrees F. A University of Findlay veterinary services staff member said
that a few of these horses developed nasal discharge, became depressed, and
were not eating. By Fri 17 Jan 2003, the more seriously affected horses
showed neurological signs including toe-dragging and wobbling of the hind
end. Eventually some of the animals went down and were unable to rise.
Around 30 horses of the 130 exposed at the facility were showing some
symptoms of the illness by 17 Jan 2003.

EHV is not considered a reportable disease in Ohio, so OSU and University
of Findlay personnel are handling the disease investigation.

Anthony said, "When there is an outbreak of a foreign animal disease or an
infectious contagious disease on our reportable disease list, we are in
charge of coordinating the investigation. That is not the case here. We are
identifying the virus responsible for the outbreak."

3 members of OSU's faculty and staff in the Veterinary Preventive Medicine
department have traveled to Findlay today, including one clinician familiar
with neurological illness and one epidemiologist. A staff veterinarian from
the Ohio Department of Agriculture is assisting.

PCR tests are very specific, and according to Anthony, other possible
causes of the clinical signs such as Eastern equine encephalomyelitis (EEE)
and Venezuelan equine encephalomyelitis (VEE), which are both reportable
diseases in Ohio, have been all but ruled out.

Bev Byrum, DVM, PhD, Lab Director at the Animal Disease Diagnostic
Laboratory, said, "PCR technology allows us to work quickly in outbreaks
like this to identify the agent causing the infection. In this case, we
will probably know definitively in a couple more days. Under our previous
standard testing procedures for growing and isolating a virus, we would be
looking at 2 weeks minimum before we got a confirmed finding."

The source of the disease is currently unknown. A veterinary services (VS)
staff member at Findlay said a new semester began at the university in
early January 2003, with student-owned and school horses arriving 4 Jan
2003 from all over the state of Ohio. It is unclear whether any of the
horses were imported previously from Europe, where the neurological form of
equine herpesvirus is seen more frequently than in the United States.

"The horses in question were reported to us to have been vaccinated," said
Anthony. The VS staff member confirmed that vaccinations, including
influenza and rhinopneumonitis, were given properly. A negative Coggins
test and strangles vaccination also are required for horses arriving on the
university's premises. The natural inclination of horse owners would be to
ask why horses were infected with this disease if they were current on
their vaccinations. Veterinarians have said in the past that no vaccine
manufacturer has made a vaccine that guarantees that it will prevent the
neurological form of EHV-1, and that no vaccine is 100 percent effective.

A strict self-imposed quarantine is in effect for the English riding
facility where the outbreak occurred, and area horse owners have been
advised to quarantine their horses. It is not clear how officials will be
handling carcass disposal, but Anthony assured that the state of Ohio has
specific guidelines for proper management of diseased carcasses

[doublete]

I'm so sorry for everyone there at Findlay. Jingling (although I had never heard of this before) from Lehigh University and our equestrian team. We're pulling for you.
And as for Pleasant Hollow Farm- they are our old barn and I do believe they had strangles last year.

Retraining and rehabbing Off Track TB's.

[lori1212]

I just wanted to say that I had Panda for one of my senior semesters and my roomate had Dark Star for her entire senior year and they were both very special horses. They will be missed greatly. Thanks for working so hard to save the others now. We are thinking about you.

To Dually's Dad - I had Dually my sophomore year before he started having his back problems. He was one of the best horses I had. He taught me SO much! I would love to talk with you about him and tell you how great he was (like you don't already know).

[Marieke]

Dear students,

we had an outbreak like this about a year ago in the Netherlands. The horses were treated with the human anti herpes virus drug Aciclovir.

If your vet would like more info please email me @ mariekejonkman@hotmail.com. I will try to locate the vet who treated the horses so they can share info.

Marieke
www.boreashorses.com