Fonner Park Barn Under Precautionary Quarantine

A barn at Fonner Park has been placed under a precautionary quarantine while test samples are reviewed for a possible case of equine herpesvirus, according to track CEO Chris Kotulak.

Kotulak wrote in an email to BloodHorse that initial samples taken for testing in Ames, Iowa, were inconclusive, and additional samples were sent late yesterday and tested March 11. The results of those tests were still pending as of almost 3 p.m. CT Friday, Kotulak indicated.

"Nevertheless, we are taking extreme caution," he wrote. "The Nebraska Department of Agriculture was notified and a 21-day quarantine has been placed on barn R, which affects roughly 100 horses.

"We are disallowing any horsemen with horses in barn R to have contact with any other horses in the stable area. Any horses that arrive may not leave the entire stable area until the quarantine is lifted. We have also begun protocol to routinely sanitize the paddock, the starting gate, and other common areas for horses."

No entries are being taken from horses stalled in barn R for the time being.

The Thoroughbred Racing Association of Oklahoma tweeted Friday no horses shipping from Fonner Park will be allowed at Will Rogers Downs until further notice.

EHV-1 is a common strain of the equine herpesvirus and has been discovered elsewhere in the U.S. this year. Some horses with EHV-1 can experience loss of coordination, hind limb weakness, and lethargy, while others are asymptomatic carriers.