Shipping Resumes Out of Churchill After EHV-1 Case

Horses began shipping out of Churchill Downs last week after the track eased restrictions related to the discovery of a clinical case of the contagious equine herpesvirus in a horse that was stabled there late last month. The track concluded its fall meet Nov. 27.

Horses with the equine herpesvirus, specifically a strain known as EHV-1, can experience neurological problems, lethargy, and fever, while others show only mild symptoms or are asymptomatic carriers. 

"We closed the barn area when we had the initial case, so we could do our epidemiological investigation to see how far and deep it was going to go," Churchill Downs Inc. equine medical director Dr. Will Farmer said. "Once we felt like we had it contained, we did allow guys to start shipping out of the general population. We've had numerous horses that have shipped out to places if they're accepted to where they going."

Quarantines of several barns remain in place while follow-up testing continues, with results potentially back on a group of horses by Dec. 14, according to Rusty Ford, equine operations consultant for the Office of the State Veterinarian at the Kentucky Department of Agriculture. Favorable test results could clear the way for the quarantine on that tested group of horses to end. 

Ford said one horse at Churchill Downs tested positive for EHV-1 on a nasal swab test last week.

Farmer and Ford said that horses in a different barn are following a separate protocol of going 28 days without any horses showing clinical signs of EHV-1 to clear quarantine.

Churchill Downs continues to provide separate training hours for quarantined horses.