Fair Grounds Barn Quarantined for EHV-1
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Photo: ALEXANDER BARKOFF
A horse trains in the early morning at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots
Officials with the State of Louisiana's Department of Agriculture have installed a quarantine on Barn 14 at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots after a horse residing in that barn tested positive for the equine herpes virus.
The strain of the disease, EHV-1, can be accompanied by neurological symptoms and can prove fatal in horses. The infected horse, an unraced 2-year-old filly trained by Alice Cohn, was euthanized the morning of Dec. 26 as a result of the infection.
Horses stabled in Barn 14 will not be permitted to leave the property until the quarantine is lifted. The horses in Barn 14 will be permitted to train during a specific period after regular training hours with no ponies or other horses present.
All horses in the affected barn will be monitored and if no horses test positive for the virus and do not show symptoms, the quarantine, which is scheduled to last for the next 13 days, will be lifted at that time.
The quarantine will have no impact on horses shipping in for races as long as they arrive with proper vaccination documents. All horses shipping in will be required to use the Belfort Street entrance.