EHV prompts scratches

An outbreak of equine herpes (EHV-1) at a Balmoral Park barn has prompted some horsemen to scratch their horses from competition, with 13 scratched from Wednesday night’s card, 12 scratched on Tuesday night, and another 25 taken out of qualifiers on Wednesday morning.

Balmoral Park took extensive efforts to clean and disinfect its paddock, but has allowed horses to be scratched.

As a result of the quarantine and the EHV-1 outbreak, David P. Fitzpatrick DVM, chief state veterinarian for the Illinois Racing Board, posted the following on the Illinois Harness Horsemen’s Association website:

“With the prevalence of EHV-1 outbreaks in other jurisdictions, I would like to make the following recommendations to protect horses racing at Balmoral and Maywood.  All out-of-state horses shipping to Balmoral or Maywood are required to be accompanied by a valid health certificate with the horse’s temperature recorded and proof of EHV-1 vaccination within the last 60 days.

All Illinois horses shipping in or stabled on the track should be vaccinated with a high antigenic dose vaccine (i.e. Pneumabort K. Rhinomune) every 60-90 days. All race-horses should have their temperature monitored once or twice daily.  Race horses with temperatures should not be exercised, shipped, or raced.

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