No new herpes cases at Parx

While the equine herpesvirus quarantine at Parx Racing is ongoing, there has not been a confirmed case of the disease at the Bensalem, Pa., track since April 25.

On Tuesday, all of the horses in Barn 4 - where Butch Reid and Keith Nations are stabled - were being tested for the herpesvirus.

"If they all come back negative, the quarantine on that barn will be lifted," said Sam Elliott, the director of racing at Parx.

Barns 4 and 30 have been under quarantine since April 1. The horses stabled in those barns have not been allowed to train or race. Horses stabled at Parx have not been allowed to leave the grounds during the quarantine.

All seven horses to test positive for the herpesvirus were stabled in Barn 30 with either trainer Ron Dandy or Michael Aro. Two of Dandy's horses are segregated from the horse population in an isolation area at Parx.

Barn 4 has been quarantined because Reid claimed a horse from Dandy on March 29, the day before the first horse who was found to have the virus became ill. The claimed horse, Sunshine Wild, later came down with a temperature and tested positive for the virus. He was moved to an off-site isolation area.

"The most recent horse to test positive for the virus became sick on April 22," Elliott said. "Because of the weekend, we didn’t get the test results back until Monday the 25th."

According to Elliott, the horses stabled in Barn 30 are scheduled to be tested for the herpesvirus in the middle of this month. If no other horses are found with the disease and all of the horses in Barn 30 test negative, the quarantine would be lifted.

"We've gone 10 days before without a horse getting sick, so we'll just have to see," Elliott said.