Four more Keeneland horses test positive for milder strain of herpes

Tests conducted at Keeneland on horses in two quarantined barns there have shown four additional horses testing positive for the wild-type strain of the equine herpesvirus (EHV-1), according to Rusty Ford, the Kentucky Department of Agriculture equine programs manager.

These latest results follow positive tests at both Turfway Park and Keeneland for the wild-type strain of the virus – a far less dangerous strain than the neuropathic strain, which was found in a sick horse at Highpointe Training Center in Oldham County, Ky., earlier this month.

The horses carrying EHV-1 at Turfway and Keeneland have been isolated, and Keeneland has made plans for those horses to train after the general horse population, Ford said in a release.

Turfway is aiming to allow training for horses in its quarantined barn 27 by Monday after working out the logistics of increasing work time for emergency heath personnel and an extra horse for an outrider, general manager Chip Bach said.

Ford was pleased to report progress from quarantined barns in Oldham County. A private farm where EHV-1 had been found has been released from quarantine after more than 14 days had passed without a positive test, and the quarantine at Highpointe Training Center could be ended next week if testing there continues to not show a presence of the virus. “I’m hopeful we’re on the road to recovery,” he said.