Herpes. It’s a scary word. Especially if you are a recently divorced guy in his fifties, just getting back into the dating scene. But that is a very different column for a very different publication. I am talking about equine herpes or EHV-1. EHV-1 shut down racing at The Meadows in late January, a hiatus that has been extended to February 23, and now we are feeling its effects in a domino-like manner, since so many horses ship in and out and may have been exposed to the virus. The Blooded Horse Sales Company was forced to cancel its February sale. Horses which raced at The Meadows in January are being turned away at Dayton and Ohio’s Miami Valley Gaming Racetrack, where a horse has tested positive for the virus.  Currently 190 horses are quarantined at The Meadows. Ohio has had a couple of positive cases, including two that did not affect racehorses but horses at Ohio’s University of Findlay, OH, which had a devastating outbreak in 2003. Northville Downs in Michigan will not accept entries of horses from Ohio or Pennsylvania when it opens in March, although that seems a potentially premature decision. Apparently, neither Pompano Park in Florida nor Hawthorne Park in Illinois are accepting horses from Ohio or Pennsylvania. The outbreak has also hit Thoroughbred racing. A barn at Turfway Park has been quarantined after a 3-year-old was found in distress in his stall and unable to stand up. He later tested positive for the virus and was euthanized after his condition worsened even more. So what is EHV-1 and how does it affect a horse? It doesn’t always, and that can be a problem. Some horses are carriers of the virus but never become symptomatic. Others will show symptoms that can include limb weakness, nasal discharge, lack of interest in food, lethargy and fever. Most horses have some natural immunity and many horses get vaccinated. In fact, Michigan, Indiana and Illinois require vaccinations. Unfortunately Ohio and Pennsylvania don’t. The virus spreads easily, especially among horses that are stabled indoors. EHV can cause three different forms of disease including rhinopneumonitis, a respiratory disease which is the most common. It can also cause abortions in pregnant mares, and the neurologic disease EHV-1 myeloencephalopathy (EVM), which can be fatal to horses and is the most severe manifestation. The good news is that the virus is not a human health threat. “Racehorse owners should take immediate precautions to protect their animals,” said Ohio Department of Agriculture State Veterinarian Dr. Tony Forshey. “All owners should closely observe their horses for any signs of illness and take their temperatures daily. They should immediately contact their veterinarian if they have any concerns.” Some of you may be reading this and say “So what?” It doesn’t affect me as a horse player. But it does. Or it will.  The Meadows is closed, so you can’t play those races. Tracks like Northville don’t get much play, but they will likely suffer from short fields. More and more horsemen are scratching, or just not entering horses at Miami Valley. Again, that can lead to short fields, which leads to lower handle. Worse, if this problem spreads, more tracks could be forced to close, taking away even more opportunity for the player. But the bigger issue for me as a handicapper is “How do I know?” I can make an educated guess if a horse has been quarantined at The Meadows, but I have no idea if he was sick or not. Nor can I really tell how much work he has been getting. It makes wagering on the affected horses (those quarantined) a real crapshoot. But what about a Miami Valley horse coming off a layoff? Was he sick? Was he exposed? Was he just getting a break after a long campaign? There is no way to tell and that uncertainty makes it hard for me to part with my wagering dollar. Or maybe we won’t see short fields. As Indiana horseman Grant Wilfong pointed out on social media, “I opted to have my horses scratched Friday night at MVR and literally not one other horse was scratched that night! I was completely shocked!! Was I really the only person willing to look after the welfare of their animals until we had a game plan in place?? And btw one was in the open and the other one was in the next class below the open...$22,000 and $18,000 purses....and they both drew well.” While good sanitation in the barn helps minimize the problem, the fact that a track like Miami Valley has no on-track stabling exacerbates it. You have a 156 horse paddock, with horses coming from dozens of different locations, where they can be exposed to dozens of pathogens. Northfield Park has cut down on its available stalls, making it more reliant on ship-ins and more susceptible to an outbreak. When tracks had large backstretches they did not have to rely on ship-ins as much, so there was less likelihood of a problem with EHV-1. And if it was present, there was enough of an on-track equine population to keep racing. We live in a different world today, and as a result, our horse population will constantly be put at risk. The good news is that it is the depth of winter and there are not a ton of tracks racing. This outbreak (although fewer than a dozen horses total have tested positive from what I can find) has been somewhat limited. What if Pocono and Philadelphia were racing? Tons of horses ship from The Meadows there for various stakes engagements. From there, it is a short hop to Yonkers or The Meadowlands or Dover. How many would have been exposed by the time the first positives were confirmed? There have been other equine herpes outbreaks before and racing has survived them. While a few horses are lost, the majority go on with no long-term ill effects. Hopefully this outbreak will wake up all jurisdictions and parties and force them to look at their policies (are vaccines and health certificates required in addition to a negative Coggins) and their procedures (washing paddocks with more than a hose and water; forcing horsemen to bleach equipment as a disinfectant; and so on). Horsemen must not share equipment, monitor their horses’ temperatures, since fever is a symptom of EHV-1 and they must vaccinate, even if the state is slow to mandate it. Hopefully this situation becomes a learning experience for all involved and does not spread any farther than it has. To be frank, the bottom line is that a quarantined barn at The Meadows is probably still a lot cleaner and safer than some of the bars I have been dragged into lately. No go cash. See you next month.