Hold placed on Fair Hill barn after horse tests positive for herpesvirus

Fair Hill Training Center in Maryland has put a hold on one barn and isolated a “non-Thoroughbred” mare who tested positive for the highly contagious disease equine herpesvirus.

The mare tested positive for equine herpesvirus three days ago after displaying symptoms of the disease, but she is currently doing “remarkably well” and has not spiked a fever since the initial diagnosis, according to Dr. Kathleen Anderson, Fair Hill’s equine medical director.

Fair Hill has placed the barn where the mare was initially stabled on a hold that prevents the 22 horses in that barn from leaving the five-acre footprint of the barn and its surrounding paddocks, Anderson said. The mare was moved to an adjacent barn and will remain in isolation until she tests negative for the disease.

The horses in the barn placed on hold have so far not displayed any symptoms of equine herpesvirus, Anderson said. They will continue to be tested for the disease in coordination with the state’s agricultural department.

Parx racetrack in nearby Philadelphia has placed restrictions on ship-ins from Fair Hill, which led to numerous scratches on its Tuesday card, including six horses in the $75,000 Future Star Stakes. Tamp Bay Downs has also told its horsemen that no horses from Fair Hill will be allowed to ship in and that all other horses will be required to present a 24-hour health certificate “until further notice.”

According to Anderson, no other states or racetracks have placed exclusions on ship-ins from horses in the unaffected barns at Fair Hill, though horses returning to Fair Hill may be required to present health checks and temperature logs as a condition of re-entry.

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