Thoroughbred Center quarantines barn after equine herpesvirus positive

A barn at the Thoroughbred Center, a training facility outside Lexington, Ky., has been placed in quarantine after a horse there exhibited signs of equine herpesvirus and tested positive for being exposed to the disease, according to the Kentucky Office of the State Veterinarian.

The unidentified horse, housed in Barn 3 at the center, was reported to have been displaying symptoms of the highly contagious and sometimes fatal disease on Tuesday, according to a notice posted by the state veterinarian. Barn 3, which currently houses 18 horses, has been placed under quarantine, the notice said, and two horses that were moved out of the barn recently have been isolated at private farms.

The quarantine at the Thoroughbred Center was put in place 11 days after a horse at Turfway Park in nearby Northern Kentucky was put down after showing severe symptoms of EHV-1, leading to a quarantine of the barn where the horse was stalled. In a separate notice, the office of the state vet said that no horses in the quarantined barn at Turfway have shown symptoms of equine herpesvirus and that the quarantine put in place at Turfway will be lifted next week if the horses in the barn are declared free of the disease.