March 2006

Neurological Herpes: Where Are We Now?

Rhino outbreaks continue to surface with the neurological form still a major threat.

If your horse is alone at home and never comes in contact with other horses, you probably don’t have to worry about equine herpes.

The year 2003 was shocking for neurological herpes cases, with the heartbreaking stories about deaths at the University of Findlay in Ohio and cases at four locations across the country. The disease isn’t going away.

However, neurological disease has been recognized as a possible consequence of herpes virus—specifically EHV-1 or rhinopheumonitis—infection for a long time. While the cases were horrifying, there was no particular reason to think anything new was going on. It seemed an oddity. That’s no longer the case. …