Two connected barns at New Orleans Race Course were quarantined Friday because a 3-year-old filly tested positive for equine herpes.
It may take 10 days to clear other horses trained by Dallas Stewart, who trains the filly, and Neil Howard, said Dr. Tom David, the equine medical director of the Louisiana State Racing Commission.
Stewart has 44 horses and Howard has 27, track spokesman Lenny Vangilder said. Nasal swabs were taken Friday to test all 71, he said. Howard said the horses in his stable all look fine.
The horses may not race until they are cleared, said Eric Halstrom, the Fair Grounds vice president and general manager of racing. The state agriculture department will decide when those horses may be moved, Vangilder said.
He said the filly was infected by the EHV1 strain of the virus. That can cause respiratory infections in weaned horses and yearlings, but older horses are likely to transmit the virus without signs of infection, according to the American Association of Equine Practitioners. It also can infect the brain and occasionally causes abortions, an AAEF fact sheet said.
It can take anywhere from 24 hours to more than a week for a horse to become ill, with fever often the only symptom, it said. The organization recommends a four-week isolation for an infected horse.
For a horse who may have been exposed, the recommended quarantine period is generally up to 21 days, Vangilder said.
Stewart said the filly in question, Diamond Song, worked five furlongs Monday morning. He sent her Tuesday to Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital in Lexington, Ky., and learned of the positive test Wednesday. The track was closed for training Thursday for Christmas.
Diamond Song has raced twice, winning her debut Oct. 25 at Keeneland and finishing eighth in an allowance turf race Nov. 13 at Churchill Downs. Monday's workout was her fourth at the Fair Grounds this month.
The virus can be transmitted through the air or by contact with an infected horse, its tack and equipment, shared food or water, or the clothing of someone who has worked with an infected horse, Vangilder said.
David said each horse must have two tests. Results from the first are available in 48 hours but it takes about a week to get results from the second, he said.
The Fair Grounds has changed its training schedule to keep those horses away from all others. It is open from 5:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. for all other horses. From 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m., Stewart's and Howard's horses can be trained.
In addition, horses stabled on the track's backstretch cannot leave the grounds until the horses in question are cleared — with one exception. Horses may be shipped to Delta Downs in Vinton — the only other track currently running in Louisiana — as long as they go directly to the stakes barn there and return from that barn to the Fair Grounds.
To avoid the quarantine for backstretch stabling, horses racing at the Fair Grounds can be shipped to and leave from its receiving barn. VanGilder said the receiving barn will be disinfected every night, the starting gate daily, and the paddock after each day's racing.
The track's horse identifier and starting gate crew will have to wear latex gloves and follow other recommended disinfectant procedures for their work areas, equipment and practices. All horses entering the stable area will need veterinary inspection certificates.
"We've got to hope that the horses remain healthy," Stewart said. "They're saying that the filly should be able to recover and be able to race again."
Copyright 2008 AP News
