EHV at Thermal?

[Peggy]

There seems to have been uneven notification. There were posts on the DIHP site and social media on Feb 11 (Friday) and Feb 12, respectively. Some people got emails from DIHP starting on Friday afternoon. Others didn’t. The USEF email went out on Feb 12. I talked to someone mid-day on Saturday who had no idea there were any cases.

So, I suppose it’s conceivable that someone might not have known until Saturday when the USEF email went out, or even later if they don’t get those or choose to ignore them.

IMHO the show could have done a better job of notifying more people on the showgrounds sooner (hand out flyers at entrances, post notices, texts???) and with providing more guidance WRT how to proceed and make decisions. I don’t think they were necessarily hiding anything and they definitely stepped up their game.

[Peggy]

Agree. Not sure why it wasn’t done. I was at the show and wasn’t notified. A friend who’s a trainer and who left on Thursday afternoon was.

[CurrentlyHorseless]

@Peggy

Agree. Not sure why it wasn’t done. I was at the show and wasn’t notified. A friend who’s a trainer and who left on Thursday afternoon was.

The USEF notices about the situation, starting with a notification on Feb 12, went to all USEF members. I was not at the show, and I’m not in California, but I received the USEF notifications.

They’re all still on the USEF website. Even as late as Feb 17/18, the USEF bulletins did not describe the outbreak as being as serious as is now known.

[Peggy]

@CurrentlyHorseless

They’re all still on the USEF website. Even as late as Feb 17/18, the USEF bulletins did not describe the outbreak as being as serious as is now known.

IMHO there is something weird about the way it’s behaving. Either the time from exposure to symptoms is abnormally long or there is a fair amount of asymptomatic transmission that makes it seem long. Or something. Hence the normal isolation times weren’t working.

[CurrentlyHorseless]

@Peggy

@CurrentlyHorseless

They’re all still on the USEF website. Even as late as Feb 17/18, the USEF bulletins did not describe the outbreak as being as serious as is now known.

IMHO there is something weird about the way it’s behaving. Either the time from exposure to symptoms is abnormally long or there is a fair amount of asymptomatic transmission that makes it seem long. Or something. Hence the normal isolation times weren’t working.

Early on, I read that in most cases, the fever appeared within 2 to 8 days, but that the incubation period could be up to 14 days, and in rare instances, even longer.

Having read all the USEF emails in real time, it was not until the email of Feb 18 that USEF stated that it recommended any horse coming from a facility with a known case isolate for seven days, while taking the temp twice a day. I thought that was nuts at the time. Yes, if people take temps twice a day, you’ll catch most of the infections, but what good is “most” in this instance?

Re: Tami Smith. If her horses left Thermal on Feb 10, and she started taking temps at their home barn on Feb 12 when the news of the first cases came out, and continued taking temps twice a day until the next show Feb 17, she fulfilled the USEF protocol that was announced - on February 18!

Now the 7 day protocol was too weak - about a week later they upped the recommended isolation period to 14 days.

There were some other trainers who left Thermal later and violated the 7 day protocol.

In my opinion, DIHP, CDFA and USEF did not take the outbreak sufficiently seriously at the very beginning and deserve most of the blame. Some blame goes to the trainers who broke even the too weak USEF protocols.

As far as I can tell Tami Smith was more proactive than required by the authorities in real time. The anonymous and unsubstantiated claim that she had a vet falsify paperwork is disgusting.

[Peggy]

@CurrentlyHorseless

Early on, I read that in most cases, the fever appeared within 2 to 8 days, but that the incubation period could be up to 14 days, and in rare instances, even longer.

CDFA website says incubation of 2-10 days and shedding at 7-10 days, with disclaimer adjectives on both of those time frames.

My understanding is that infected horses often spike a fever briefly (24 hours, maybe even less??) a few days (2-3???) after exposure and then remain asymptomatic for several days before developing symptoms. That’s the logic behind checking temperatures twice a day since you might miss that warning spike otherwise.

[CurrentlyHorseless]

@Peggy

@CurrentlyHorseless

Early on, I read that in most cases, the fever appeared within 2 to 8 days, but that the incubation period could be up to 14 days, and in rare instances, even longer.

CDFA website says incubation of 2-10 days and shedding at 7-10 days, with disclaimer adjectives on both of those time frames.

My understanding is that infected horses often spike a fever briefly (24 hours, maybe even less??) a few days (2-3???) after exposure and then remain asymptomatic for several days before developing symptoms. That’s the logic behind checking temperatures twice a day since you might miss that warning spike otherwise.

That’s the problem- if incubation is “usually” 2 to 10 days, why was the original isolation protocol just 7 days? It makes no sense.

I’ve also read that the temperature spike can be brief so that it can be missed if you only take the temp once a day.

[Peggy]

@CurrentlyHorseless

That’s the problem- if incubation is “usually” 2 to 10 days, why was the original isolation protocol just 7 days? It makes no sense.

Perhaps the theory was that if people took temperatures twice a day they’d catch most of them and that the seven-day wait would catch additional ones, thereby getting more of them. But I’m not CDFA, USEF, or DIHP and can’t answer for them. But even with taking temperatures plus14 days of isolation you’re not going to get 100%. A given horse might be infected, not spike a fever, and be asymptomatic but pass it on to a second horse.

[fordtraktor]

When my horse had it, her temp spiked to 106.8. Only sign was that she was off her feed. That was a Saturday a full week after her exposure. The symptoms did not occur until either Wednesday or Thursday (12-13 days from exposure). And to reiterate, my horse was not in the same barn as any horse, as I showed her off the trailer. The “I wasn’t in the same barn” excuse is lame.

This was in 2001. We have known for a long time you need at least a 14 day quarantine.

Vets AND trainers need to do better when there is an outbreak. By now, we should all be aware USEF is going to be late to the party and advocate for our own horses’ health. We need to make conservative decisions to prevent the spread.

This is not a criticism of any particular trainer…it’s a criticism of a whole host of them!

[Demerara_Stables]

I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of these horses are on NSAIDs that suppress the symptoms, and that is why we are seeing so many “asymptomatic” cases.

[LJD]

There’s a lot of coulda, woulda, shoulda with this situation, minus some obviously bad actors. I think this shows the limitations of our public animal/livestock health measures where people are doing the best the can with poor/incomplete communication and ever-changing guidelines. (Sound familiar?)

Hopefully, this will inspire change via a post-mortem, not that dissimilar to what the FEI recently published, so we’re better prepared for future outbreaks. But again, maybe that’s wishful thinking given how the pandemic has played out.

[NaturallyHappy]

I bet you are right!

[MHM]

Chronicle article with a map of the affected counties.

Nations Cup San Juan Capistrano Canceled As California EHV-1 Cases Pass 60

[Bristol_Bay]

Good news: Our only possible exposure was at the February LAEC show, and as of today, we’ve passed the 14-day mark with no fevers or other symptoms, so we can emerge from our quarantine, which means we can share turn ours and cool out around the property instead of sticking to our ring only. No new horses may enter the property.

No outbreak at LAEC itself.

Just the one horse at Hansen Dam that was euthanized but no other cases.

Middleranch proper continues to be under lockdown and quarantine with some positive cases linked to Thermal, but all horses are asymptomatic.

[Paint_Party]

@Bristol_Bay

as of today, we’ve passed the 14-day mark with no fevers or other symptoms,

Huzzah! You must be so relieved!

[Bristol_Bay]

Yes, I am.

Orange County, on the other hand…

[bugsynskeeter1]

I mentioned this outbreak to some cow horse friends who are in CA. They had no idea about any of it.

[MHM]

@bugsynskeeter1

I mentioned this outbreak to some cow horse friends who are in CA. They had no idea about any of it.

Wow. That’s pretty scary.

I’m pretty sure the disease does not care what kind of tack the horse wears.

[hoopoe]

I agree. The idea that this information was not more widely disseminated in the state via feed stores vets and farriers , along with media, is tragic. It is as if the show system thinks no one exists outside their rarified sphere.

[leheath]

@bugsynskeeter1

I mentioned this outbreak to some cow horse friends who are in CA. They had no idea about any of it.

Yep, I saw multiple large, well-attended western events occurring this past weekend in the Temecula area. I’m sure they had no idea that congregating and moving horses around is a bad idea right now. Sigh.