Seventeen horses are now confirmed dead in relation to the outbreak of the aggressive neurological form of Equine Herpesvirus (EHV-1) at jumping tours in Spain.
The latest deaths include a newborn foal in Germany at stables where two horses recently returned from Spain have also died and where five mares have aborted foals. In Belgium, two more jumping horses have died.
Cases associated with a third Spanish tour have led to the FEI blocking 856 more horses from competing. This is the Mediterranean Equestrian Tour (MET) in Oliva, just a few miles from Valencia where the outbreak was first reported.
A Swiss horse ex-Oliva has tested positive, as have two Belgian horses, although the latter pair subsequently re-tested negative.
The FEI has also been notified of a confirmed positive in a Slovakian horse recently returned from Valencia. There are still 10 horses in the Valencia veterinary clinic, although none in intensive care.
Nineteen dressage and 17 para dressage horses which competed in Doha, Qatar, at the end of February have also been blocked on the FEI database. The dressage horses flew back separately from the 85 jumpers already blocked, but a negative PCR test will be needed to unblock them.
None of the equine casualties have been named by the FEI, although young German rider Tim-Uwe Hoffmann has revealed on social media that he has two of the six he took to Spain, Casta Lee and Call Me Cinderella. According to Hoffmann’s mother, he has felt unable to ride any horse since the loss of Casta Lee, one of the first to perish in Valencia.
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