The horse world has already seen how an infectious disease can spread quickly in a horse show environment. It started in the spring of 2011, when the National Cutting Horse Association Western Championship event was held in Utah, involving more than 400 horses. At least one of those horses was apparently infected with Equine Herpes Virus-1 (EHV-1), a serious contagious disease which can cause neurological damage or death. The virus is primarily spread as a result of direct contact between an infected horse and a non-infected horse.

For many infectious diseases there is a period of time during which the horse can be infectious to others, but not yet showing signs of illness. Therefore, newly-infected horses may not be identified as sick until they have returned to their home farms. In the absence of strong biosecurity, other horses at their home farms could be at risk of being infected as well. Some horses from the show didn’t go home immediately, but instead traveled to other horse shows, contacting more of their fellow competitors.

Over the next few months, the United States Department of Agriculture reported nearly 100 horses in 10 different states whose infection with EHV-1 could be traced back to the championship horse show. Neurological disease was confirmed in 33 horses, and 13 horses died or had to be euthanized.

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