Equine Herpes Virus and its environmental

Equine Herpes Virus and its environmental importance
Lucas Pantaleon, DVM MS DACVIM MBA
Biosecurity Consultant
Director Technical Services
Ogena Solutions
Equine Herpes Virus 1 (EHV-1) continues to cause concern among the horse industry with positive cases
and quarantined equine facilities in North America and of late in New Zealand.
http://www.brisnet.com/cgi-bin/editorial/news/article.cgi?id=42169
http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=news/local&id=9377401
http://www.standardbredcanada.ca/notices/11-13-13/pa-track-under-herpesvirus-quarantine.html
http://www.oie.int/wahis_2/public/wahid.php/Reviewreport/Review?page_refer=MapFullEventReport
&reportid=14713
EHV-1 is an enveloped virus, which means that it normally does not survive outside the host for very
long. However, a study performed at the University of Colorado suggested that the virus has the ability
to survive in the environment under the right conditions for some time. 1 Therefore the virus can remain
infective to other horses on environmental surfaces, thus beside direct contact, fomites are also an
important means of transmission for this disease.
Biosecurity measures and amongst them proper cleaning and disinfection are paramount to prevent and
control the spread of this disease.
Accelerated Hydrogen Peroxide (AHP) disinfectants, along with other biosecurity measures, have been
used successfully to control EHV-1 outbreak situation. 2 AHP has a label claim against EHV-1.
1.
Saklow N. ENVIRONMENTAL SURVIVAL OF EQUID HERPESVIRUS TYPE 1 (EHV-1).
American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine Forum 2013.
2.
Burgess BA, Tokateloff N, Manning S, et al. Nasal shedding of equine herpesvirus-1 from
horses in an outbreak of equine herpes myeloencephalopathy in Western Canada. J Vet Intern Med
2012;26:384-392.