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  Discussion on 28 yr old stallion diagnosed Herpes
Author Message
New Member:
paints03

Posted on Monday, Apr 30, 2007 - 2:08 pm:

Hi Dr O,

My otherwise healthy 28 year old paint stallion was recently "diagnosed" with the Herpes 1 virus causing incoordination, weakness, tremors, etc.. I read your article and he does seem to fit most everything mentioned in the article.

We first noticed his movement was "different" last Wednesday & by Thurs morning (Apr26/07) he collapsed while walking across his pen! We then noticed he'd obviously been down a couple of times through the night and had trouble getting to his feet. He was covered in mud & was a full body sweat, clearly exhausted.

My first thought was that he'd had a stroke - when our vet came out he mentioned stroke is uncommon in horses & immediately thought it was herpes.

I vaccinated the herd Apr 17/07 with the 5-way that covers herpes I & IV and all my horses are vaccinated regularly as prescribed. However, we purchased a new mare on Apr 15/07 who had over the fence contact with our stallion & the rest of our herd. She showed no signs of illness, nor has she shown any signs of ailment to date.

The lady we purchased her from told us she vaccinates yearly as well, but the mare hadn't been vaccinated yet this year. We vaccinated her with the rest of our herd on Apr17.

My vet said there's no sense in sending in a blood sample as every horse would show possitive due to the vaccine.

My concern now is for the other horses - what can I do for preventative management now?

Will my stallion always carry the herpes virus now? If so, what are your recommendations?

And, with our new mare, she didn't have a foal this year (we were told she wasn't bred last year, but I'm leary). If she was the carrier of the herpes I will she be suitable to breed this year and years following?

If she is the carrier, will she always present a risk to the rest of the horses & horses coming in to be bred?

Thanks so much for any advice you can offer, this virus has me running scared...

Lanna
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Tuesday, May 1, 2007 - 6:55 am:

Welcome back Lanna,
Hmmm, I think a diagnosis based simply on incoordination is suspect Lanna. Without a history of and no history of contact with horses with absorption, or fever the diagnosis becomes improbable though not impossible. Acute undiagnosed incoordination in older horses is a common event and rarely do owners choose to obtain a firm diagnosis which would require necropsy and extended difficult examination of the central nervous system, hence a possible cause to the rarity of the confirmed diagnosis. However stroke rarely causes bilateral problems so I would be considering other problems. In these cases I often find there is not enough information to make a firm diagnosis but always look, EHV-1 diagnosis could be pursued with virus isolation from nasal swabs.

For horses with EHV-1 it is possible horses will carry the virus for long periods following recovery but that is not the same as being contagious and once removed for a month is considered safe.
DrO
New Member:
paints03

Posted on Wednesday, May 2, 2007 - 3:19 pm:

Hi DrO,

Thanks for your information, this "illness" has been frustrating and scarey to say the least. I hate not knowing for certain what it is, as I don't want to put my other horses at risk.


I think the vet here assumed herpes I right away because of my mentioning our new mare purchase only weeks prior to my stallion becoming ill. She's shown no signs of illness from the time we purchased her until now & continues to appear quite healthy. However, she was bred her last day of heat 2 days prior to us bringing her home (Apr13) and came into heat the day my stallion started showing symptoms.

Could this have been the "sign" that she in fact is carrying the herpes I virus?

If in fact she carries the virus, will she be considered sound for breeding this year and future years?

This mare did not have a foal this year, but did have her first foal in 2006. The foal was healthy and continues to be healthy, but it was born at just over 10 months gestation. I think she mentioned 321 days.

Could this be related to what's going on with our stallion?

We purchased her specifically for breeding.

Thanks again,

Lanna
New Member:
paints03

Posted on Wednesday, May 2, 2007 - 3:23 pm:

DrO,

Can we do a virus isolation swab from our horses being they were all recently vaccinated for Herpes I?


Do you think our new mares short gestation with her maiden pregnancy & most recently coming into heat after her first attempt at being bred this year is related to the herpes I virus?

So many questions, I certainly appreciate any information or advice you have for me.

Thanks again,

Lanna
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Thursday, May 3, 2007 - 6:31 am:

Hello Lanna,
I do not know what you mean by "short gestation" but none of the specific history in your last post suggests an increase possibility of EHV-1. Sometimes mares don't catch and if the only day bred was the last day of heat, it is normally a poor day for fertility in mares. When they don't catch it is normal for them to return to heat, see Equine Reproduction » Horse Breeding & Artificial Insemination » Breeding Patterns in Mares and Stallions.

As a general point the articles will provide you with the information that helps rule in and out the disease. If it is not in there it is probably not relevant. Diagnosis at this point is not going to be found in "odd historical details" other than those already discussed. If you are within the time frame of the test which is discussed in the article a virus isolation could be attempted on the stallion. But with no other horses having shown signs of illness and no other symptoms of infectious disease in your stallion, this seems like a bit of a long shot.
DrO
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