The Department of Agriculture Monday announced a quarantine of an equine barn in Tionesta, Forest County, after a horse at the barn tested positive for Equine Herpesvirus Type 1 (EHV-1) on May 13.
A horse from the Forest County barn was used in the Tionesta Wounded Warrior Horseback Scavenger Hunt, where 94 horses took part, including horses from Ohio and West Virginia.
An equine barn in Shippenville, Clarion County, housing an exposed horse that showed clinical signs of EHV-1, was put under precautionary quarantine Thursday, May 14, until the pending laboratory results are confirmed. Two additional horses from the Forest County equine barn have shown signs of illness after being exposed to the positive horse.
The Department of Agriculture is in the process of tracing the horses that participated in the scavenger hunt, and has notified animal health officials in Ohio and West Virginia.
Clinical signs of the disease can range from respiratory to neurological impairment. In most situations, the disease is only mildly contagious.
There is no threat to human health from Equine Herpesvirus.
The barns and horses are quarantined for at least 21 days. The quarantine can be lifted after that three-week period. Strict sanitary and biosecurity standards are then enforced.
Horse owners with concerns may contact the Department of Agriculture’s Bureau of Animal Health and Diagnostic Services at 717-772-2852.
