Test results have confirmed that a sick racehorse in Ocala, Fla., has equine herpesvirus-1 (EHV-1), and an additional horse in Jupiter, Fla., is showing neurologic signs, according to The South Florida Sun-Sentinel.

Liz Compton, a spokeswoman for the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, told The Sun-Sentinel the Ocala horse is isolated from other animals. Compton said the horse was at an equine clinic in Wellington Dec. 1-2 for treatment of a skin disorder. At the clinic, the horse came in close contact with the horse now believed to be the index case for the current outbreak.

Compton said the horse looked fine when it was loaded on the trailer to make the trip back to Ocala from the clinic, but it looked sick by the time it arrived. The horse was isolated once it arrived in Ocala.

“There was good biosecurity,” Compton told The Sun-Sentinel. “It never had contact with the horses in Ocala.”

A horse at Jupiter Farms (about 30 miles from Wellington) is showing neurologic signs consistent with EHV-1. Scott Swerdlin, DVM, MRCVS, a veterinarian with the Palm Beach Equine Clinic in Wellington, told The Sun-Sentinel the route of transmission to this horse is unknown at this time, as the horse did not come in contact with any horses from Wellington.

For more information on EHV-1, check out our free PDF library of EHV-related articles including images, or all our archived EHV-1 articles on TheHorse.com